| Author | Message | ||
     Whisperstealth |
Based on my primary cover experience, wanting to be able to repair my own machines, and my interest in the field, I'm thinking about a machinist tech / trade school. Or a trade school of some kind, maybe aviation. I have found lots of machinist schools by searching online, but nothing jumps out at me as the place to go. I have also thought about going to a motorcycle tech / repair school like MMI or Wyo Tech. The issue with going to a motorcycle school is that the market seems to be flooded with graduates, and the pay scale is low. A brother of mine is an MMI grad, who took the Harley courses. He was able to get a job at a dealership, but got paid little. It's the field I'm most interested in, but might not provide the best career path. Aviation is something that interest me, and something I would enjoy doing, but it's the job possibilities that make me take notice. There seems to be a greater need for aviation techs and mechanics, than other tech fields. So, I'm asking here if anybody knows of any good machinist schools, that they could recommend. Or any good schools in a similar field, where graduates actually go on to get decent jobs. It's time to start looking at going to school again. Thanks! | ||
| Treefrog |
Have you checked out Pulaski Tech yet? I plan on attending their Machinist Program beginning in January. I will be in AR next month and am going to the campus to check out the program. It's just something I've always wanted to do and now I have the chance to get into it. They may not be one of the big nationally known schools, but they will be closer to home for you. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Thanks for the suggestion. Actually, that is one place that did make me go hum.. a little. That and a school in Pocahontas of all places. Pocahontas is about 45 minutes away from me. Pulaski would be about 2 - 2 1/2 hours or so. Staying in AR would be a big plus. What is making you chose Pulaski? Being in New York, there must be places there. They must have impressed you with something. They are a large tech school for the area, and the biggest in AR. When you come down, can you let me know? I can't thing of a better reason to ride down and check it out, than to meet up with a fellow Bueller while doing so. | ||
| Treefrog |
I am from AR. I've been in the Army for the last 24ish years and I'm currently stationed at Fort Drum, NY, about half an hour south of Canada. I'm finally retiring at the end of the year and I'm coming home to AR. I want to take some time off from working after leaving the military and get a little schooling in. Machine work has always interested me and the ultimate goal is to have my own lathe and mill and run my own little shop on my terms. We will be back for the middle part of July. Once I figure out when I'm going to the school, I can pm you if you want to meet up. | ||
| D_adams |
Ranken tech is one of the better ones I've heard of and the grads from there that I personally know really know their stuff. Not sure of locations except the one in St. Louis, although there are probably more. If I were looking into being a machinist, that's where I would definitely go. | ||
| Blks1l |
I went to an aviation trade school in San Antonio, TX. in 1991-1993. I have really enjoyed the field, but think that there are not a lot of great job opportunities, at least in the Central Texas area. I have freinds who work in the automotive maintenance field who make as much or more then I do with out the responsibility. I work in the corporate aviation sales industry, and have gotten to travel the world though. Good Luck with your search!!! | ||
| Greg_e |
Not that I need to tell you this, but check out the GI Bill program for education. You may want to go through an engineering degree to help you design the things that you are going to make. I would also suggest learning about CNC (4 and 5 axis programming) as well as waterjet machining of everything from metal and ceramic to soft goods like food products. As far as small shop tools, check out http://www.littlemachinshop.com | ||
| 99savage |
Check w/ your local community college - Hired a lot of machinists trained at ours. Was quite pleased with most of them, local BOCES not so much | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Treefrog, That would be cool. Yes, send me a PM  Thanks for the info guys. I'm at the point where I want and need to do something, just a matter of finding out where the best place for me is. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Whisper I wouldn't bother with the motorcycle tech for the reasons you've already stated plus the fact that you'll no longer want to work on your own bikes. In my next incarnation I plan on getting a proper forge & an anvil along with bending & fab' equipment, so I can rebuild, mend, or create whatever I need. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Blacksmithing is going to be big once again. And sooner than most realize. Thought about that as well. | ||
| Ducxl |
After graduating from the "Vocational/Technical" high school machine shop course i went on to study at the local community college.They had a really neat machine shop and course where i continued under the tuteledge of my old "Shop theory" HS teacher.Learned CAD and design drafting there Check your local community college | ||
| Whistler |
Whisper - Why do you think blacksmithing will be big once again, and soon? Thanks. | ||
| Greg_e |
Note that many community colleges no longer have machining courses. There are two large rooms full of very expensive machines on the other end of the building where I work that are basically no longer used except for personal projects once in a great while. We used to have some really great courses but no one wants to learn these trades anymore and so the courses die. Seems it should be nice stable work, but not what the students want to do anymore. | ||
| 99savage |
Most maintenance departments COULD use a blacksmith, to make lifting devices, hooks, etc. - Never was able to sell management on getting one - Sometimes ended up contracting w/ an Amish blacksmith in Iowa. Can't really recommend becoming one unless you are thinking of specializing in farrier work (horse shoeing) because the upper echelons of management think that all blacksmiths do is shoe horses, but that is actually a small specialized subset of blacksmith work. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Wow Greg, that's sad  Sounds like a business man might be able to take that equipment off the schools hands. Whistler, The more I look around, and see what's going on. And see what I believe the future may look like; the more convinced I am of needing and wanting to learn skilled / highly skilled labor. The same reason I want to learn hunting, fishing, and real long term survival skills. This country is locked into massively un-sustainable path. The time will come when you can't simply go buy a new one. What ever that "new one" may be. The time will come when it's not so easy to take your car/bike/vehicle/ect. to someone else to fix. We have created a disposable society, that will one day run out of things to throw away. Our trade imbalance and de-industrialization is going to haunt us. We have a government that will make things much harder to get and obtain. This may not happen real soon, but in the next 10 years we will live in a different country than we do now. And 20 years from now I would be surprised if there has not been a major societal break down. A black smith to can make, create, and repair basic everyday house hold items that will be needed once again. The skills of blacksmiths, welders, machinist(I'm hoping), and other skilled labor trades will be vital to being able to live and function. Having these skills will give someone an opportunity to be more free and independent if you will, of government or other corrupt control. And a good ole black smith may just be needed to hammer out horse shoes on a regular basis once again. And if I'm wrong about all this. The cost of items alone, combined with rampant poor service makes having some DIY fabricating skills a really good idea. Plus as more of these skilled craftsmen retire and die out, fewer are taking there place. There is a job market for those skills out there. | ||
| Jramsey |
" fewer are taking there place. There is a job market for those skills out there." Only if you are located in an area were there is demand for those skills. There's a guy with a welder,drill press and a lathe on every corner that will do shatty work for for 15-25 bucks an hour. My annual gross the last eight years has averaged less then 8K per year and its mostly from fixing the Fokups for people who went to the cheap guy mentioned in the paragraph above. The only reason I keep my equipment is for my own use and a few good paying jobs(about 3-5 a year) and the fact I don't know how to do much else. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
J, Thanks for your experience and knowledge. It's always helpful to hear from those in the trade your interested in, and how they are doing. The Jonesboro / Paragould / Blyville area still has a lot of manufacturing jobs per capita. They have done a good job of keeping and bringing in businesses. And even if all I come out of it with is the knowledge and skills learned, I have made some big progress. If* I were able to complete the courses, it would mean a lot to me. I have a lot of fears and anxiety surounding going to school, and trying much of anything. The fact that I'm at the point of even being able to think about going back to school and even trying to enter more of society has been years in the making. Going and completing would also give me more ability to work on my own stuff. It would be better than my current situation. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
I'm a member of the Guild of Metalsmiths here in MN. $30 per year and what ever the tuition is for classes/seminars you want. Everything from basic blacksmithing, advanced smithing, hammer making, you name it. Well worth it and fun. Blacksmithing isn't something you learn quickly, it takes LOTS of time and lots of tutors. "The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne" is the blacksmiths tag line.. We have a number of them in my area that make a decent living at it. Most ornamental stuff but lots of odd repair stuff too. I frequently get asked "Can you fix this?". Lots of weird obscure stuff, usually things that are no longer available. Very neat little side diversion from my "real" job. I would love to have a small machine shop at my disposal, a CNC mill and lathe lathe would do just fine.. Brad | ||
| Buellifer |
Manual machinist are a dying breed most schools out there spend more time on C.N.C. If you can find a school that has a good mixture on manual teaching as well as C.N.C. I'd say go for it. | ||
| Steve_mackay |
 I'd say machining is a dying trade. Guys that we have been getting in the past year that I've been at my current employer, can't run the machines without a cam system in front of them. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find competent skilled machinists. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Steve, I'm not in the field but I have to agree with you. A bit of a back story... When I was about 15 or so, I "worked" at a job shop. Mostly I swept floors and tried to keep out of the way. This shop did lots of job shop type fab stuff. Repair work, machining, prototype work, you name it. I learned a TON just by watching the masters at work. This was back before any numerics CAD, CNC, etc. Totally manual. One of the products they did make was a bench vice called the All Steel Vice. I wound up with one about 15 years ago and they are TOUGH! But not tough enough for me to not stretch the lead screw trying to press a wheel bearing. Without the lead screw, the vice is junk. On a whim I checked to see if the company was still in business. I knew that they were no longer in the old location but figured I'd try anyway. Sure enough they were still in business about 10 miles from the original location. I called to see if they still made the vice. Yup, even had parts available. Hopped on the bike and headed down there. Man what a neat place, I talked to the owner and the shop manager for a bit. One of the thing they mentioned was the difficulty finding qualified candidates to hire. The shop is still totally old school. None of the machines have any electronics on them. All manual. For them the setup time and programming for single pieces and repairs don't make any sense. One place they do look is the Navy. They even mentioned that they can't even get the high school shop teachers to call them back when they offer info sessions and tours for students. They just want to introduce kids to other options besides college. Damn schools won't even call them back. Lots more to the story but I'm too lazy to type it out. Oh yeah, they gave me the lead screw assembly for the vice for free. They thought it was pretty neat that I once worked at the old shop... Brad | ||
| Loose1 |
At the shop I work in I do anything from using manual mills and lathes to designing, programming, and running cnc mills. We make vacuum formed molds for the horticultural market and medical trays. We also have to fix the stuff that breaks on the formers and presses. That presents challenges some times, but I like a good challenge. Machining is dieing. A lot of the jobs are going over seas. I also think people looking at colleges don't look into trade schools. They don't want to have a job where they get their hands dirty. So they go and get a 4+ year degree and end up working a McDonald's. Matt | ||
| Greg_e |
Nope, mostly highschool and retired people at McD, all the college grads go to Walmart.  | ||
| Whisperstealth |
I WANT to work with my hands in a highly skilled position. I want to learn manual machining and CAD/CNC machining. I have no problem getting dirty. I'd like a job that combines some old school, with the new. It's sad that these skills are dying out. A lot of jobs are going over seas, but employers are still looking for those willing to do the job, and willing to learn. | ||
| Buellbob |
My 2cents worth; Cnc's are fun for the first few thousand parts, then it becomes a real grind. I used to do all my own programming and tool selection right on the m/c's,then a "programmer" was hired to of course write programs. The problem is most programers are class room boys with no practical machining experience so consequently will not look at a job from a machinists point of view and believe me if your a machinist you look at things a little different than every one else. If your boss does not understand the ins and outs of cnc machining, they want to get you to do other jobs while the machine is running which only works in limited situations because if you machine crashes or breaks a drill then tries to tap supposed hole you got nothin but trouble and a whole lot of screwed tooling and you may take the heat, so I always refused to do it because more than they hate you standing around, they hate scrap and rejected parts. Also some shops will only have a machinist as the set-up guy and trouble shooter and use operators to man the machine. After the thrill wore off I went back to fully manual shop no electronic anything and its great. This little rant doesn't answer what you asked though. Check out the industries you may want to work in and see who may be offering some sort of apprenticeship training. also consider a machinist/millwright type of training, theres nothing better than a guy who can do installations and re/re broken down stuff by making new parts. Machining is not dying you just need to know where to look for it.Logging, Sawmills and Mining come to mind as industries that can't export jobs and they need to continually need to have their equipment repaired, spent 19 yrs with a company that did all that. Any company that has any sort of assembly line or production system needs millwrights and machinists and will have their own small shop because when a break down happens, time is money and they usually don't have time to go outside for repairs. Any way I've only got about 8 yrs. or less before retirement and the trade has been pretty good for me, I've always made good money and have a very comfortable life because of the opportunities the trade gave me. Oh yeah I am curently employed in a ship yard and this story is basically my life as a Journeyman Machinist. I've done all of the above, but I like manual machining the best because its just you and the machine and you live or die by your abilities to make that machine perform and believe me sometimes its a struggle because most equipment you will work on will be worn out or almost worn out. Sometimes there's less than .0005 thousandths between a good part and scrap. Bob | ||
| Buellbob |
One more thing, in more than 35 yrs I've been laid off and all manner of stuff but I've never been out of work as a machinist. Bob | ||
| Ducxl |
I had to quit to be out of work...for less than a week. Buellbob...I'm currently employed as an operator at almost $35/hr. The college boys will always be just that.BUT..they work well in management and can put forth a concept that us REAL machinists can take and MAKE WORK. I've done that job^^^^^it goes home with you. I started on little Southbend lathes back in the early 80s.After high school i was employed very cheap as a teenager.That made it easy for employerS to send me to school. I've attended programming schools at Tornos(sliding headstock machining),Index(multiple turrets lathes and CNC multis),as well as Mori Seiki,Brother,and Emco-Maier. You get your foot in the door at the bottom and work your way up.Lately though,employers want class A machinists and degreed engineers OPERATING.Smash-ups of CNC equipment can easily run to tens of thousands of dollars. Modern tool monitoring software is VERY,VERY(!) efficient preventing cascading tool failures. I cut chips.The college boys are more than welcome dealing with the money end. I also run multiple machines and value my ability to juggle them.The economic term i think is called "value added".It makes me a lot of money. |
