Sort of OT about operators

[Kevangel]

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Usually just asking a guy to hold a mic will tell you a lot.

 

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being a toolmaker, peoples tools can tell a lot..had a guy that worked here, that only brought in his riser box and rollaway sort of a reflection of his attitude toward his work and he was getting top pay..

[terry5357]

Machinist are a dying breed, And you can blame it on, and I hate to say this but CNC's. Step on this, put the part here, let off the foot switch, close the door and push the green button, if anything goes wrong go find the setup man. Fortunately I spent 6 yrs on manual machines before I ever pushed a cycle start button in 1981.

We just let a guy go who said that he'd been machining for 5 yrs, I gave him a little alum. job something not too difficult. An hour or so later I go to check on him and he is running a 1/2 inch carbide endmill at 400 rpm (manual mill) and just barely cranking the handle. I asked him what he was doing and he replied "whipping this part out for you right quick". I told him if he wanted to "whip it out right quick" he should crank the RPM up to 2500 or 3000 and crank the handle amost as fast as he could turn it, or yea and cut from the opposite direction, climb milling is great for CNC but a manual will get away from you if the table locks are not snugged down a bit. Anyway like I said, he used to work for us. "Machinist the dying breed"

I made up a little test that I give applicants, starts with decimal equivilent, then general G and M codes, WCS and machine setup. Its a test that if you know anything its a breeze, if you don't you won't get passed the first 5 questions

[bhyde]

If I knew the job market for a good 'chinist was going to be this grim, I probably would have packed me crap and headed out to greener pastures. The jobs in this state don't really pay all that well, but the cost of living is what keeps most of us here.

 

 

Bill

 

[ 10-27-2006, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: bhyde ]

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

For inspection, in the past I have wrung a few gage blocks together and see if they get the right measurement. Get a sample part

 

For setup guys, I have given them a print, a piece of stock, and had them walk me through the process. I give some leeway because not everybody indicates their tools in like I do, not everyone squares up a vise like I do because many shops use ONLY softjaws and so they feel there is no need for it.

 

For Programmers, I've given a test, basically a cube with some features on each side and see how they approach it.

[gcode]

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Its all about training guys

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Yeah, you spend a couple of years training them up

and they walk across the street for an extra $.25

 

Years ago I had a kid working for me right out of high school. He had talent and learned quick.

I had high hopes for him.

Then he discovered the profitable world of auto theft. He was buying stripped truck frames from the insurance companies, registering them with the DMV. Then he'd steal trucks off the street, strip them, build a new truck on his legal frame

and sell them.

One Friday I told him he'd have to work Saturday.

He told me to f off, he wasn't working for chump change no more. Last I heard of him, he was a strung out meth-head doing 5-10 in Chino State prison.

Maybe I'm a cynic, but I havn't seen a kid worth

the effort to train in years. I don't think there

is anyone working at my current job under the age of 35, most are in their 50's like me.

When I was coming up we had big production jobs.

You could put a rookie on them and see how they did.

Nowday's its all JIT small lot runs and high dollar parts. There is no place for a rookie to learn. Its got to done now and mistakes are not tolerated. Managment won't hire without experience and its hard to find a shop that will give you the experience.

[Thee Dragracer1951]

Well, I'm working on putting a test together. I have a serious lack of machinists in my areaso Ihave to take them from the tech school and train them. I pay well and offer advancement and profit sharing, so I can hope that will keep them here.

I don't get the leaving for a little mre money thing here as there are MAYBE three other shops in a 25 mi radius, unless you want to get on a boat to Seattle.

I'm also seriously looking at some training material to help bring guys up to speed.

[G Caputo]

quote:

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what happened to aprentiship programs you rarely see them anymore?

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The company I work for currently has 18 people going thru an apprenticeship program. I did my 4 years of schooling 17 years ago. You pay for your tuition and books, make proper grades and at the end of the 4 years when you graduate the company reimburses your schooling expenses. Kind of a nice incentive. Many different shops from the area have people going to these classes to get there journeyman's card as a millwright or a machinist. Usually about 1/4 of the people that start out there apprenticeship program actually finish though.

[Tom Dorgan from American Precision]

My problem is time. Our production shop is sooooooo busy that I am constantly crunching programs and managing flow. I have a 22yr. old kid who is a go getter and has turned down better pay to stay with me and learn. He is dying to learn to program and we bought him a copy of design to learn to draw on. I just don't have the free time to give to properly train him in Mcam and I need him to do some of the programming to lighten my load. I may have to send him to class at another dealer so he can get going.

All that said, if you find someone with the aptitude to learn and willingess to do so....grab them fast. I have let 2 go in the past 2 months because they did not have the drive to make it to work on time. Worked hard when they were here but you cannot schedule a shop around folks not showing up.

[Thee Dragracer1951]

Heck...I fired my son because he thought he didn't have to get here on time.

[Guest]

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Heck...I fired my son because he thought he didn't have to get here on time.

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:thumbs up:

 

I've known a couple of owners that should have done the same thing for this and several other reasons but couldn't bring themselves to do it because "It's tough to really lean on them, they are my sons" and "I really need to have them be more involved and to take more responsibility but no matter what I say they don't seem to listen".

 

Both of those companies are out of business now, sadly one of them had been in business for almost 35 years.

[Thee Dragracer1951]

I hear you John. I've been in a lot of shops in my life and have seen the owners son do rEALLY dumb stuff with no consequence. My kid is the typical don't want to do nuttin 23 year old. Comes around when he wants something. Offer him a job, he never shows up and then gets mad when I tell him I don't need it.

Kids....

 

But I'm workin on some applicant tests this morning.