what is the average salary of mastercam programmers in usa

[The_kid]

I'm pretty young (hence the screen name) and I have known for a long time that people have made mistakes and there is no need to repeat them. If you LISTEN to people that have more experience then yourself and pay attention to all the details and ask questions you can learn a substantial amount. currently there is a lot about my position that leaves to wanting. I hope that someday (soon) I can find a place where someone is willing to share their knowledge with an ambitious individual such as myself. I have been machining since I was 18 started out doing manual while I was earning my degree in cad/cam, went on to expand my skill set to include set up and operation of nearly anything. I almost always take the lead on the floor within a few months. I can easily program on the fly, and can use mastercam to program live tooling lathe with sub spindle and basic milling. But recently took a job that "promised" me a programming position. I'm dedicated and still feel like a handshake should be a binding contract. anyone got suggestions?

[Zoober]

Patience....

See my posts above. The cream rises to the top, but it takes time.

Just keep giving you're best, and you'll be fine.

Learn. Always learn. There is much to be learned even from those less skilled. If nothing else, from THEIR mistakes. Like poka yoke design...

[Rotary Ninja]

You sound like you are well on your way to a rewarding career. If you feel you aren't doing what you are hired for simply talk to your boss about it. There is no need to be worried about asking a question. If you're upset about the work they are having you do just try to be clear headed and talk to him about it.

 

When i first started out my first machining job was running a vertical CNC lathe with live spindle. I ran Aerospace parts that were in the $30,000 range. It was all just "follow the process, measure, and make offsets" kinda work. After a couple years there I went to a shop where they did prototype Aerospace work mainly for GE. The first couple weeks I ran a manual engine lathe cutting a 13" Waspalloy ring that was like .300" tall. The cross section was basically a rectangle. It was as simple as simple gets. After I think 3 weeks the boss asked me how I liked it. I of course hated it. But I simply said, "it's kind of monotonous". He said "I will take care of that tomorrow".

 

The next day I was placed on a manual horizontal mill older than the hills and covered in grease. There was no readout. Just indicators with the faces missing. I was given a process drawing and shown where the forklift and the part was. Then he walked away as he basically said "have fun!". I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Each day I came in to be handed a new process drawing. I never saw the actual blueprint until four or five weeks later. I was still working on the part by the way. When I saw what I was making, even after all that time working on it I was still shocked. I was then teamed up with the guy who I consider to be my mentor on the CNC's and together we made this...

 

That part was I think 42" tall. I followed the part from the boring mill, to a Bullard vertical lathe, then to a Century Turn CNC VTL, and finally to a Kuraki CNC horizontal mill. If I had not spoke up and told my boss I needed something more challenging it's hard telling where I would be today.

[Bob W.]

I'm pretty young (hence the screen name) and I have known for a long time that people have made mistakes and there is no need to repeat them. If you LISTEN to people that have more experience then yourself and pay attention to all the details and ask questions you can learn a substantial amount. currently there is a lot about my position that leaves to wanting. I hope that someday (soon) I can find a place where someone is willing to share their knowledge with an ambitious individual such as myself. I have been machining since I was 18 started out doing manual while I was earning my degree in cad/cam, went on to expand my skill set to include set up and operation of nearly anything. I almost always take the lead on the floor within a few months. I can easily program on the fly, and can use mastercam to program live tooling lathe with sub spindle and basic milling. But recently took a job that "promised" me a programming position. I'm dedicated and still feel like a handshake should be a binding contract. anyone got suggestions?

 

I am looking for someone like that. Sent you a PM.

[The_kid]

Trust me when I say I have. the supervisors here change their mind every 3 days. I can run any manual equipment you put me in front of and do it very well. My first lathe was a 30hp beast that would take .5 DOC in single pass at .024IPR. I would hold .001" on that thing all day long, while I was going to school full time. I have since done aerospace and prototyping and just about everything in between. I was programming a 100hp live tooling VTL before this company realized it wasn't feasible to keep. But I have had no formal position on which I was programming all day and it is damn hard to get consideration with little seat time. So I will keep trying my best because I refuse to do anything half xxxx.

 

Zoober you are right it is true that people should treat everyone as if they know something that they do not.

[Robert Ouellette]

i live in kingston ontario and last year made 65k with 350 hours ot. if it was not for my wife and her salary we would have a hard time making ends meet. i have been doing this for 15 yrs and everyday i learn something new. i can run anything manual and i have not found a machine i could not program yet. my bosses love me and would be hard pressed to find a replacement for me. they can't even find me a good aprentice that wants to work and learn. we have hired 10 people in 3 yrs and not one could last more than 3 months. and we are the highest paying shop within 75 miles. i think i am very fortunate to have made it this far and have the experiance i have. but salary is all relative to experiance and willingness to work and learn. i would love to further my career and make more money but like it has been said here before it comes with more responsibility and strees. i know i can hack it but some can't and that is what is holding them back.

[Rotary Ninja]

i live in kingston ontario and last year made 65k with 350 hours ot. if it was not for my wife and her salary we would have a hard time making ends meet. i have been doing this for 15 yrs and everyday i learn something new. i can run anything manual and i have not found a machine i could not program yet. my bosses love me and would be hard pressed to find a replacement for me. they can't even find me a good aprentice that wants to work and learn. we have hired 10 people in 3 yrs and not one could last more than 3 months. and we are the highest paying shop within 75 miles. i think i am very fortunate to have made it this far and have the experiance i have. but salary is all relative to experiance and willingness to work and learn. i would love to further my career and make more money but like it has been said here before it comes with more responsibility and strees. i know i can hack it but some can't and that is what is holding them back.

 

I know what you mean. Where I work they have hired a dozen guys that haven't lasted more than a few months. They just let another one go yesterday. I think the future of machining trade is in serious trouble. You just don't see the old guys around any more. And the younger generation has no desire to learn. I know there are exceptions to this. But this line of work was so different 15 years ago.

[Oppiz]

$25/hr x 40hrs x 52 weeks = $52k/yr

 

In my neck of the woods, a family of 4, you're not even breaking even month to month.

By the time you've paid, your taxes, health ins, rent, what you have left isn't providing any kind of decent lifestyle

 

I make less than that and my neck of the woods, I live pretty darn good.

[Guest]

I make less than that and my neck of the woods, I live pretty darn good.

 

That was why I added the caveat, "in my neck of the woods"

[mx247]

I really enjoy the challenges of machining and programming but it does seem to be an under-valued trade. $20-$25 an hour seems to be the max in my area and like John said that puts you at a point of living paycheck to paycheck when trying to support a family.

BTW I saw an add in the paper for a grocery store manager for $23 an hour was almost temped to apply it would have cut my commute by 40 mins LOL!

[David Colin]

I'm a Mastercam programmer since 2003. I 'now' have solid knowledges in machining and programming. I'm mainly cutting aeronautic/space parts 3 to 5axis (impellers, cams). These last 2 years i mainly programmed and learnt how to remove chips from Inconel718 (=pain in the a**). Only for 17$/hr... (in France)

[The_kid]

I really just like the challenge. I enjoy the tough projects and the satifaction of getting it done right. while idustry wide pay is not what it should be think about the alternatives... just saying. I enjoy machining.

[Darin]

I live in Portland Oregon area and high end programmers can make $35 to $45... I have been in manufacturing since I was 10 in my dads shop.. The problem today is everyone just wants to program and use cad/cam and make as much as possible sitting at a desk... Companies are finding out that you can be the best Mastercam and other Cad/Cam programmer and not understand how to correctly make the part or hold the part.. Maximum material removal comes to mind it is lost in most new programmers and machinists today.. I get paid very well and I mostly just teach new programmers and machinists about how make and hold the parts.. And make the Cam system work like the shop wants... In the next 10 to 20 years manual machinist are going to be very hard to come by and will be a dyeing trade.. One of the companies I contract program for has the manual machinists making the most money out of all CNC operators and programmers.. Every new programmer and machinist should learn how to run a old worn out manual lathe and old manual mill and understand things like climb and conventional cutting and understanding and feeling how it cuts.. I was so surprised at how many new programmer's and so call machinists didn't know the difference between climb and conventional cutting...

[rogkick]

The future for CNC machining may possibly face the same dilemma that manual machining faced 20 odd years ago...it will become in some places a support role, with reduced earning potential. And it will play support to additive machining technologies. Complicated medical devices, turbine components, and rapid prototypes, which were bread and butter for CNC machining cells, are now being printed, and WIRE EDM and CNCing is used to process the part after printing. It is only a matter of time before the technology moves beyond the early adopter phase and into the mainstream shops, albeit just the shops that can afford it initially.

One of the biggest players in this technology, USA based, using German technology, was recently bought out by a major multinational...who have a serious forward looking agenda regarding this technology. (Enough clues there I think )

There will always be a need for high end multi axis work, but one would have to seriously worry about the value of the 9 to 5 programmer, and his worth to a company in the future.

 

Cue Feature Suggestion for Mastercam X24 - Additive Machining Strategies

[GoetzInd]

I know everyone gets excited about additive machining and I believe that it will have its place both now and in the future. But, you have to keep in mind that conventional machining technology is also advance at a pretty significant rate and is only becoming more efficient over time.

 

Mike

[The_kid]

Darin I agree with you! I started out doing manual. It is almost more important to know what a machine wont do vs what it can. It is astonishing to think you can program without prior set up and operation experiance.

[Rotary Ninja]

Here in Indy I know some guys at a larger shop making $35/hour, which is really good money for machining in Indy. Especially if you live 30 miles outside Indy because the cost of living drops off pretty fast just outside town. These people aren't much more than experienced operators though. It's not bad work, but it's the same parts day in and day out. And everyone there thinks they are God's gift to machinists (some of them actually are). But 90% can't do much more than edit a program. There are probably only a few out of a hundred there that have ever seen CAM software. I could be there making that much money, but I tried it and there's just no fun in doing something the way someone else has already done before. On the western side of Indiana where I grew up the average is probably around $17/hour more or less depending on your skills. The cost of living is a lot lower there though.

 

Darin I agree with you! I started out doing manual. It is almost more important to know what a machine wont do vs what it can. It is astonishing to think you can program without prior set up and operation experience.

 

Did Bob ever hire you? Because you get it. More than most guys your age. A wiseguy once told me... if you're not hovering your finger over the e-stop you aren't trying hard enough. What he meant was to always try harder. That meant learning when things were going to fail... the hard way. But you learn more that way I think. So I like what you said about knowing what a machine won't do. When you know that, you have a better idea how to process a part and not have things surprise you in later operations. Yeah, I've chucked a few parts out of a vise

[The_kid]

no rotary I went in, he sat me down in front of a mold cavity and said here you go. Never programmed a horizontal before. I didn't stand a chance. I know the fundimentals and could have been up to speed in about a month. I have only been doing programming for aprox a year and nothing real complex. He said I didn't have the proficentcy he wanted. Though to be fair I knew I probably didn't after visiting his website (very cool stuff) before ever going over there. So to make up for it I told him I'd work everyday after work at his place for free untill I was up to speed. He just plain didn't have the time which I cannot hold against him. I just turned 26 and have been doing the trade for 8 years now. I have 2 kids 6 and 8 (doing the math that put me at how old?) so no I'm not one of those guys who wastes time on the weekends drinking beer with his buddies. I do invest a lot of time outside of work to get the skills. I need a new computer to be able to practise things like molds on spare time. but I can't come up with $2k right now. We all know there is no replacement for seat time and I am bored to tears at the place I'm at now (long story). I'm still kicking myself for not having the skill. But, I'm ambitious enough to learn so I just need that one oppertunity.

 

Wise guy once told me sucess is not to be measured so much by the position you reach in life but, by the obstacles you overcome while trying to suceed.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

BTW I saw an add in the paper for a grocery store manager for $23 an hour

 

This is why there are very few good CNC programmers available. Why would someone go through all the time, effort, and expense of becoming a good CNC programmer if you can get a similar amount of money with a lot less stress doing something much easier? It's all about supply and demand.

[Zoffen]

This is why there are very few good CNC programmers available. Why would someone go through all the time, effort, and expense of becoming a good CNC programmer if you can get a similar amount of money with a lot less stress doing something much easier? It's all about supply and demand.

 

Why?!?!?

 

Because its the coolest trade in the world!

 

ya it is sad when you see stuff like that.

 

I feel its more of a personal thing for me, went after it at first for the joy and knew the money would follow!

[ed@ddtechinc]

I see $20-$65 on the left coast. the wide gap sometimes depends on skills other times its who you know. I shop jobs more on the company's stability for long term not how much I can make per hour, my skillset must match as well. this is a vast trade. I know aerospace but would be worthless in cabinet shop or boat building.

Hello, I have a CAD file I would like to get quoted in MasterCam. I assume you interested and do that. Please reply to [email protected]

[Guest]

Hello, I have a CAD file I would like to get quoted in MasterCam. I assume you interested and do that. Please reply to [email protected]

 

 

You're seriously dragging up a 3 year 4month old topic for this? C'mon man. PM the guy of you want to do something like that.

[jlw™]

Or start an entire thread. Who knows where it'll go.

[slyym]

Lol!!!! I love when people do this.

[Fred @ Slate Industries]

Way out there but...in my low 50's and have been at this since 1984..

anything put in front of me, I have a plan / process / attack at it right out of the gate .

I have seen it before in one way or another.

 

I made xx,500. last year

My wife (Wilma j/k) thinks i'm worth 100,000 min. "HEY ,THEY NEED YOU , your the commodity " !!!