How did you get here? (into programming?)

[Jimmy Wakeford from Barefoot CNC]

I did not want to hijack Miss Kathy's thread, but was curious how you guys started out.

 

I did NOT want to be a machinist. My Dad was a machinist, my uncles on the Wakeford side, my GranDaddy Wakeford was a machinist/tinker...

 

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Not me!

 

Well guess what.... Turns out I went into the "family trade" and luv it.

 

Jimmy

[Mick from CNC Software Inc.]

My father was in the trade(bronze welder), my late uncle was too (fitter), and my two cousins, one a machinist the other administration and I followed in their footsteps, in fact we all worked for the same company for a while, 3000 strong when I joined in late '79. I am now the only family member left in the trade albeit in a very different, and way more fun , environment

[cadcam]

Well like you said,I did not want to to this as a trade.I wanted to be a cop.

 

Well you all or at least most of you have meet scott bond from this board.He is my brother inlaw.

 

He was in this trade at the time as a Wax Investment tool maker making shapes; well I did not get into the academy.

I need to get off my young lazy but and I had watched Scott making some of the shapes he made and thought it would be kind of cool along with Scott and my sister said as I was staying with at the time. GET a J O B.

 

So Scott got me started were he was working at the time.

 

There it is in somewhat of a nut shell.

Oh and Scott bought his on seat of mastercam when it first came out and I had a chance to see it at that time.

Later working with him at his shop I started using it.

 

That is the basics for the beginning.

[mold100]

Its what I always pretty much knew I was going to do. In Northwest Pa., There wasnt much outside of

Manufacturing or at least that intrested me.Theres something about Moldmaking that facinates me. I love complex 3D shapes. Most of what got me into programming was the challenge and the people who did not want to do it.

[Scott Bond]

I started sweeping in a tube bending shop at age 11 with my dad in 1966.I became a machinist for the tube bending tooling. Later, I started doing work as a prototype machinist, and tool maker. In 1975 (I knew everything)-- I started making wax investment molds. In 1985

Moldmakers were respected. When I started Mastercam their was no V0,, MC just existed , I was still making wax investment molds. In 1989--1993 I had my own shop,,I got caught paying a guy under the table, and calling Mazac purchase's leases,,, I am just finishing paying the $452K back taxes on it now in 2004.

I showed Jay the stuff I had then,,now I take his class. He thinks it's so he can show me the new stuff,,but I just come around now and then to see what he has retained.

Scott teh' I really dig that Jay mentioned me.

[Müřlıń®]

I needed a job. When I got married, I moved to Henderson Co, NC. There weren't many jobs available. There was this Mold shop down the road from Fletcher a bit. I think it was called MTD or something.

 

Since my father had a bunch of machinists tools and I had run a lathe since I was 13, I said what the heck and went and applied for apprentice Mold-Maker.

 

Bluffed my way through the door. Built molds and dies for about 10 years after that in alot of diffrent shops.

 

Finally I had worked for about all the Mold shops here in my area in Texas and started having trouble finding a job.....imagine that

 

Then I stumbled into my own business building forging dies. I only needed a bridgeport and a 28" engine lathe to get statted.

 

After running my own business for a while, my customer sends out a letter to all of its vendors saying they would only be sending work out to CNC shops from now on.

 

So that's basicly when all the trouble started........heh

 

 

Murlin

[Jimmy Wakeford from Barefoot CNC]

Come guys tell it all. If you guys step up I will. There is more than meets the eye.

 

Jimmy

[gcode]

I was a sophmore at Colorado School of Mines and ran into some finanical problems. I joined the

USMC and went through boot camp.

They sent me to Small Arms Repair School at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. (an Army base) I had to wait a couple of weeks for my school to start.

 

While I was waiting , several Marines in the Army's machinist course got thrown in jail out in town.

They picked me to fill one of the empty slots.

After a year in North Carolina and a year in Japan I got sent to Southern California.

I got some part time work in a job shop out in town and have been dong this ever since.

 

[ 12-13-2003, 10:10 PM: Message edited by: gcode ]

[Thad]

quote:

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They sent me to Small Arms Repair School at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. (an Army base)

---

At least we got one Marine started off on the right foot.

 

Thad teh Army vet

 

[ 12-13-2003, 10:32 PM: Message edited by: Thad ]

[socklessjimmyjoe]

[ 12-14-2003, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: socklessjimmyjoe ]

[George_Gerhard]

I studied aviation mechanics in high school, in New York City. I was going to join the Marine corp. to be an aviation tech. I graduated high school at 17, and my father would not sign my papers, so I had to wait till I was 18, just three months. My uncle was a machinists, and told be about a shop that was looking for a helper, I applied and got the position as a helper in a tool and die shop. I really liked it, the shop was busy and I was getting alot of overtime. The guys I was working with were telling me to forget about the military and go to college. After 8 months I attended New York City community college and studied mfg. technology. I was doing good, since I already knew how to run a lathe and milling machine and shaper. I still worked part time in the tool and die shop. The company signed me up for the New York City apprenticeship program. After 2 years I transferred to a 4 year engineering school. Three years later I graduated as a mechanical engineer, and completed the apprenticeship program, and was now a journeyman tool and die maker. I learned edm and nc (yes paper tape)in school.

I was offered a job as an engineer at a plastic fabricator. I was designing dies, fixtures and small special machinery.

Another engineer and myself designed a machine to cut plastic t tops for Camaros and the roof for the Corvette. Our machine worked, but was slow, and was dedicated, so I suggested a cnc machine. My project was to research machines with a large table and capable of 20,000 rpms, After some research I discovered cnc routers, many were poor quailty, then I found a machine made in Japan that was of good quality and would do our job. When the tech/engineer arrived there was a problem with the machine, I tried to be of assistance but the guy was the know it all type. The next day my boss took me and my associate back to the machine and told the guy to let us help him. After 10 minutes of reading the schematics I fixed the problem ( a limit switch got bent in shipping) We also knew more about programming than this guy. One month later that company offered me a job. I though it would be interesting and exciting, and since I had one child and another on the way the money they offered was the final decision. I designed special fixturing and machine retro-fits. I also traveled teaching programming and machine applications.

The company wanted to build their own machine, so I designed my own nc router. We then started production with a Korean company, and I was in Korea once a month (I still hate kimchee). A few years later the company was sold, and unless I wanted to move to Virginia I would be out of a job. Our competitor hired me in a flash. After a while I just got sick and tired of traveling, I never saw my kids play ball the weekends I was exhausted. I quit and started working on my own. I was doing cnc control retro-fits, teaching programming classes, at this point I knew a few different cam packages, I was also repairing machines, anything related to cnc machines. A mastercam reseller wanted to hire me, but we were way off on the money. I am not the type to work for myself, not that Im lazy, but I would get nervous sick, when I had a slow week and did not make a certain number. Also not everybody wants to pay for service, my phone would ring constantly with people asking my advise, when I would suggest they hire my services they would actually tell me "I thought you could help me on the phone". Believe me its very different when you are selling your services, how much do you give away for free?

I was offered a position as an engineer from a CNC router dealer in my area 7 years ago, and have been doing all the designing for machine and control retro-fits, teaching apps and programming. I really like my work, I do not have to fly, they only sell in the Northeast, but I drive constantly. At least I can be home more and enjoy some of my hobbies, and this forum.

 

rgds

George

[gcode]

quote:

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Com'on Gcode. A year at cherry point

and everyone else was in jail but U?

---

It was Aberdeen, Maryland.

200 jarheads on an Army base. The hard part was staying out of the hospital

 

[ 12-13-2003, 11:38 PM: Message edited by: gcode ]

[socklessjimmyjoe]

[ 12-14-2003, 11:21 AM: Message edited by: socklessjimmyjoe ]

[socklessjimmyjoe]

Gcode ,

You were not the jarhead that sent me to the infirmity were U? He was wearing a green uniform.

 

SJJ

 

[ 12-14-2003, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: socklessjimmyjoe ]

[gcode]

Sunday morning edit!!!

 

Jimmy, I hope you are feeling better this morning.

 

You may have tangled with some jarheads during your Army time, but it wasn't me. You were in grade school when I was in the Corps.

 

[ 12-14-2003, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: gcode ]

[Kenneth Potter]

About one hundred years ago I was forced to load parts on a fadal cause the regular operator was sick.They looked at me and said you look like you can handle this.

I was scared S###less....THe HEad set up programmer was a MORON IDIOT PIN HEAD ....I watched him for hours program & setup & crashed the spindal

into the table......THREE TIMES..LOLOLOL.......So i said to myself....I like this work I can do that and get PAID!

This jerk so called programmer hid all the programming books from everyone. I contact Fanuc & Fadal Engineering & purchaced all the manuals,,,attended the fancu mill classes in southfield mich.

The light bulb in my head lit Up.....I like making stuff this way...this is the coolest ,the possibilites are endless! As a draftman (MODELER)I had the jump on everyone else...(I can read a Freakin print LOL)

My VALUE WENT UP BIG TIME OVER NIGHT !

I started to hang with the manual machinist a do simple jobs and uses the cnc to do the radial funky stuff and i got fast and good ! then i took on more complex stuuf as time when on !the old guys

over (sixty ) showed me the ropes ! I owe them dearly.

 

 

Like i said that was a Long time ago...thats how i goy started

[TREV]

hello all,

as corey ststed being from northwest pa manufacturing was a way of life.

after high school i was managing a mcdonalds and thought there was more to life,(financially speaking)to step back a minute... my father was self employed as a owner of a feed mill and garden center that my grand dad had started,i origianally thought that is what i would do also,but my father passed away at 40 when i was 12 so that had ruled getting the family buisness out.so back at mcdonals i was 18 and wathced my uncle make a decent living in the tool and die trade.i knocked on a few doors and all i got was you need some basic training so i enrolle in a 1 year program at the local skill center.and here i am.as for programming in mc about 7 years ago the company i worked for was pretty slow so i found a entry level programming position at a start up company, jumped at the chance to do offline programming and have not looked back since.as for the trade being a decent way to make a living it has been working out for me so far. i have not been out of work since i started back in1989 .

i believe the way the trade is going now i will not be able to say that for my son.hopefully he ll find a good job doing something else,still making good money but spending more time with his family and less at work

thanks ,

trevor

[Jimmy Wakeford from Barefoot CNC]

Kenneth,

 

I was an operator to start with. The programs I'd get would not not, and I started fixin them. I have been fixing them ever since.

 

Gcode,

 

What machines were you using in the "Green Machine"? Were they manuals or NC tape? I got started as tape was going out. WAHOO! I hated messing with tapes. I know a guy that used to be able to read punch tape.

 

Jimmy

 

Jimmy

[Rekd™]

I was in high school, early '80s. I worked part time with my mother at San Diego Industrial Plastics as a fabricator. Right after high school, I joined the carnival. Slept in a sleeping bag on the ground, then bought a tent, then a car, then a truck, and finally a small camping trailer. Was a great party, made good money, but wasn't my cup'o tea.

 

So I came back to San Diego, and applied at Dolphin Machine, and lied my freakin' xxxx off. They hired me. (Suckers!) I watched very closely, asked some really dumb questions, and was some how able to pull it off. (I realized right away I had a knack.) I still have my micrometer from that job!

 

I spent a year or so there, and they moved to Nevada, and I wasn't about to follow. From there I went to G.V. Industries to work with my brother. I spent several years there, learned a lot, taught a lot to others, (including my 'know-it-all' boss). I got an offer from a company called Sanders Machine and Tool Company, to program with Virtual Gibbs, so I took it. Learned it in about 38 minutes. The guy turned out to be a coke-head, and I finally left perminately after a few years. I went back to GV as a programmer, but while they gave me rave reviews and said I was all this and all that, they only gave me a quarter raise at review time. I told them thanks, I appreciate it, and oh, BTW, here's my 2 weeks notice!

 

I worked a few different shops after that, learning several different softwares. I did a lot of contract work after that, off and on. (Still do) I met Trevor Bailey while I was at Lopardo. I had worked at a coulpe different shops with MC in my past, and he convinced me to do some p/t instructing for a machining course that would touch on MC. That's when my Mastercam skills went thru the roof, and I knew this was where I wanted to be.

 

The company I'm at now is just over a year old. When I went to interview for the job, they didn't have a machine on the floor. I turned it down and got a call a few weeks later, asking if I would come in as a temp and get them thru their first parts. (The guy they ended up hiring spent all day trying to make a set of soft jaws). So I came, I saw, I kicked xxxx. They like what they saw and offered me a perm position. Now, a year later, we've got 5 HAAS', and more work than we know what to do with. I took a cut in pay to work for this guy, because he somehow convinced me it would be worth it in the end. He's an awsome boss, and I'm turning him into a CNC machinist. He was a lead engineer for one of the bigger companies here in SD. We both feed off each other and learn from each other every day.

 

My dad was a machinist, all three of my remaining brothers are machinist. My son will at least know about it, and will be taught CAD/CAM at an early age. If he doesn't want to get into it, that's fine, but I want him to have the taste of it. My dad always told me that while I'd prolly never get rich in this trade, I would never be out of work. The very best part, which he didn't tell me about, was the fact that I absolutely LOVE what I do. I look forward to going to work nearly every day.

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

'Rekd

[Jimmy Wakeford from Barefoot CNC]

Even after all these years I am still awed by machining. Both manual and CNC. You start with a block of material and remove want doesn't belong, then there's the part. If I could do it all over again I'd just start out sooner than I did.

 

Jimmy

[gcode]

quote:

---

What machines were you using in the "Green Machine"?

---

When I was in Armour it was all WWII vintage equipment. Leather belt drive and HHS hand ground cutting tools. We had vans with machines mounted in the back. There was a Light, Medium and Heavy van, each one having a different set of machine tools.

In the Air Wing the machines were a litte more modern but still no carbide. When I got to El Toro

I got a night job out in town. There first time I

saw a carbide turning tool at 500 SFM I didn't

beleive my eyes.

 

quote:

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I hated messing with tapes. I know a guy that used to be able to read punch tape

---

The first NC I ran was a Burgmaster NC drilling machine. The 6 spindle head was controlled by

electric and hydralic limit switches. The table

was controlled by NC tape. I could read the tape,

cut it and splice in an edit after a while.

It really sucked when someone splashed coolant on your tape.

[Travis_Buchanan]

I was amazed when I saw my first computer in the 6th grade. It was an Apple IIe. It had some neat games that you ran from a floppy like Orgeon Trail. I used to spend all my library time playing on this computer. In high school I took Basic and Pascal programming, along with every math & science class I could get into. That stuff made since to me unlike english, diagraming sentences, & history. I guess you all can tell I never was no count at English. I was into cars and electronics. I went into the local community college taking Electronics and we had to draw our schematics in CADkey 3.3, man I ate that up. Made me sorry that I did not take drafting in high school. I was also working night shift at a local furniture plant, and was button pushing a cnc router. I started watching the code and trying to figure out what it was doing. I finally got moved to first shift as the set-up operator of that machine, and I finally droped out of electronics which I had grown to hate and started taking more computer and drafting classes. I ran the router for about 3 years and got promoted to programmer. I have been programming for about 10 years now, with the last 2 being 90% 5-axis. I love the job. I have just recently started a new job and it presents a lot of challange. I can't think of anything else I would rather do. I would like to someday do 5-axis consultant work in the router market, but that is down the road. I still have a lot to learn, and parts to cut.

[mold100]

quote:

---

Come guys tell it all. If you guys step up I will. There is more than meets the eye.

---

Jimmy, your right.

 

It was those damn aliens, They told me to do it or theyd leave me in that corn field.

[Jimmy Wakeford from Barefoot CNC]

Mold,

Thats what I was lookin for, I knew it wasn't a dream.

Jimmy

[Shady]

I quit the sawmill in 1987 after going to school to be a lumber inspector and ended up sawing for 2 yrs. Started to work for my cousin in his welding / fab. shop in 1988. I was the 7th person hired. Sometime in 1989 we figured out we could use an old Lucas boring mill to drill some holes..it was just drawing dust in the corner. Ended up buying a drill...then a lathe...then a mill...ans so on. Today we still are a fab/ welding shop, but also have an electric shop a component shop and an assembly shop. We sell a complete line of coal mine equipment and parts. Last year we bought 2 new cnc's and at the same time mastercam mill level 1. With the help of some friends at the Robert C. Byrd Institute and Wynn Frick our Mastercam dealer I am slowly and clumsily figuring this thing out. I also owe a debt to this forum..I seldom talk here, but often read and try to understand and remember. Thanks for all the help guys. ~~~~Shady