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  1. #1
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    May 2007
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    Where to learn to become a machinist?

    I am having a hard time finding any schools or programs to teach people the machinist trade. I have a younger sibling that wants to learn machining and he is about to graduate high school but there are very limited places that I could find that actually have machine shop courses.

    What are young people looking to get into the trade supposed to do? We live in the northern NJ area btw.

    Thanks

  2. #2
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    Feb 2007
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    it's very sad what the schools are teaching these days

    the high school i went to in the early 80's was a vocational school that had all metal working courses including a machine shop ,after 4 years of school you left with the skill to work at any shop running hand and cnc equipment

    today ,because of all the liability bull$hit a student leaves there with just a little knowledge of g-code with no hands on experience


    if you can't find a school ,start doing some reading and try to find a shop that will let you do a internship ,if your lucky you can find a shop with some ready to retire machinist and get a real education from them

    if you lived in my area i would help you learn

    good luck

  3. #3
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    Jan 2008
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    I don't know how it is in N.J. but there is such a high demand for Machinists in Utah (where I am)., that for a young person the desire to want to be in the industry and learn the trade is usually enough to at least get in the door and start sweeping chips. Robert

  4. #4
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    Jan 2004
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    Apprenticeship is best.

    It can be hard to get into a shop when you have zero experience if they have resumes from people with experience.

    I usually take on Coop students from the high school here.
    Costs me nothing and if they are good I offer them a job when they are done school.
    It's win win.
    www.integratedmechanical.ca

  5. #5
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    Dec 2004
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    1865
    Here in CT the local technical college is offering guaranteed employment if you pass its machinst course, They have a consortium of 10 or twelve businesses that are desperate for trained employees and are working with the school to increase its supply of workers.
    Warning: DIY CNC may cause extreme hair loss due to you pulling your hair out.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by TOTALLYRC View Post
    Here in CT the local technical college is offering guaranteed employment if you pass its machinst course, They have a consortium of 10 or twelve businesses that are desperate for trained employees and are working with the school to increase its supply of workers.
    I really wish we had a program like that here, in the Salt Lake area we have probably 100 (just a guess) machine shops that are in need of skilled or unskilled people, to set up and operate machinery, (Good job security for me). And maybe this should start a poll, how many young people (say, ages 15 to 20) are interested in manufacturing? As a career or as a Hobby. Robert

  7. #7
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    May 2007
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    well its funny because there are those who say that all of the machining is going oversees so colleges, etc. are thinking of it as a dying trade here in the usa. But I see shops around here (northern NJ) that are busy as heck and looking for more people. Of course there are a lot of shops that just don't have work but these shops usually are either crappy quality, never deliver ontime or too highly priced. But any shop that does good quality work, for a good price and delivers on time I always see as very busy.

    just seems hard to find good dedicated people that know what they are doing or are willing to learn and will actually stay working for you.. they usually go elsewhere once they get some experience.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by squale View Post
    just seems hard to find good dedicated people that know what they are doing or are willing to learn and will actually stay working for you.. they usually go elsewhere once they get some experience.
    in concern to the lack of skilled guys to keep up to the market its been the same way here for some time


    three things come to mind if i think about what makes people move to another company ,

    1) "wages'' the single most important reason most people work

    2)politics , people always say you should never talk religion or politics but these are the same people who somehow can't leave their bs politics at home
    and like to make everyone elses life miserable

    3) boredom , stagnant monotony or a lack of mental stimulation ,
    the idle mind of a person who likes to think and loves a challenge seeps out through their ears

    maybe i should add a 4th : some employees are simply idiots

    it boils down to having a good pay in a good and challenging work environment with good people , then there should be no reason to leave

    squale
    find yourself a company who is looking for a machinist helper or machine operator and prepare a large hole in the back of your head because your going to need a lot of room to soak in what your going to learn , if your bright and pick up on things quickly your value will move up very rapidly
    A poet knows no boundary yet he is bound to the boundaries of ones own mind !! ........

  9. #9
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    May 2007
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    thanks, I"m actually saying this as an employer, I am part owner in a machine shop currently and am looking to expand. But I'm finding it hard to find qualified people. So I am looking to get my younger brother involved in the business as a machinist. He is graduating HS soon and wants to go into the machinist trade, hard to find good schools that teach this anymore. I figure the best security would be your own blood working with you.

  10. #10
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    Jul 2005
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    12177
    Quote Originally Posted by squale View Post
    ....But I'm finding it hard to find qualified people. So I am looking to get my younger brother involved in the business as a machinist... I figure the best security would be your own blood working with you.
    Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I couldn't stand to work with my father or brother years ago because we were too similar; very competent and opinionated.

    However, if you have a good relationship that is likely to survive working together train him on the job. At least that way you don't have to un-train all the wrong stuff he picks up in some so-called training program.
    An open mind is a virtue...so long as all the common sense has not leaked out.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by squale View Post
    thanks, I"m actually saying this as an employer, .
    oops sorry thats my speed reader acting up again ,i'll have to get a new one
    A poet knows no boundary yet he is bound to the boundaries of ones own mind !! ........

  12. #12
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    Sep 2006
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    24
    Applied Technology College in Davis County has machining classes 801-593-2500 and talk to Ken Evans. I talked to him last year to hire a student and no one was interested in helping out. Ran an add in paper last week end for programmer and lathe setup and great response, some couldnt speak English but lots of calls. [email protected]

  13. #13
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    Jan 2004
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    Working with family is way hard.
    There are many times I would have either moved on or fired them if it weren't family.
    Instead you learn to live with the ulcers and hope for a better future.
    www.integratedmechanical.ca

  14. #14
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    Jan 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by DareBee View Post
    Working with family is way hard.
    There are many times I would have either moved on or fired them if it weren't family.
    Instead you learn to live with the ulcers and hope for a better future.
    Amen to that

  15. #15
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    May 2007
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    oh believe me I know all too well, I work with my mother and father in this small business we have, what a pain in the ass at times.

    but knowing that they are dependable, and won't quite or go elsewhere is worth it's wait in gold. I'm sure many can tell you how they train somebody off the street for a number of months, they get good at working, then the person up and leaves... that is a huge waste of money

  16. #16
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    Jul 2006
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    58
    Have him go to the Northrop-Grumman apprentice school in Newport News, VA.

    Programs: http://www.apprenticeschool.com/programs.html

    Info on wages and benefits: http://www.apprenticeschool.com/wages.html

  17. #17
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    Aug 2008
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    There are not that many trade schools left any more. I guess I have to throw a plug in here for my alma mater, Johnson School of Technology, now known as Johnson College.
    http://www.johnson.edu/academics/pro....cfm?cat_id=11

    It's in Scranton PA.

  18. #18
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    Jul 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by dertsap View Post
    in concern to the lack of skilled guys to keep up to the market its been the same way here for some time


    three things come to mind if i think about what makes people move to another company ,

    1) "wages'' the single most important reason most people work

    2)politics , people always say you should never talk religion or politics but these are the same people who somehow can't leave their bs politics at home
    and like to make everyone elses life miserable

    3) boredom , stagnant monotony or a lack of mental stimulation ,
    the idle mind of a person who likes to think and loves a challenge seeps out through their ears

    maybe i should add a 4th : some employees are simply idiots

    it boils down to having a good pay in a good and challenging work environment with good people , then there should be no reason to leave

    squale
    find yourself a company who is looking for a machinist helper or machine operator and prepare a large hole in the back of your head because your going to need a lot of room to soak in what your going to learn , if your bright and pick up on things quickly your value will move up very rapidly
    1- wages is indeed a big thing but often you will see a problem on both side of the fence there employer who under pay there employee or employee that ask to much in regard to there qualification

    2-yeah that is true, your own belief are exactly that your own a job is not a parliament

    3-this is one of the biggest problem i thing in a workshop environment employer should definitely learn how to pin point the capacity of there employee before its to late, i remember one job that i had where the boss learned that i was good with making small website and he came to me and he ask me if i would like to work on there site for a week same wage and all but made it stimulating to work somewhere else in the shop doing something else, some people wont mind staying all there life in front of the same machine doing the same thing but some wont, just like in hockey sometime its good to put your center on the wing

    4-some employer are to
    The opinions expressed in this post are my own. -Les opinions exprimé dans ce messages sont les mienne

  19. #19
    we spend more awake time at work than we do at home with our families and i listed those reasons because i just believe that there are far too many employers who don't understand that a happy employee is a productive employee , too often guys are dragged down because of one trouble maker , and usually the compaqny is so concerned with getting parts out that they refuse to remove the problem rather than understand that the other guys are willing to take on the extra bulk of work in order to get some peace of mind

    "why do people always leave" is a question that i have heard many times before but when ive answered a happy employee is a productive employee , it only fell on deaf ears ,
    those are generally the three key reasons people leave a job , why else would they unless they had to
    A poet knows no boundary yet he is bound to the boundaries of ones own mind !! ........

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by dertsap View Post
    we spend more awake time at work than we do at home with our families and i listed those reasons because i just believe that there are far too many employers who don't understand that a happy employee is a productive employee , too often guys are dragged down because of one trouble maker , and usually the compaqny is so concerned with getting parts out that they refuse to remove the problem rather than understand that the other guys are willing to take on the extra bulk of work in order to get some peace of mind

    "why do people always leave" is a question that i have heard many times before but when ive answered a happy employee is a productive employee , it only fell on deaf ears ,
    those are generally the three key reasons people leave a job , why else would they unless they had to
    I agree, if you are an employer you have opted to take on that resposibility, you have employees. And too often parts are the priority when in the big picture the future should be, If an employee is not happy you'll get near nothing from them.


    If you are an employee you have responibility for your self, you need to put yourself in an environment that is gratifying. Or get out.


    I also think machinists are fickle anyway, but I also think that what we contribute is seriously taken for granted.

    JMO, Robert

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