my jobs

[Pottstown Cuda]

Started of handle pulling in a machine shop while I went to tech school. I worked machining for a few years after I graduated doing manual machining and CNC work. I finally got a chance to go work for the local Ford plant assembling electronic devices. It was here that I learned to hate unions and realized why cars cost so much money. I got fed up with the job after 2 years and went back to machining. I finally landed at a smaller Steam valve company and put 13 years in before quitting. I started as a CNC machinist and left as the plant manager. I got very bored towards the end so I started my own machine shop kind of like a hobby. Well the hobby is a little bigger now and I have 4 CNC machines and a nice collection of manual machines. I definitely made more money as plant manager but I have way more flexibility and higher potential with my own business.

[pink panther]

managing peopls certainly has it's downers, especially in modern times as work ethic has changed greatly. Glad you are able to do something you and at your own descretion and schedule.

[dougs bs23]

I hope things work out for you in your own shop,, So tell us when are you going to start producing parts for us,,,like polished aluminum pulleys, brackets, maybe custom door cranks,tubular upper control arms,etc,etc.  Bet you could do well there, yurn a profit and undercut the competition

[Stacked440]

Just curious...what program do you use to draw parts in?

[Pottstown Cuda]

Just curious...what program do you use to draw parts in?

I used a lot of different ones over the years and even did some 3D mold work. But I am still a firm believer in Autocad 2D. I have been machining for most of my life and started drawing with Autocad R4 and I still use R14. I do not like the newer revisions.

[Pottstown Cuda]

managing peopls certainly has it's downers, especially in modern times as work ethic has changed greatly. Glad you are able to do something you and at your own descretion and schedule.

I never had much trouble managing people in the shop. I came from there and could do each and ever job. That makes it very easy to deal with people. I also gave them a lot respect and always got it back in the end. the biggest problem was weeding through a pile of applicants to find the right employee. That was the worst part of the job.

[Pottstown Cuda]

I hope things work out for you in your own shop,, So tell us when are you going to start producing parts for us,,,like polished aluminum pulleys, brackets, maybe custom door cranks,tubular upper control arms,etc,etc.  Bet you could do well there, yurn a profit and undercut the competition

I have made quite a few parts for my dad's street rod lately. He has a 36 Plymouth P5 rumble seat coupe. I had to help him adapt the Chevy drive train into the car. As for custom car parts, the market is not the greatest for these item. I need to make on average $60 an hour on the machines to pay the bills. If I have a guarantee of a dozen or more parts then I can put the time into the parts. If I do not then I end up eating to much and not making a profit. As for my fathers parts I could not argue and shut down any machine we needed to make his parts.

[A110235]

Machine work has always interested my.  I think that if I hadn't chosen to make electrical work my career I seriously would have looked into it. 

It was here that I learned to hate unions...

Having been a union electrician for 10 years I am pretty sure that I know what you dislike about unions.  I have seen only a small portion of the "bad side" and it throughly disgust me.  Luckily my experience has overall been pretty good.  I have met some top notch people associated with unions.  I have had several discussions about unions and I have discovered one thing, it all depends on the people.  As with any organization if the people involved have low morals and bad ethics then it gives everything associated to it a crappy reputation.  To me the union is a lot like democracy, some times they are a pain in the ass and totally useless but historically they have done a lot of good.  So I am glad they are both around none the less.

Kyle