Hi all

[Mitchg07261995]

Hey, I know this in an overdue introduction but hey as they say "better late than never" lol. My name is Mitch I am almost 18 years of age and have been on this great forum for 2 months. I am in the lakewood area of Colorado. I have many different interests that include model trains, any type of engine, model airplanes, dirtbikes, cars, and a few others. My biggest interest is machining with metal. I started taking a precision machining class in august of 2012 just so I could make a Boll Aero 18 engine and do nothing else. I walked into the class the first day, saw the machines and pardon my french said "holy crap this is way more complex that I thought it would be!" well, it was real tough for me the first few months and almost gave up completely
I sure am glad I have not because this has grown to my biggest interest and I realize now that since I was real young, I have always dreampt of becoming a machinist and now that dream is a real possibility for me
I am currently building two model engines, a compressed air Micro Hosc, and a stirling engine that my teacher is having a few of my classmates and I construct.
Next year I start learning how to use the cnc machines, that is going to so much fun!
Well any ways, sorry for the late introduction. I love this forum! It is awesome in everyway
Mitch

 

[gus]

Hi Mitch,
Warm welcome from faraway sunny Singapore.18 is a good age to start trade school. Like you I went to trade school at 18 just after high school eqv in Singapore. Went thru all the trades like
bench fitting-----------machining(turning,shaping,milling,drilling),welding and blacksmithing.
Mechanical Engineering is a very wide/broad/deep profession. Wish I was 18 again.
Here is my IC Engine which I am figuring out how to get it to start n run.

Gus Teng.

 

[dalem9]

Hi Welcome to the forum . Lots to see and learn here . Dale

 

[AussieJimG]

Welcome Mitch, having a passion for something makes life worthwhile. Serial passions are good too.

Jim

 

[Mitchg07261995]

thanks for the warm welcome guys, Gus I like your engine!
I need to get my own lathe and mill then I can work when ever I like

 

[Rivergypsy]

Hi Mitch,

Well done, and stick with it. I'm following your threads and you're doing well.
It's a good job too if you head that way - I apprenticed as a scientific instrument maker in '87, and it's still like being paid for my favourite hobby - go for it

Dave

 

[Herbiev]

Thanks for the intro and welcome to the forum.

 

[Tin Falcon]

after a hundred posts you are already part of the family here . so no rolling out of the red carpet or sweeping off the welcome mat.
and I do not see any red carpet or welcome mat emicicons anyway .
thanks for the intro.
Tin

 

[Mitchg07261995]

its good to be part of the family
I do plan on being a machinist for my career

 

[gus]

its good to be part of the family
I do plan on being a machinist for my career

Hi Mitch,
Wise and good decision.
Highly skilled machinist are rare specimens.


Gus Teng,

 

[Mitchg07261995]

that is so true Gus. Many people that I know personally have told me that they are glad I am doing what I am doing

 

[gus]

that is so true Gus. Many people that I know personally have told me that they are glad I am doing what I am doing

Hi Mitch.
It is true but you have to make it good yourself to pick up the machining skills to be a very highly skilled machinist to command good pay and yet enjoy your work. Gus deviated after getting his trade school diploma and went to further his tertiary education to become a professional engineer.Two years hands on machining helped in my then new job with Ingersoll-Rand,USA as Estimator/draftsman.Went on through very fast promotion in 6 years to head Contracts Dept doing field installations of heavy air/gas compressors.And eventually head a manufacturing plant as Operations Manager. Bought complete range of machine tools and no time to work on them.How sad!!!!
Design and build some production machines like heavy power presses etc.
Went into pressure vessels manufacturing too.

Great things can happen to a 18 year old kid if he puts in his best.

But Gus has to retire in 2001. resurrecting my long lost nearly forgotten machining skills was tough.:wall::wall:
After three years of persistence,my skills improved vastly.But my impatience still messed up some jobs.

Some classmates did best.They became highly skilled machinists and later
CNC machining experts but they missed the manual precision machining.
When they hear of Gus running a hobby machineshop,they followed too.

Life been great to a 18 year old kid from 1961-------2013.


Regards,
Gus Teng ,now 69 going 70.

 

[Wagon173]

Mitch, I don't really mean to sound discouraging. Some people are very capable of doing what they love all day every day regardless of what project they're doing or why. My dad seems to be one of them. Machining classes are probably an awesome idea if this is what you're interested in. And everybody is different. In my own experience, however, I have found that it is not good to turn a hobby into a career. I'm only 27 and at first I loved construction, so I got a job in it. Worked my way up to running my own crew and as I started growing tired of it, I enlisted in the army as a diesel tech as I was gaining interest in four wheel drive trucks. I worked my way up to shop foreman and as I started getting tired of that I started scuba diving. I have since gotten my instructors license and haven't been diving in forever. Third time is a charm, I guess. Now I'm going through the police academy and machining in my spare time. Unless it is a close friend or family member that needs a custom part I don't think I'd be willing to make a dime off of any machinable part. If you're one of those people that can get home from work and love it so much that you just do the same thing good on you, brother. But just food for thought. I'd hate to see you grow tired of something you love. Just kinda my own "heads-up" I won't build anything unless I need it. I won't fix anything unless I broke it. And I won't recover anything from the ocean or river unless I dropped it. Haha.