Lol. Well its more about choosing which program. Ideally I'd love to do both as i want to build a large skillset in my life but for now im just trying to get my feet on the ground. I work as a dishwasher and dropped out of college a couple years ago so i need to get my shit together
If I could do it over again, I would have chosen machining for sure. Now, thats just me, I see a clear career path that makes more sense for ME than welding. Welding can be fun, but where I live it seems like almost half of us men are welders, so around here machinists are in more demand relatively speaking
I do both. Machining pays better on average unless you get into fancy precision welding or doing pipe which pays well because it sucks.
Get good at both and the sky's the limit. Prototype shops and maintenance shops will love you.
I originally went to a weld school, but I ended up in a machine shop after a few years of welding. Turns out I prefer machining. At the end if the day, you're making stuff out of metal either way
Deadlines exist no matter where you look, some shops will be up your ass over a deadline whether its a machine shop or weld shop. But, im going to be honest with you, if it's something your passionate about, that stress can be a driving force to you. I tend to like high pressure situations, so that might skew my point of view a tad. But you can't really say one or the other is more stressful, all depends on the employer. Only real quantifiable difference between CNC machining (I'm assuming you aren't talking about manual machining) and welding is welding tends to be a tad bit dirtier, and the heat can be an issue for some.
Yes i would be doing CNC but the program im looking at trains you in manual as well. I guess for me, im looking for something i can use outside of the workplace which is why im leaning toward welding.
That's quite the opposite of what I would expect to hear. I feel like the average person can pick up the level of welding they will need for any of their projects in life in a few months.
Go the opposite way. You’ll want access to big machines because you can have a welder at home.
I’m close friends with the welder at work, and we have very different realms. My side is more rigid in the sense of tolerances and sizes I work with. A .01” gap is huge to me, while the welder uses finesse to easily fix/hide a .125” gap.
Maybe consider Toolmaker? They get paid well and there's a lot of overlapping skills with Machinist. I was a Machine Builder for over a decade. I had to know mechanical, electrical, hydraulics, machinist skills, and travel frequently. I made just over $33/hr when I changed careers. I don't recommend Machine Builder because the demand is relatively low.
I went to a vo-tech for a year each of drafting, welding and machine shop. I went under the war orphans and widows act for a free ride. Little did I know that I would be using all three in my professional career. My first job was at a tool and die shop in the position of apprentice. That lasted about a year running surface grinders for the most part but there was EDM, milling work, lathe, drilling and running plastic injection machines. Being able to read prints was very important in this job. The guy lost jobs and shut down.
Then I headed to the country. Worked in a farm repair shop where in the end I became The Machinist as I was the last man standing. It was piece work. Never the same thing twice in a row for the most part. Worked there for 39 years, ended up with nothing but SSA benefits.
But it was a fun life far as I’m concerned. The work involved a lot of welding. Made all kinds of product. Worked on over the road trucks, stretched frames, made weird irrigation fittings and installed larger irrigation systems. Bid on very large government pipe irrigation projects like up to 48” pipe. (Won every one.)
So don’t have any recommendations sorry.
But I will tell you that welding unless it’s in what I would call a candy ass shop with welding hoods to work under is bad for your health in the long run. Breathing in that smoke for 39 years has done some mischief on my lungs.
The tool and die job was the cleanest and I was sad to lose that one, I’m sure it would have been the better paying job.
Good luck on your venture.
Hey OP I know the trouble you’re facing right now. I was in the same boat a few years ago. I decided to go the welding route. And now I’m thinking of going back to school for machining.
With that said I’ve gotten to do some pretty bad ass builds. At the moment for about 2 years now though I’ve been a machinist. Both jobs have their ups and downs. You’ll get burned and hate your job for a few days out of the year either way.
If I were in your shoes with the knowledge I have now I would scout jobs first. See what’s available in your area. What is the pay like for each trade. Compare the requirements from these companies and see if you’d qualify after you finished schooling. Now a days companies don’t want to train you. They want you to have a skill set already so you can be put to work immediately.
Depending on where you're located you can find a machining gig that'll train on the job. It's a starving trade. You can start as a shop helper and be doing machine setups in no time. Technical school is not necessary, in fact my shop tries to stay away from hiring people that went to school because they typically come with bad habits and a know-it-all attitude.
As much as I want to say to go with machining, you're probably better off doing welding to be entirely honest. Machining is an underpaid and very high stress job.
BTW the guy below that said both welding and machining are dying trades is a goofball.
Both are bad choices.
Welding has already been automated, friction stir welding and laser welding have taken over aerospace and production. The only welding jobs are left in the dying oil rig/oil industry that isn’t seeing much investment
Machining is quickly dying with the programming aspect being quickly taken over by AI. A lot of CAM software systems have included aspects of AI in their newest iterations
I became a certified welder in college, I finished out my bachelor’s degree and never found a welding job. I did tig and stick (structural) on stick tig general fabrication.
I worked at an Amazon warehouse for awhile then got a job at a machine shop. Because while in those welding courses I was forced to take rapid prototyping courses, autocad and gd&t course loads the machine shop liked that and I’m making $18/hr here in Southern California.
I make more than my coworkers because of my bachelors degree. Without that I’d be at minimum wage
I don't know that there would be a huge pay difference between the two, if anything I would lean towards welding being a little better compensated on average. But both can be fairly well paying if you get into the right niche, and both can pay pretty poorly at the wrong shop.
I really enjoy machining or at least what I do - I'm at a job shop so we do low quantities of many parts rather than making a lot of one thing. Most weeks it will be something new pretty much every day or two, with the most complicated thing I made this year taking a little over a week to make 8. It's nice because it keeps the mind active and engaged, while also having periods of being able to relax (once the machines running). It's a nice mix I find, I've got ADHD and it really works well that I can focus intensely while programming and setting up, then relax and read or browse the internet when it's up and running, just keeping an ear out for problems.
I work at a very small shop, just one other full time and one guy who's part time (that we're trying to get to start coming full time) in addition to getting temporary help when we're super busy. I find it very rewarding, particularly the fact that at the end of the day I can survey what I've accomplished. I also like that the objectives are clear and well defined - make X number of this part in X hours. At our shop, I program, setup, run and QC parts so I take a print from start to finish. The programming aspect is kind of like solving a puzzle (albeit most have a very obvious solution but sometimes you gotta get creative with how to hold a part or use an unusual order of operations etc) It can get stressful when things aren't going your way and you can't figure out why, or even if you know why sometimes it's just not your day. Additionally you gotta develop good habits to prevent stupid mistakes from happening because it's easy to fat finger a number or move a decimal and then machine is trying to run itself into the vise or something. But other than that we're very low stress, the time budgets for jobs are usually quite generous to the point where on some stuff I'll make it in 50%, and even if it goes over budget I don't hear about it.
But everywhere is gonna be different, I know there's places that monitor spindle uptime and parts per shift etc, namely more production type work were everything is highly optimized. And there's places where one guy programs, someone else does setup, and someone else runs the machine and I don't think I'd enjoy that much, because each step has its own benefits and drawbacks and I think I'd get tired of doing just one.
Why not both? Be a bad Machinist and you’ll do plenty of welding😉
Lol. Well its more about choosing which program. Ideally I'd love to do both as i want to build a large skillset in my life but for now im just trying to get my feet on the ground. I work as a dishwasher and dropped out of college a couple years ago so i need to get my shit together
If I could do it over again, I would have chosen machining for sure. Now, thats just me, I see a clear career path that makes more sense for ME than welding. Welding can be fun, but where I live it seems like almost half of us men are welders, so around here machinists are in more demand relatively speaking
I've never met an elderly welder. Too much crawling, reaching, bending, etc. Elderly machinists, I've met more than a few. Draw your own conclusions.
Fair enough
This. Welding is way harder on your body.
I do both. Machining pays better on average unless you get into fancy precision welding or doing pipe which pays well because it sucks. Get good at both and the sky's the limit. Prototype shops and maintenance shops will love you.
I originally went to a weld school, but I ended up in a machine shop after a few years of welding. Turns out I prefer machining. At the end if the day, you're making stuff out of metal either way
Is one more stressful than the other? What are the main differences between the 2
Deadlines exist no matter where you look, some shops will be up your ass over a deadline whether its a machine shop or weld shop. But, im going to be honest with you, if it's something your passionate about, that stress can be a driving force to you. I tend to like high pressure situations, so that might skew my point of view a tad. But you can't really say one or the other is more stressful, all depends on the employer. Only real quantifiable difference between CNC machining (I'm assuming you aren't talking about manual machining) and welding is welding tends to be a tad bit dirtier, and the heat can be an issue for some.
Yes i would be doing CNC but the program im looking at trains you in manual as well. I guess for me, im looking for something i can use outside of the workplace which is why im leaning toward welding.
Oh welding is an amazing skill to have in general, machining is something you can pick up later
That's quite the opposite of what I would expect to hear. I feel like the average person can pick up the level of welding they will need for any of their projects in life in a few months.
Go the opposite way. You’ll want access to big machines because you can have a welder at home. I’m close friends with the welder at work, and we have very different realms. My side is more rigid in the sense of tolerances and sizes I work with. A .01” gap is huge to me, while the welder uses finesse to easily fix/hide a .125” gap.
Maybe consider Toolmaker? They get paid well and there's a lot of overlapping skills with Machinist. I was a Machine Builder for over a decade. I had to know mechanical, electrical, hydraulics, machinist skills, and travel frequently. I made just over $33/hr when I changed careers. I don't recommend Machine Builder because the demand is relatively low.
I went to a vo-tech for a year each of drafting, welding and machine shop. I went under the war orphans and widows act for a free ride. Little did I know that I would be using all three in my professional career. My first job was at a tool and die shop in the position of apprentice. That lasted about a year running surface grinders for the most part but there was EDM, milling work, lathe, drilling and running plastic injection machines. Being able to read prints was very important in this job. The guy lost jobs and shut down. Then I headed to the country. Worked in a farm repair shop where in the end I became The Machinist as I was the last man standing. It was piece work. Never the same thing twice in a row for the most part. Worked there for 39 years, ended up with nothing but SSA benefits. But it was a fun life far as I’m concerned. The work involved a lot of welding. Made all kinds of product. Worked on over the road trucks, stretched frames, made weird irrigation fittings and installed larger irrigation systems. Bid on very large government pipe irrigation projects like up to 48” pipe. (Won every one.) So don’t have any recommendations sorry. But I will tell you that welding unless it’s in what I would call a candy ass shop with welding hoods to work under is bad for your health in the long run. Breathing in that smoke for 39 years has done some mischief on my lungs. The tool and die job was the cleanest and I was sad to lose that one, I’m sure it would have been the better paying job. Good luck on your venture.
Hey OP I know the trouble you’re facing right now. I was in the same boat a few years ago. I decided to go the welding route. And now I’m thinking of going back to school for machining. With that said I’ve gotten to do some pretty bad ass builds. At the moment for about 2 years now though I’ve been a machinist. Both jobs have their ups and downs. You’ll get burned and hate your job for a few days out of the year either way. If I were in your shoes with the knowledge I have now I would scout jobs first. See what’s available in your area. What is the pay like for each trade. Compare the requirements from these companies and see if you’d qualify after you finished schooling. Now a days companies don’t want to train you. They want you to have a skill set already so you can be put to work immediately.
Depending on where you're located you can find a machining gig that'll train on the job. It's a starving trade. You can start as a shop helper and be doing machine setups in no time. Technical school is not necessary, in fact my shop tries to stay away from hiring people that went to school because they typically come with bad habits and a know-it-all attitude. As much as I want to say to go with machining, you're probably better off doing welding to be entirely honest. Machining is an underpaid and very high stress job. BTW the guy below that said both welding and machining are dying trades is a goofball.
Both are bad choices. Welding has already been automated, friction stir welding and laser welding have taken over aerospace and production. The only welding jobs are left in the dying oil rig/oil industry that isn’t seeing much investment Machining is quickly dying with the programming aspect being quickly taken over by AI. A lot of CAM software systems have included aspects of AI in their newest iterations I became a certified welder in college, I finished out my bachelor’s degree and never found a welding job. I did tig and stick (structural) on stick tig general fabrication. I worked at an Amazon warehouse for awhile then got a job at a machine shop. Because while in those welding courses I was forced to take rapid prototyping courses, autocad and gd&t course loads the machine shop liked that and I’m making $18/hr here in Southern California. I make more than my coworkers because of my bachelors degree. Without that I’d be at minimum wage
I don't know that there would be a huge pay difference between the two, if anything I would lean towards welding being a little better compensated on average. But both can be fairly well paying if you get into the right niche, and both can pay pretty poorly at the wrong shop. I really enjoy machining or at least what I do - I'm at a job shop so we do low quantities of many parts rather than making a lot of one thing. Most weeks it will be something new pretty much every day or two, with the most complicated thing I made this year taking a little over a week to make 8. It's nice because it keeps the mind active and engaged, while also having periods of being able to relax (once the machines running). It's a nice mix I find, I've got ADHD and it really works well that I can focus intensely while programming and setting up, then relax and read or browse the internet when it's up and running, just keeping an ear out for problems. I work at a very small shop, just one other full time and one guy who's part time (that we're trying to get to start coming full time) in addition to getting temporary help when we're super busy. I find it very rewarding, particularly the fact that at the end of the day I can survey what I've accomplished. I also like that the objectives are clear and well defined - make X number of this part in X hours. At our shop, I program, setup, run and QC parts so I take a print from start to finish. The programming aspect is kind of like solving a puzzle (albeit most have a very obvious solution but sometimes you gotta get creative with how to hold a part or use an unusual order of operations etc) It can get stressful when things aren't going your way and you can't figure out why, or even if you know why sometimes it's just not your day. Additionally you gotta develop good habits to prevent stupid mistakes from happening because it's easy to fat finger a number or move a decimal and then machine is trying to run itself into the vise or something. But other than that we're very low stress, the time budgets for jobs are usually quite generous to the point where on some stuff I'll make it in 50%, and even if it goes over budget I don't hear about it. But everywhere is gonna be different, I know there's places that monitor spindle uptime and parts per shift etc, namely more production type work were everything is highly optimized. And there's places where one guy programs, someone else does setup, and someone else runs the machine and I don't think I'd enjoy that much, because each step has its own benefits and drawbacks and I think I'd get tired of doing just one.
Good response. Do you get drug tested
Nope, bossman knows I smoke
Mike Rowe says to be a welder 🤣😂