I want to take a machining class at the local community college

>>1147091
>How hard is it to learn to machine metal?
not hard at all actually. most of the CNC software is pretty much a video game on crack.

>>1147091
There is some subtlety to things, especially if you need to hit very tight tolerances or need efficient production, but it is quite straightforward at the basic levels.

The main problem is that useful CNC machines are very expensive, and mistakes are also very expensive.

>>1147107
i'm pretty sure that any CNC machine at a community college is going to be an akira seiki or something else thats noob friendly.

also sure that any machine he learns on is going to have been crashed at least 100 times already.

>>1147091
>like gun triggers
i know its your rights and all that but fucking hell you yanks are fucking obsessed. if its not guns its knives, if its not knives its leathermans with a knife in them. have you ever used them for anything? no is the answer. get a hobby or something wowee.

>>1147091
>I want to take a machining class at the local community college in my spare time so I can make small parts like gun triggers.
You wont be making anything firearm related at a school, also you wont be using a cnc machine until 2nd year.

>How hard is it to learn to machine metal?
not hard at all, start on youtube

>>1147115
Not op but at this point I'm collecting because there is definitely a concerted effort to disarm the citizenry and give the weapons to gang members.

Government is owned by organized crime and they are very upset we aren't rolling over and giving them all of our money.

Take the class! Manual machining and CNC go together and machinists who can do both comfortably always have work. Machining teaches you things about metal you'll learn no other way.

You can build your own home machine shop quite reasonably over time. I did, and my mechanicbro and gunsmithbro did with my help hauling and moving his machines to avoid paying riggers.

Absolutely take the class because /diy/ learning will miss lots of critical items you'll need to know. You will never piddle enough thrashing around at home to match a class. Also study machinist forums.

Machining > gunsmithing. You don't need to build triggers etc in school. Do what every smart machining apprentice has done for the last couple centuries and make tools instead.

Tools shit all over guns for being useful, so if want to make guns, build a shop first and you can do whatever you like. Shipping containers make good small shops. I have two joined and my bro has a single High Cube and wants a second.

My professional machinistbro gets nearly all his tooling off Ebay and saves tens of thousands of dollars.

>>1147115
A fuckton of people on 4chan are gun owners, target shooters and hunters, especially on boards like /diy/ and such and they aren't only americans.

>have you ever used them for anything? no is the answer.
what kind of fucking retarded bullshit is this
You know guns have other uses than shooting enemy soldiers right?

Even small gun parts, trigger groups, bolts, retainers, etc are cast then finished milled (if milled at all). You don't throw a 1" x 1" x 2" slug into a mill and press a button to make a trigger. You'd spend more on tooling than the trigger is worth.

>>1147429
you couldnt be more wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzrSiZDdJL8

My gunsmith knows the sweet spot is custom work, making unavailable parts, etc. You'd need a product line to pay for serious CNC, but some people work their way to that. CNC revolutionized weapons making for good reason. The markup on tacticqueer shit is amazing compared to the price of billet and coating.

If you get an open, CNC knee mill like some older Bridgeports you have a machine able to do low rate production and repair work because the controls allow easy manual operation. The OS on many is DOS so it's all pretty simple.

https://www.tormach.com/ are popular with small shops and hobbyists. I'm a dick so I'm waiting for my bro to buy one first, but their reputation is good.

>>1147440
Ok, first off, airsoft (not bang bangs). second, aluminum (not steel), third prototypes (not production). Fourth, costs (power, tool wear, machine time, billet, etc). Fifth, they look like shit.

Take CNC but consider taking a separate CAD class first, because that gives you the ability to dream in CAD and is more thorough than a print reading class followed by CAD/CAM.

Did machining and welding for fun on G.I. Bill. Would do again.

>>1147447
>first off, airsoft (not bang bangs).
the process is exactly the same
>second, aluminum (not steel),
the process is exactly the same
>third prototypes (not production).
again, the process is exactly the same
>Fourth, costs (power, tool wear, machine time, billet, etc).
are obviously not prohibitive, if they were everybody and their fucking brother wouldn't be making cnc this or that for AR's
>Fifth, they look like shit.
prototype

>>1147459
>aluminum (not steel)
>the process is exactly the same
This guy doesn't know shit.

>>1147472
put aluminum blank in the mill
press the start button
wait for mill to finish

put steel blank in the mill
press the start button
wait for mill to finish

this really isnt rocket science breh

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>>1147475

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>>1147480

>>1147091
>want to take a machining class at the local community college
>they don't offer anything like it
Pretty disappointing.

>>1147472
Speeds and feeds and choice of coolant vary, but you can look those up easily enough if you're machining something new. Practice cuts and "single blocking" each step are ways to set things correctly every CNC machinist uses.

It really isn't rocket surgery, it's methodical practice and patience, which is why you take a machining course to get started.

>>1147497
Auto mechanics and welding are also worth your time. They go together with machining to advance your skills. You'll see why, and fixing your own vehicles saves money for other useful activities.

>>1147500
They don't offer welding either...

Auto mechanics is literally the only "trade" type of course they offer. But of course they have plenty of liberal arts classes.

My dad was an auto mechanic so we fix our own cars together.

>>1147424
>A fuckton of Americans are gun owners.

Ftfy. It's part of our identity, and yes, quite a few of us have used knives, as well as firearms, for "something." Get over it Europoops.

>>1147091
Gun triggers, as with many other gun related parts, will involve the hefty pricetag of insurance, OP. Not saying they aren't worth it, just saying figure the cost into your analysis.

Mrpete222 and Tom Lipton on youtube are worth watching if you are new to the trades.

I've been metalworking for 20 years, and both guys have stuff for the beginner and the experienced.

Tom's book is well worth a read, also.

Good luck anon, it's a very rewarding job and or hobby.

>>1147393
You are a crazy person.
>>1147115
You are also a crazy person.

>>1147472
You change speed/feed/coolant.
Literally it.
>>1147480
Not an argument.

>>1147506
Read my whole post dumbass.
I have guns too.

>>1147523
not who you are responding to but it's not simply turning down the feed rates to switch materials. you don't run gcode for milling a steel part on aluminum or vise versa. when milling steel you have to go slow and shallow. with aluminum or other soft metals you take deep cuts with high chip load. running gcode made for steel on al would gum up the flutes and wear the edge right off the tooling. running al code on steel would crash the tool. there is so much more than speeds and feed to worry about i can't begin to tell you how wrong your logic is. at the shop i work even going from al to brass calls for a complete regeneration of the pathing because the software can save tens of thousands in tooling costs. hell just switching from 6061 to 5xxx will call for new gcode.

but if you want to dismiss me like the other guy fine.

>>1147542
listen to this guy peeps

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>>1147542
all the words in this post doesn't change the fact that
>>1147429
>You don't throw a 1" x 1" x 2" slug into a mill and press a button to make a trigger
is wrong

>>1147611
i'm here to provide an informed option based on eight years cad/cam/gcode experience plus four years college. you've been reduced to arguing technicalities because you have no practical knowledge of the subject.

normally i wouldn't bother replying because it is obvious you have no experience but since you just based your whole argument on one easily disprovable statement and i'm bored i'll shoot that down too.

even with a 7 axis machine, rotary indexer, atc, hundreds of hours in cam tweaking the paths and merging procedures the very best you would end up with is a part with at least one tab, probably two or three to keep chattering down to an acceptable level. it would still need finishing and would not be a functional part.

all the words in the world can't change the fact you're wrong.

>>1147611
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>>1147626
>all the words in the world can't change the fact you're wrong
what exactly am i wrong about?

>>1147527
Yeah, I realized after I hit the post button that I responded to the wrong post. Apologies Anon, I was trying to agree with you but you are correct, I sounded like a dumbass.

>>1147626
I mean, he missed out a few steps, but at some point you do put the steel slug in the mill, and at some point you do push a button. You're both arguing technicalities.

>>1147629
Copied.

>>1147503
>My dad was an auto mechanic so we fix our own cars together.

Excellent! Thank your Dad for not being fucking helpless and for showing you the ropes.

If doing production you'll spend production money plus ITAR compliance , FFL, and all the documentation that goes with it. The market is saturated anyway.

If for your own use the efficiency requirements are much less and you'll learn as you go. Bonus is once you are into hobby machining you'll find it more addictive than guns though it complements them.

John Moses Browning didn't have CNC. (He did have screw machines but you can buy hardware cheaper than you can make it.)

Old (and new) jig and fixture books make for interesting reading.

>>1147108
This guy knows

Learning machining isn't hard but there is some trigonometry involved. Not a lot tho. I had so much fun at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, got my cert in 2013 and I start my new job as an apprentice next month. Y'all didn't need to know that but I'm so excited I don't care.

>>1147115
>you yanks
>if its not guns its knives

Are you British? Don't you guys have like thousands of stabbings every year?

>>1147108
From what I've seen they're commonly haas.

Also we recently hired a girl who went to school for machining technologies and fuck I've never seen someone so afraid to run mills or edit programs. She's wince been fired for being kinda worthless.

>>1149791
OP needs to realize that you wont get to jump into the actual CNC stuff until about 3rd term. When I was taking classes I had to start out on manual lathe and vertical mill and take a bunch of machinist math courses including trig and calc before ever getting a chance to begin CNC and then it was another term before really diving in after learning the basics of the programs and blueprinting etc.

>>1149820
Give her a break some of these teachers are fucking worthless. Surprised I didnt injure myself with a teacher that mostly slept or watched YouTube. I learned more from guys who had jobs in the field while going to school.

>>1147115
>t. eu cunt bureaucrat
Get fucked you piece of shit.

t. fellow Euro who hates nanny statism.

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>>1148652
>(He did have screw machines but you can buy hardware cheaper than you can make it.)

>mfw all the profit in screw/bolt making comes from scrap

>>1150793
True, but any non-shit course teaches manual first because the tactile experience of machining is deeply important to undertstanding how metal behaves. It's also very useful if the student gets a job being more than a button pusher. Shops often have a mix of CNC and manual machines, especially if they do one-off and repair machining. Some jobs require tactile feel such as removing broken parts.

The people who should avoid machine shop class are those not ALREADY completely enthusiastic about metalworking and machines in general. Being a serious machinist is more than a job. You need a passion for metal to drive your learning.

Most students will benefit but most will never become professional machinists. It's always been the nature of the business. Most students are just looking for either student aid (niggers) and often quit early but their tuition pays for the good ones. There will be a machinist shortage for a long time because young people don't come in contact with the gearhead world unless their early environment inspires them. GOOD. That leaves the field open for those who give a shit.

>>1150801
Are you a machine and tool teacher? You kind of seem like one. How hard is it to get a job teaching? I have degrees in both welding tech and machine and tool with many certifications.

>>1147441

I actually work at a shop that has 4 converted bridgeports running Prototrak equipment. Everything from the early box to the latest simple box and a vertical mill with their newest box.

Other then the original box which requires a little more understanding, they second gen stuff is easy as hell to program and the newest stuff is a breeze that any tard can figure out how to program. The issue is knowing the feedrates for materials and the RPM's needed.

But the bridgeport with 2 axis control are amazing things that allow for easy one off stuff and limited production work.

>>1150806
I've done a shitload of training in the Air Force and worked as an adjunct at the local community college after taking machine shop and welding there on the G.I. Bill. My bro with similar background is gonna go full time this year. We took the courses, volunteered, and since we are good and enthusiastic were a natural fit.

You absolutely can get a gig and the schedule is usually four day weeks with state retirement. Your quals are unusual and you'd be a good fit. Many schools contract instructors for specific jobs like workforce training in addition to having permanent instructors. It's hard to find people who are good and want to teach. Schools promote from within so once you are in it's common to stay for decades.

I suggest visiting the industrial arts program areas as a walk-in and bullshitting with the instructors to see what may be open.

>>1150809
Good to know! I enjoy working on machine tools and will check out Prototrak. Thank you.

>>1150801
>There will be a machinist shortage for a long time because young people don't come in contact with the gearhead world unless their early environment inspires them.

this so hard. most folks don't know there is actually a labor shortage in the US manufacturing industry.

>>1147091
FUCK UNCLE SAME ANTI GUN LEFTIST SAMEFAGGING FUCMING KEK. THE FUCK

>>1150825
>$15/hour in SoCal top rate
Just fuck my shit up

Unless you get in with one of the missile/bomb fabricators.

>>1150864
Whatever, the place down the road from us has a sign out constantly about hiring skilled machinists. And we fired the only guy who knew how to run the old Fadal, now we've got two guys scratching their heads trying to learn it themselves.

Just look in the right place, mang.

>>1147091
Hello friend. There is alot of stupid in this thread. I am sorry on their behalf.

Hard isn't a scale I can lay out for you but machining things is very much like anything else; a learning process. Unlike alot of things (Coding for example) It is expensive to make errors, time is very limited (assuming you can get some machine time) as well as the fact that there are few "casual" machinists. It's usually something you do for work, outside of a few dedicated hobbyists. Keep in mind the "cnc is just video games on crack" sort of garbage is just that ; garbage. Idiots see shit on TV/etc and think it's how it works...something like me yelling "ENHANCE" at my computer and hoping a 64x64 jpeg is now high def.

Look through the syllabus of the course you want to take, determine if you have the time to realistically put forward and the money to realistically do it. If you don't have either of those things it's almost always cheaper to pay some one else do make your napkin drawing than learning an entire skillset.

>>1150834
learn some GD&T nigga. shit, if you can run a zeiss machine you can hold entire job shops hostage.

>>1150870
>Keep in mind the "cnc is just video games on crack" sort of garbage is just that ; garbage

have you never touched Solidworks with a MasterCAM plug in. because it is pretty much a video game. go check out the /egg/ on /vg/. games like KSP or factorio are of similar difficulty.

>>1150875
>>1150875
And rather than failing a level, losing a life or whatever imposed penalty you get to fix your machine, reset the RTCP/dig the head out of the table all while explaining to your boss why you have damaged his equipment and the fascia you were cutting.

Programming machines/machining is about strategies and problem solving. Tool paths are problem solving, tool selection is problem solving. Putting my goddamn shoes on is problem solving. Spending all day looking at PowerMill is not Starcraft.

Building systems and understanding processes is a part of video games sure but it's part of coding, part of cabinet making and wiping your ass.

>>1150875
>>1150875
And rather than failing a level, losing a life or whatever imposed penalty you get to fix your machine, reset the RTCP/dig the head out of the table all while explaining to your boss why you have damaged his equipment and the fascia you were cutting. Oh and the job is hot/the operator has it on the crane so uh..hurry the hell up eh?

Programming machines/machining is about strategies and problem solving. Tool paths are problem solving, tool selection is problem solving. Putting my goddamn shoes on is problem solving. Spending all day looking at PowerMill is not Starcraft.

Building systems and understanding processes is a part of video games sure but it's part of coding, part of cabinet making and wiping your ass.

>>1150878
what? have you even touched the latest versions of the software?

you can backplot and simulate virtually everything that goes on inside the machine. the crash detection is top notch. you can add fixtures, vices, tombstones. w/e you want.

as long as you have a good post for the machine you are working on, proving out the toolpath in the simulator is a breeze.

>>1150885
I'm not saying you can't (I have the loading screen to vericut burned into my retinas) I'm saying that candy crush is a video game, Darksouls is a video game. It is no where near as simple and there fact there is a physical component as well as a digital component just makes it an awful comparison in my opinion.

Running a simulation and getting the green check is not nearly the same as making good tool paths. Maybe you didn't bump the knuckle but you did cross the water lines in the wrong order with the drills/etc. Maybe it didn't crash but you're running a 12mm ball into a 12mm rad. Its going to simulate fine but the little asian guy in the next bay is going to be very unhappy with you when he has to spend the next 4 hours rubbing out your chatter. Comparing dicksizes isn't the point OP is looking for; it's that there is ALOT to know about machining things and it's not something that you can really half-heartedly dabble in.

He asked how hard it is and the answer is "It is a career"

>>1150834
He said machinist, not operator. $15/h should be starting pay for an entry level machinist.

>>1150890
>Maybe you didn't bump the knuckle but you did cross the water lines in the wrong order with the drills/etc. Maybe it didn't crash but you're running a 12mm ball into a 12mm rad.

i'm not trying to wave my dick at you, but i'm telling you the software has gotten to the point where that shit is all in the machine model.

you have a point when it comes to the physical component as you might have to tweak and peak to keep burrs off your part, but you aren't crashing a machine and you aren't really losing your boss much green light time.

>>1150896
Most shops don't run the newest and best software anon, that shit is crazy expensive. A full MasterCAM suite for lathe and mill is like $30k

>>1150900
yeah, but compared against the cost of an MTM lathe which is 300k$ its something you are going to buy.

>>1150913
My point was that most shops are running 5-10 year old versions unless given a very good reason to upgrade because the investment of the program and time to learn the new features is often not worth it.

>>1147115
Fucking lol, I haven't laughed this hard in a while. Either 8/8 b8, or post a pic of the little purse your boyfriend keeps your balls in.

>>1150873
I like your thinking.

>>1147115
If you only knew how shady our government is than you'd understand why people are the way they are about guns.

>>1150934
My very prosperous machine shop ownerbro still uses an ancient version of GibbsCAM that's probably fifteen years old. No point in getting anything newer until it's necessary. I isolated the XP box (formerly Windows 2000 but that PC died of old age) it's on from his LAN and only recently swapped out the floppy drive on his mill for

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SFR1M44-U100-3-5-Inch-1-44MB-USB-SSD-FLOPPY-DRIVE-EMULATOR-SFR1M44-U100W-/222030066155

He specializes in repair machining and unfucking broken-by-design machine parts for a famous German tire company in the US.

His wife does most of the coding. They learned to code many years ago with a text editor and nothing intimidates them.

>>1147497
If machining is what you really wanna do, school isn't necessary. I'm currently training a guy that had no experience, but has put the time in doing the shit finishing work, that makes him a viable candidate for further training and more money. Looking around, there's a bunch of those guys in this shop.

> IT DIDNT MAKE THAT NOISE IN THE SIMULATION

> IT DIDNT WARP THE PART IN THE SIMULATION

>THIS BIRDS NEST WASNT IN THE SIMULATION

>>1152508
>>THIS BIRDS NEST WASNT IN THE SIMULATION
kek

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>>1147115
SHUT UP FAGGOT USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

This is a good thread. There's a college about an hour away from me with what I hear is an extremely good machining program, I'm thinking about taking it but I don't know if it's what I want to do for a living.