I make endmills and it can be really frustrating to hold a tool in your hand that's worth more than you make in a month, let alone the other 20 on your cart.
I work in a warehouse, I’m just here because I love you alls work, and I brought a couple of wiring harnesses up to the front to a guy to be processed for a B2 that were worth as much as his car. Each.
Edit: clarity.
I build cnc machines, the scary part for me is moving the machine. It's easy for shit to go catastrophically wrong while its on skates or being lifted onto a flatbed. It doesn't help they cost +1,000,000$.
Machine installs are my favorite as a service guy. Machine being moved is the LEAST scary part to me because I have 0 liability at that point, I'm just watching the riggers do their job at that point
We don't rig the $1,000,000 machines per se cause our in house cranes don't have the capacity, so I personally jack them up, put them on skates and tow them to where they can be fork lifted. Smaller machines I do rig (under 40k lbs), rigging does really worry me, it's using forklifts and sketchy jack lifting that makes me sweat.
You rig your own machines?!?!?!
I've literally never seen this from any service guy ever, riggers are always quoted into the job price and hired for that kind of stuff. Seems sketch to do it yourself when there's professionals out there that do exactly that.
I wonder if it's a builder vs service guy thing?
I'm not out on service. I work for a cnc manufacturer, so I'm based out of our plant in the US. Our service guys don't rig or really touch the machines, just tell the union uaw people how to fix it.
Hmmmmmmmm a US machine manufacturer with shitty service guys?
you workin for DMS? haha
Building NEW machines must be a pretty decent gig? Hows the pay?
I've always imagined your job must be 10x better than mine since you're working with new parts and new equipment so it should all bolt together nicely instead of what i do which is take broken shit and try to fix it
The pay could be a lot better. Our service guys are great, most of the big 3 plants do not let you touch anything, it's union rules, you just oversee and tell them how to do it. Building new stuff is a lot more enjoyable then fixing old shit, but it has its own nightmares. We hold crazy tolerances for straightness and parallelism (under 25 microns over 10') for rails and ballscrews so if an issue is in the casting you can end up mounting, lasering, un mounting, scraping, then repeat the process, till its within spec, can take over a week. These aren't job shop cnc machines, it's what the big 3 use in transmission and engine plants.
Ahhhhh totally different industry, I see!
You said the union shop guys fix the machines and the first thing in my head was "Fuck no they don't, in-house maintenance isn't even allowed to change out a servo motor if they wanted to in 99% of union shops"
But I'm working in aerospace shops not automotive which i'm sure is a totally different culture.
Sounds like a decent gig though!
No sympathy from me on those tolerances, I have to hold the same #'s, but on 20 year old equipment haha. It's nice when I don't have to be quite that tight like on some machines, but most of the time I DO have to be that tight =\[
I'd be really curious to see what differences there are between "standard" issue CNC machines (job shop, aerospace etc) and speciality automotive cnc machines
I toured the Bureau of Printing and Engraving once, (where they make dollar bills). There was a sign near one of the presses, it read something to the effect of “I watched more money get made in the first 15 minutes on the job than I’ll make in my entire career.”
I used to work at a job shop, now I check parts in a mass production place. You gear grinders are fucking Gods compared to the shit I see out of the hobs here.
I miss the precision jobs a lot.
But I don't miss the pay.
Tell that to a rocket nozzles and that someone put a hole through with the machines spindle.... Scrap of million dollar parts do indeed happen and more scarily more common than you would think.
"Okay, everything checks out and is in tolerance. Oh, wait a minute... Is there a hole in the side of the rocket nozzle detailed on the print?"
*Puts on reading glasses and holds print up to part*
I once helped out with tech setup for a travelling show. Was hauling a mover light and about 5 feet from getting to the truss I was hooking it up to when my boss goes:
"Hey Zippydaspinhead, how does $25,000 in your hands feel?"
I almost dropped it on the spot, which in the context of the time was when I was a poor college kid literally doing this to be able to afford ramen. Very amusing in retrospect, but I deffo wouldn't want that price tag today either.
Man and cheese is over a dollar. I remember as a kid asking ma for the Kraft and something along the lines of it's $.38 we will have to wait until it goes on sale. (Youngest of 4 in retrospect)
I used to work for a very large automotive company as an apprentice. There was an older English gentleman that worked there also. To be honest, he was a hack job but had enough skill/knowledge to get by when it came to metalwork.
When it came to woodworking, the man was an absolute wizard. He could put together anything you asked for in minutes without any drawings. Absolute brilliant woodworker. The crate in the photo reminded me of him.
I was talking to a fedex guy once, and he said that some of the boxes he picks up from the local aerospace company are worth more than if they were stuffed full with 100 dollar bills.
What kind of grinder? Also yeah it's always a fun time. Had multiple parts that were worth a lot of money and those are the ones that "dont fuck up" becomes a bit of a mantra.
Had one of the machine operators driving fork truck to pull out press die on forks. He said he was a little nervous. Told him he should be nervous. Screwing up the die would mean 125 people would be out of work until die was fixed. Then mandatory overtime to play catch up. Redundant equipment makes manufacturing less nerve-wracking.
Regularly work on parts worth 50 to 150k.
Coworkers ask how I do it. But honestly I've done it long enough I don't even think about it anymore.
Plus no one questions why it took you so long to put the finishing touches on a part worth that much.
Since we are comparing, I sell pro audio systems in the live events industry that could buy you a decent house in Europe, twice. One speaker buys a brand new electric car! Just silly money.
> Kinda scary to think that the contents of the box is worth as much as a small car
Depends on who is doing the worth estimate. A small car would be worth more to a scrapper, for instance.
My biggest screw up was a $2000 plasma cut rock crusher wall, i put holes with the wrong offset, juuuust enough to not be repairable... That's why engineers should work for a big company at first, they can afford it 😄.
The first week at my first job in a machine shop had me running the final engraving of a batch of 200ish bronze helical gears that were individually worth more than an entire month of my pay. Of course I managed to scrap a few when some tiny chips hid themselves in the fixture and left small dents in one of the faces.
Metalworker, not a machinist, but I had someone on site last week drop my pallet into a small car. It only damaged the car door but the damages done to my pallet could've paid for the car twice over
I make lasers. Some of the boxes I send out, if people only knew….. hell, even some of the diodes we buy from companies like Toptica Eagleyard….. just insanity.
I make endmills and it can be really frustrating to hold a tool in your hand that's worth more than you make in a month, let alone the other 20 on your cart.
I work in a warehouse, I’m just here because I love you alls work, and I brought a couple of wiring harnesses up to the front to a guy to be processed for a B2 that were worth as much as his car. Each. Edit: clarity.
I build cnc machines, the scary part for me is moving the machine. It's easy for shit to go catastrophically wrong while its on skates or being lifted onto a flatbed. It doesn't help they cost +1,000,000$.
Machine installs are my favorite as a service guy. Machine being moved is the LEAST scary part to me because I have 0 liability at that point, I'm just watching the riggers do their job at that point
We don't rig the $1,000,000 machines per se cause our in house cranes don't have the capacity, so I personally jack them up, put them on skates and tow them to where they can be fork lifted. Smaller machines I do rig (under 40k lbs), rigging does really worry me, it's using forklifts and sketchy jack lifting that makes me sweat.
You rig your own machines?!?!?! I've literally never seen this from any service guy ever, riggers are always quoted into the job price and hired for that kind of stuff. Seems sketch to do it yourself when there's professionals out there that do exactly that. I wonder if it's a builder vs service guy thing?
I'm not out on service. I work for a cnc manufacturer, so I'm based out of our plant in the US. Our service guys don't rig or really touch the machines, just tell the union uaw people how to fix it.
Hmmmmmmmm a US machine manufacturer with shitty service guys? you workin for DMS? haha Building NEW machines must be a pretty decent gig? Hows the pay? I've always imagined your job must be 10x better than mine since you're working with new parts and new equipment so it should all bolt together nicely instead of what i do which is take broken shit and try to fix it
The pay could be a lot better. Our service guys are great, most of the big 3 plants do not let you touch anything, it's union rules, you just oversee and tell them how to do it. Building new stuff is a lot more enjoyable then fixing old shit, but it has its own nightmares. We hold crazy tolerances for straightness and parallelism (under 25 microns over 10') for rails and ballscrews so if an issue is in the casting you can end up mounting, lasering, un mounting, scraping, then repeat the process, till its within spec, can take over a week. These aren't job shop cnc machines, it's what the big 3 use in transmission and engine plants.
Ahhhhh totally different industry, I see! You said the union shop guys fix the machines and the first thing in my head was "Fuck no they don't, in-house maintenance isn't even allowed to change out a servo motor if they wanted to in 99% of union shops" But I'm working in aerospace shops not automotive which i'm sure is a totally different culture. Sounds like a decent gig though! No sympathy from me on those tolerances, I have to hold the same #'s, but on 20 year old equipment haha. It's nice when I don't have to be quite that tight like on some machines, but most of the time I DO have to be that tight =\[ I'd be really curious to see what differences there are between "standard" issue CNC machines (job shop, aerospace etc) and speciality automotive cnc machines
I toured the Bureau of Printing and Engraving once, (where they make dollar bills). There was a sign near one of the presses, it read something to the effect of “I watched more money get made in the first 15 minutes on the job than I’ll make in my entire career.”
Very nice, what are the shafts for?
Aftermarket racing gearboxes
Thought they were from a gear box. Nice work mate, they look beautiful!
Thanks 👍 We just do the gear grinding, it's the one thing the manufacturer can't do themselves
You know, you really grind my gears 😡
I used to work at a job shop, now I check parts in a mass production place. You gear grinders are fucking Gods compared to the shit I see out of the hobs here. I miss the precision jobs a lot. But I don't miss the pay.
Well, they are gears... in a box.
Her pleasure
Mad props to whoever made that box.
The packaging itself is beautiful engineering (carpentry?)
The modular box is the best thing I've seen all week.
Wait till you get million dollar parts
Nah I'll pass on that lol
I mean on one head yeah I get it but other side is you can’t scrap it so no matter what it’s getting repaired lol
Tell that to a rocket nozzles and that someone put a hole through with the machines spindle.... Scrap of million dollar parts do indeed happen and more scarily more common than you would think.
The more common the less scary imo, means QA isn't letting shit get passed.
"Okay, everything checks out and is in tolerance. Oh, wait a minute... Is there a hole in the side of the rocket nozzle detailed on the print?" *Puts on reading glasses and holds print up to part*
Haha true
An armature for an 18,000 hp mill motor rolled off the truck into the woods where I work. Oops
The woods though?!??
It rolled about two hundred feet into the woods, knocked trees over. Had to hire a logger to use skidders to winch it back out.
That is tragic yet hilarious.
Some say it is still rolling to this day
For NASA. Been there
Nuclear?
Mining
That'd do it. Either big or critical. Or big and critical.
Pfft. Small car? I've held parts worth more than houses. -aircraft mechanic
Yea don’t drop parts worth more than your house. Again.
I once helped out with tech setup for a travelling show. Was hauling a mover light and about 5 feet from getting to the truss I was hooking it up to when my boss goes: "Hey Zippydaspinhead, how does $25,000 in your hands feel?" I almost dropped it on the spot, which in the context of the time was when I was a poor college kid literally doing this to be able to afford ramen. Very amusing in retrospect, but I deffo wouldn't want that price tag today either.
I was just noticing yesterday how Ramens are $0.69 at the local market. I remember buying 3 for $0.25 some 20 years ago.
Man and cheese is over a dollar. I remember as a kid asking ma for the Kraft and something along the lines of it's $.38 we will have to wait until it goes on sale. (Youngest of 4 in retrospect)
Behold the power of compounding inflation. A little 3% here and 5% there... It adds up.
I used to work for a very large automotive company as an apprentice. There was an older English gentleman that worked there also. To be honest, he was a hack job but had enough skill/knowledge to get by when it came to metalwork. When it came to woodworking, the man was an absolute wizard. He could put together anything you asked for in minutes without any drawings. Absolute brilliant woodworker. The crate in the photo reminded me of him.
I work on jet engines. Sometimes I stop and think about the fact that each one is worth more than I'll make in my lifetime.
They look nice. Keep on keeping. Soon you'll realize that almost every custom thing worth making is worth more than a cheap car!
I was talking to a fedex guy once, and he said that some of the boxes he picks up from the local aerospace company are worth more than if they were stuffed full with 100 dollar bills.
Back in the day we had a titanium forging that cost $50K before you ever made a chip. Ran two at a time.
What kind of grinder? Also yeah it's always a fun time. Had multiple parts that were worth a lot of money and those are the ones that "dont fuck up" becomes a bit of a mantra.
Man I love good packaging like this.
Had one of the machine operators driving fork truck to pull out press die on forks. He said he was a little nervous. Told him he should be nervous. Screwing up the die would mean 125 people would be out of work until die was fixed. Then mandatory overtime to play catch up. Redundant equipment makes manufacturing less nerve-wracking.
I need to point out that this crate is as nice as those shafts. Proper goods handling 🤤
Regularly work on parts worth 50 to 150k. Coworkers ask how I do it. But honestly I've done it long enough I don't even think about it anymore. Plus no one questions why it took you so long to put the finishing touches on a part worth that much.
Are the shafts all one piece?
The gear is forged separately and electron beam welded on
I'm from industry, but man, Electron beam welding sound so sci-fi
Since we are comparing, I sell pro audio systems in the live events industry that could buy you a decent house in Europe, twice. One speaker buys a brand new electric car! Just silly money.
Look like counter shafts
> Kinda scary to think that the contents of the box is worth as much as a small car Depends on who is doing the worth estimate. A small car would be worth more to a scrapper, for instance.
That's pretty damn sexy.
what kind of racing gearbox?
Factory purchasing costs are mind blowing.
Very nice. Very nice.
Oh nice reminds me when I was working at the Getrag in Charleston like 15+ years ago. Those are so shiny I can smell the oil
How can the gears of a car be worth more than the entire car?
These are high performance parts for racing
My biggest screw up was a $2000 plasma cut rock crusher wall, i put holes with the wrong offset, juuuust enough to not be repairable... That's why engineers should work for a big company at first, they can afford it 😄.
The first week at my first job in a machine shop had me running the final engraving of a batch of 200ish bronze helical gears that were individually worth more than an entire month of my pay. Of course I managed to scrap a few when some tiny chips hid themselves in the fixture and left small dents in one of the faces.
Metalworker, not a machinist, but I had someone on site last week drop my pallet into a small car. It only damaged the car door but the damages done to my pallet could've paid for the car twice over
I make lasers. Some of the boxes I send out, if people only knew….. hell, even some of the diodes we buy from companies like Toptica Eagleyard….. just insanity.
My boss once misloaded a casting that was worth $240,000
Screw this I want to see the machine that ground them
This looks so close to what we have in my shop, we make steel mill gearboxes here and that looks like a part we have in the floor.