First of all, I'm 20.
I've been on some form of CNC or machining discussion group for longer than I can remember - probably for the last 8 years or so. I taught myself to weld, built a furnace for casting metal, spent hundreds of hours reading about lasers, got hold of a CNC training lathe and similar things.
My lathe is a really simple Denford Orac. If you're interested, you can see a piccy of one here...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...850122572&rd=1
I have now finished school and am thinking about what I'd like to do for a living.
I have already worked in my spare time in steel fabricators, a computer store and part time for a guy making steel gates, railings, post boxes and spiral stair cases. I have also experienced mass processing first hand, working 12 hours shifts for a few days in a mass packaging warehouse - a truely horrible experience.
The experience I have gained from these few jobs has taught me that I will only really be happy if I can work for myself. Because working for myself means that I can see things going wrong, or that I could improve on, and then make the changes... not have to play around with the social dynamics of whether or not someone is going to be bothered listening to me.
I have also been doing a great deal of research into plasma recently, as I have an idea for a potential modification to the process. This led to me speaking with the staff at plasma laboraties in Princeton and Lawrence Livermore - one of which has even been sending me very cool handy draw pictures from her home.
I enjoy making things and being productive, so CNC seemed like at least somewhere to start looking.
However, the more I look at it, it's seems kind of tricky to get into. By definition, a lot of CNC work is high mass or high complexity now. For the first, you need a lot of 'on' time, it's also very boring, and for the second, at least one super pricey piece of machinery.
Since I have very little spare money, I need to be very, very careful about what I decide on investing it in.
I am not particularly picky about what I end up doing, so long as it interests me. I am also ready to work my ass into the floor 23 hours a day if it means I'll end up with something.
One route that keeps returning to me is perhaps jewelery. Here the production quantities are low, yet the end result has a relatively high gain on the parts going into it.
I would like to ask about your experiences with CNC, whether or not you have managed to make a genuinely sustainable living from your work with it and what it is that you use it for.
My family and friends would probably say I should take a degree in CNC machining. And then I could spend the rest of my life programming molds for plastic bottles. Don't think so!
I would prefer to be directly in charge of whatever I end up doing. I have thought far outside CNC to cosmetics, making a unique kind of trainer I had an idea for and even photography. All the time I usually end up coming back to something involving making things, whether it's with my job or with the money I get from it.
I'm not looking for a specific job to do, just some ideas of what the realities are of actually making any money from CNC. You should enjoy your job to some extent, but I also need to make enough money from it to pay for myself.
I'm open to any suggestions!
My best wishes!
John