who has relocated to greener pastures??

[solarpower]

Hey guys.

First post..so be nice please

I'm a journeyman Tool and Die maker with approx 15 years experience. Early on in my apprenticeship I made it a point to learn CNC. Damn good thing I did as it has been keeping food on the table the last few years.

I believe my skills to be in the top tier of toolmakers as I live in a area that is where much of what is done today was tested and proven over the last century. I chose to "journey" through more shops as to gain exp. in many things..ie: moldmaking, welding,machine building, prog.dies, production CNC, job shops, injection molds, castings, etc. etc. I would learn all I could, then move on for 1 reason or another. I chose to leave on every occasion, and under friendly terms.

I figured being as "marketable as possible" was the smart thing. I believe that with the proper tools I can literally make anything, usually "it" can make a bunch of anythings.

So this town is been getting the squeeze from NAFTA, the Unions, the Big 3, and basic skilled vs. very skilled labor wage wars for years. I'm about out of options if I want to give my family a decent living. ...

So has anyone decided to find greener grass with success?? I can't imagine not being able to find another good job within 20 miles in less than a week if the building burns down.

There is no way I am going to waste away in a factory just to make good money, and going back to a good shop with good pay results in working nights until the baby boomers retire. hell I've trained under a old German that was turning screws for U-boats when he was a teen..he won't ever retire..lol

[mog5858]

solar i am at the apprenticeship part in my life only have 500h to go be for i am a journey welder. but i feal that i am not be comeing a true trads man cus every thing is so speshalized. i work in a fab shop doing AL work, bilding tool box ,gas tanks anything in AL. just wonder in if u ever regert when u moveing on so u could get skill from a othere shop. was losing senority ever a problum when going to a new shop and haveing to start at the bottum agin. leaning how a new shop runs.

[solarpower]

mog..try this

but if I'm understanding you correctly..there are good and bad things about not staying in 1 shop so personally I don't regret it. Many shops in this area are automotive related work and can become feast or famine.

I won't even go into how health care has made some decisions. I have 2 children so health care is a biggie, when you only employ about 15-20 people costs can be stupid. I recall a couple years ago 10 or so shops were going to try to co-op the HC costs, almost no difference.

[corndog67]

I was thinking the same thing. I didn't think that my ole lady and I could afford to buy a house here, on the central coast of CA. Average house price last Christmas was $535,000, for a basic ranch style house. Well surprise, surprise, the value of houses here has dropped about 20 percent, and then I found a foreclosure and we just bought it. For way less than the average. I seriously thought about bailing out of this area, it really is paradise, I can ride my motorcycle to work almost every day, it almost never rains here, and never ever snows here.

I'm going to buy a Bridgeport, and a midsize lathe, and hopefully in a short time, a midsized CNC mill. Gotta start somewhere, and I'm pretty sure I can scare up enough work for the manuals to pay for themselves. Every shop owner I know started out the same way and I'm going to give it a shot. I've also worked in welding/fab shops, repairing tractors and tractor parts, a Nascar shop, a Can-Am (remember those) restoration shop, just a lot of different stuff over the years. Oh yeah, add a Miller Mig or Tig welder to the above machines. And a saw of some sort.

There is a lot of work out there, from repair to manufacturing, race team support, tractor stuff, electronics support, they all need US. I need a piece of the pie.

Robert

[mog5858]

i have heard of can-am ( my boss race motor-x ). they are makeing new quads now as well. there making a come back. solar sorry for the spelling but to be truthfull i don't know what the rigth way looks like. (spent too much time in shop and non in english)

[corndog67]

Nope, wrong Can-Am's, there was a race series, early in the 70's, late 60's, 500+ cubic inch aluminum big blocks, monocoque tub chassis, Hewland transaxles, cars like McClarens, Lolas, UOP Shadow racing (I worked for those guys). 1100 HP, 1300 pound cars, a serious power to weight ratio.