2nd job
#1
how much time do you think a guy with no real lathe experience should be up and running a 44"x216" machine?

i find it sort of odd that after a few hours of not so good instruction i am expected to know it all. heck, i got better training at mcdonalds.

i wanted to ask the foreman who rides a harley (for 30 years) to hop on a zx10 and see if he could run with me. i would ask him at the hospital if he lived "well, you been riding for 30 years, whats the problem"?
mikecwik, proud to be a member of MetalworkingFun Forum since Apr 2012.
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#2
(10-13-2012, 07:47 PM)mikecwik Wrote: how much time do you think a guy with no real lathe experience should be up and running a 44"x216" machine?

i find it sort of odd that after a few hours of not so good instruction i am expected to know it all. heck, i got better training at mcdonalds.

i wanted to ask the foreman who rides a harley (for 30 years) to hop on a zx10 and see if he could run with me. i would ask him at the hospital if he lived "well, you been riding for 30 years, whats the problem"?

Hi,

Depends on what you told me you had done in the past and what I want you to do with that machine. But I'm pretty cautious with new people. I've been lied to before and since. And I lean to being more of a teacher than a boss. So I'm willing to spend time with new members of my team. Don't want to ruin them if I don't need to. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you are unsure. Answering questions is cheaper than fixing screw ups.

Still, this is a working shop and everyone there is supposed to have a basic skill set and grasp of the work done there. And they should all be grownups and not need to be taught how to put on their pants so to speak. And there is a certain amount of 'sink or swim' you will need to face. Hang in there, you will learn.

dalee
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#3
i have no idea what is going on. i hear people talking to me but its just so hard to make sense of it all.

the guy who i am working with is telling me i gotta pick up the pace while the foreman is telling me to slow it down. the guy im working with is telling me to use this rpm and the production manager is telling me to slow it down.

i got kinda angry (internally)with the guy today and just started doing stuff on my own. i burned the anger up hustling.

kinda a few situations. bit chipped while i was 100 yards away from machine at the dumpster and surface finish wasnt great, it wasnt bad though.

i still had 10" or so to go to crash the tailstock but i was supposed to be back in time as the tool left the work. i dont know how i messed that one up.

almost forgot to lock the tailstock down.

im not a big fan of running things like this unsupervised but if this is what they want.

i told the guy who i am working with when he said i need to pick it up. im doing the best i can. some people just arent cut out for certain jobs. i cant really do anything other than what i am at this point. and sometimes a company just has to let people go. its nothing to get too worked up about.

there has been on several occasions in the month that i been there that i caught some major things that the 25 year vet missed.
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#4
Consider putting effort into learning more about what you are doing, and the tools you use to do it. With more information you can be more productive, and SAFER.

What are the materials you are turning on this lathe, how big in diameter and long are the parts? Are you using High Speed Steel tool "bits", or carbide insert toolholders with coated carbide inserts? If carbide, what are insert designations, speeds and feed rates are you running?

We can help to some degree if we know more about the processes, but we're not there with you.
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#5
I have experienced work under the "guidance" of a longer tenured worker who appointed himself as Advisor, Authority and Critic.
It was difficult for me, but because I love machining I endured it and found with time that I would recieve compliments from my boss and decided he was the one to please.
Some long tenured incompetants tend to "Boss" newer workers as a way of expressing their superiority which is non-existant.
Busy Bee 12-36 lathe, Busy Bee Mill drill, Busy Bee 4x6 bandsaw, Homemade 9x17 bandsaw, Ad infinitum.
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#6
After a few years in production shops I decided machining would make a better hobby than a career. Those are the people that would like to see child labor come back. Don't let them get to you. They are mentally ill psychopaths, and there's a lot of them out there. They quite often have their place as leaders. Pushing people around is their skillset.

I've found over the years that in any job it's the people you work with, and not the work that counts most. Find yourself a good group of people and leave the place you're at now. A bad boss or even a bad co-worker will ruin your career, don't waste your time if you can help it. Bad people keep you down, good people move you up. It sounds like you might be making a fair wage, but trust me, your top wage won't be much higher as long as you work there. Keep moving until you find a home.

Or you could just show 'em how tough you are and take their abuse. You'll age to be a bitter old man, broke and alone. But tough.

Good luck.
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#7
Some words of wisdom there Sunset Thumbsup
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DaveH
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#8
(11-03-2012, 12:33 PM)DaveH Wrote: Some words of wisdom there Sunset Thumbsup
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DaveH

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#9
(11-02-2012, 11:37 PM)mikecwik Wrote: i have no idea what is going on. i hear people talking to me but its just so hard to make sense of it all.

the guy who i am working with is telling me i gotta pick up the pace while the foreman is telling me to slow it down. the guy im working with is telling me to use this rpm and the production manager is telling me to slow it down.

i got kinda angry (internally)with the guy today and just started doing stuff on my own. i burned the anger up hustling.

kinda a few situations. bit chipped while i was 100 yards away from machine at the dumpster and surface finish wasnt great, it wasnt bad though.

i still had 10" or so to go to crash the tailstock but i was supposed to be back in time as the tool left the work. i dont know how i messed that one up.

almost forgot to lock the tailstock down.

im not a big fan of running things like this unsupervised but if this is what they want.

i told the guy who i am working with when he said i need to pick it up. im doing the best i can. some people just arent cut out for certain jobs. i cant really do anything other than what i am at this point. and sometimes a company just has to let people go. its nothing to get too worked up about.

there has been on several occasions in the month that i been there that i caught some major things that the 25 year vet missed.

Hi,

Pay more attention to what the Foreman wants. If your co-worker is riding you about speed, maybe you need to either tell him you are doing it the boss's way or talk to the boss about the co-worker.

The production manager sounds like he has a good grasp of using new people. He doesn't want rework. (Never enough time to do it right the first time, but always time to do it right the second time). Remember, slow is smooth and smooth is fast. And speed will come as you gain proficiency.

It does sound a bit as though you may feel you are in a bit over your head. It's possible, I don't know. And you speak as if you expect to be let go. I suspect you can do this job if you want to. Perhaps you do need to re-evaluate your position. But only you can make that decision.

dalee
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#10
i dont think anyone has it in for me at work. i think they are a pretty decent bunch of guys.

i was second senior guy at my last job (which i still work) at about thirteen years. thats chump change here with guys pushing forty+ years. i took a couple pennies an hour cut in pay to chance a seven raise if i can make the team.

today was a weird day. its not like i talk to anyone at work about the topic of this thread but the production manager kinda oddly out of nowhere that the guy the had me paired with was "no ball of fire."

then i noticed the president out on the floor and i was thinking i cant believe he is actually picking up garbage off the floor, which i thought was rather cool. then he was headed back to the office and saw me and rather went out of his way to come over and he tells me i hear from so and so youre doing well. i tell him that i know i need to do better (which i do, not because my trainer says so but because i think i should be to.)

im sure im to blame in my learning curve but more and more im looking at someone else. i mean he is a good guy and he is not playing boss he is just not a teacher like im not a teacher.

i was abandoning my running machine all day today, once i was in the can and my trainer was there and i asked him as a joke "who was watching the machines? " he said "you're running them?" "yes, just like you told me to."
he balked on that and said he never told me that. i just walked away, as he constantly tells me i need to have something in the machine while im away doing other stuff. i think its dumb on a machine without stops, i think its dumb on a machine with stops....matter of fact when they were showing me around the shop before i was hired i made that comment about this guy running his machine and being away.

i dont believe a factory is my life's calling, maybe i dont have one. im curious though if i can make the cut. it doesnt matter to me if i dont as im giving it all i got and you cant do more than that.

one good thing about it is that this new job has upped my interests in machining on my own equipment!


THIS IS LIKE A DEAR DIARY THREAD, I DONT EXPECT ANYONE TO ACTUALLY HELP ME SOLVE THE RIDDLE.
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