This is a project that I recently completed. These parts are made from plastic. They measure aprox ½” thick x 2 ½” x 3”. We love working with plastic. It’s easy on machines and the tooling lasts a long time. We had a basic sketch from our customer and they gave us a sample piece of extruded framing that the part had to “snap” into. We made several prototype parts before the actual run. We also had to get final approval of the last prototype from the customer before going ahead. This was a run of 100 parts, and each one had to be exactly the same. Plus, all the edges had to be clean and free of burrs or excess material.

The material came in as a sheet of plastic that we cut strips from. Then we cut them into individual pieces. All edges had to be squared up (meaning each edge had to be 90 degrees to each other) and machined to size before we could start detailing. Each part had to be flipped at least five times. It is amazing how time consuming some parts can be even though they may look so simple. These parts were made on the CNC Mill. I had to draw the part on the computer then program it for the machine. The good thing is, when a repeat order comes in, we’ve already figured out the job and we can save time. We will not need to get customer approval in the future, so long as we keep the dimensions the same.

This is a lock out flag for anyone who works on rail tracks. They are used to indicate to trains or vehicles traveling on the track that part of it is locked out, and no one is to use it. We make blue ones and red ones, they each mean something different in safety standards. We probably make around 15 of these a year.

On this batch, we installed a clip where they will hang a lantern so it is visible at night. The customer also places reflective tape on the surface. From the picture you can also see that the bottom is clamped around a piece of rail.

This is a simple fabricating job were we machine very few pieces. A lot of the metal is formed by applying heat with a torch and then bending it to the desired shape. Some pieces we flame cut before making the final modifications. Everything is made from steel, with the exception of the large square, which is made from aluminum (it can’t be too top heavy). Everything is welded together except for the aluminum, which is to be pop riveted on.

Well, this is a busy time of year for me as is it is I’m sure for most everyone.  For me I am doing my company’s financial year end, Xmas shopping, cooking and getting ready for company.  But when a customer’s machine is down, it still means we have to make the parts even it means starting on them at  8:00 pm.  Some of our incoming orders have slowed because of the holidays, but that means we can catch up on jobs that have been pushed on the back burner. This year we are only taking a few days off.  We are hoping next year to shut down for a week or two over this holiday.   We have never just shut down and gone away.  Because we have our own shop, we can make our own hours. It’s pretty great that I can work till 10 pm because I know I don’t have to get up the next morning at 6 am.  Or when we’ve just had a fabulous snow fall, we can take a few hours in the morning to be the first ones out on the trails.

There are always pro’s and con’s when you’re your own boss.  You have to tell yourself to get to work.  Sometimes you have to pass on a weekend of snowmobiling because of customer demands.  We rarely take weekends off.

I want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday!

There are so many reasons why I know I made the right career choice, but here are a few.

1. Creativity - with problem solving projects I either help the client or give them ideas on how to manufacture their parts.  Sometimes the client is not involved and it is up to me to figure out a way to manufacture their parts.

2. Independence - there are so many different ways to tackle jobs and every person will tackle jobs differently.  I have the ability to make my own choices of how to complete a job from beginning to end.

3. Empowerment – knowing I have the skills to do my job.  After my years in the trade, I am confident I can complete projects properly. 

4. Hands-on – I tried the desk jobs, but it didn’t take.  I like to be on my feet and staying active.  I love using my hands to make parts.  I take a piece of plain round stock and make a specific useful part in the end.

5. Responsibility – it is up to me to make the parts right.  If I let a part out the door out of spec, I have no excuse.  You can’t complain because someone else didn’t do his or her job.  If the part is not right or did not meet the deadline…. It’s my fault.

Yes I love my job!

Are you one of the lucky ones who knew what they always wanted to do as a career?  I never had a dream job or career goal.  I just muddled along from job to job; usually assembly type jobs because they paid fairly well.  When I was 26, I had been working at Boeing for five years as a Stores Keeper/Parts Picker when I found myself laid off.  It was a great paying job considering I had no college or university education. After almost a year on unemployment I received a letter asking if I wanted to take a ten-month machining course.  After doing a little research, taking a tour of the school, meeting the instructor and finding out there was a 99% chance of a job after graduation, I said yes.  This class was for former Boeing and Bristol Aerospace employees who had been laid off.  Most of the students were just there to extend their EI and hope to get a recall back to work.  I was in it for a new career.  This experience changed my life. I could be as creative as I liked, bringing new projects into class. We also had in-class projects of course, but we were able to modify them.  or do our own projects of the same difficulty instead. 

During this program you went out for work experience for four weeks at the end of the school year.  I was hired on full time after week three in a custom machine shop.  I got to make  many different varieties of parts, mostly small in size.  To this day I still prefer small parts as I don’t particularly like having to use cranes to lift material into the machine.  When companies know you’re at the entry level, they give you entry-level work.  As your skill increases, the difficulty in machining parts increase.  Most of the parts were small quantity runs, 30 parts or less.  A lot of the parts were being created to replace a worn or broken part. Sometimes they would be engineered parts that we would make just from drawings.

After 3 years at this company, I moved on. But I have not forgotten the skills and techniques I learned from my mentors there.

Hi everyone and welcome. My name is Georgette and I’m 41 years old.  I am excited to be a part of this blog, which I hope will be a wonderful way to share our ideas and experiences.  I am not an experienced blogger, but I hope to keep the topics interesting.  I am a Journeywoman Machinist in Winnipeg, Mb.  I have been machining for over 15 years and I completed my apprenticeship over 10 years ago.  I am one of a handful of Journeywomen machinists in Manitoba.

Not to boast, but I believe I am the only Journeywoman who has her own manufacturing company across Canada.  My husband and I started our company over 10 years ago, right around the time I became a Journeywoman, but I continued to work full time so I could learn more aspects of this trade until this year.  This meant working from 7:30 am till usually 10 pm 7 days a week 365.  Our company specializes in custom parts and small CNC run parts.  We manufacturing parts for select corporate clients.

I have to tell you that this trade, as a custom machinist, really keeps your mind active and working.  The days and hours will never ever be the same and the days fly by.

We live at the edge of the city and have our 3,000 square foot shop on our property.  Now I don’t have to travel to work, or worry about the weather.  That also means I have no excuse for why I can’t make it to work!

You can visit our website www.glmanufacturing.com to view tons of pictures of some parts we have machined over the years.  I will add photos here of projects I work on in the future.

I look forward to blogging again very soon!