Is there anyone on here who does metal fabrication for a living, who wouldn't mind having a chat about what it's like?

Like, welding, machining, drill presses and routers and lathes and press brakes and whatnot?

(Boosts welcome)

Edit: oh wow, that's so many replies! Thank you!

I realised I should have asked my main questions in this post, and I think editing them in should ping people who replied. So:

1: How'd you get yourself hired in the first place? What are entry-level roles like?
2: Do you find you have to lift a lot of heavy stuff? I sort of have the impression from watching How It's Made that overhead chains and pulleys and motors get used a lot for moving around the thing being worked on, but I've also seen a job posting saying you need to be happy to lift 25kg.
3: what's the average day like?

This entry was edited (yesterday, 11:15 PM)
in reply to abs girlie

@mi I do some (mostly) machining as my part-time job next to uni.

14h/weeks, mostly turning, some drilling, some milling, some cursing, I have stayed clear of welding (my employer immediately spotted my lack of talent), and also try to avoid bending works.

I'd be up for a chat, after work (I'm currently here, doing things)

in reply to Len

@hal_pomeranz not what you asked for, but I can tell you what it’s like to learn it for 3months. All a lot harder than we thought! One of the subjects at Uni they sent us off to TAFE to do a small sample of learning each of the trades. Welding, fitting and turning, foundry, etc. we saw the full time TAFE students/apprentices work which was impressive. They got to see how useless the Engineers were with their hands. It was a good experience
in reply to Len

Still got my centre punch I made as a wee slip of a lad learning to use a Lathe many moons ago. The best advice I can give anyone wanting a trade in engineering is to find the one you're good at and go for it. I have met a few Welders who were bloody useless with tape measure, but could weld across a gap way outside tolerance for the piece they were welding together. The trick is take your time when learning skills to build experience.

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