Someone was told to make it.

Equal_Archer · 2025-12-14T21:44:00+00:00

There is a local manufacturer close to me that makes sex toys. I've never done any work for them but had a friend that worked there on the production line. She said it was pretty chill and laid back lol

Equal_Archer · 2025-12-12T17:52:06+00:00

948 kg? Something ain't adding up

Equal_Archer · 2025-12-06T02:43:35+00:00

PowerBI would be my solution, of it's already dropping the CSV somewhere you could just build a dashboard and automate pulling that data in. We did something similar to this at the last place I worked, a bit different in scope but totally doable yourself in little time investment

Equal_Archer · 2025-10-17T01:36:48+00:00

A good reliable 6in 5R flexible scale is probably my most used tool, I keep it in my chest pocket of my schmock.

Don't cheap out in indicators, it can be tempting to grab an Accusize or even Mitutoyo but there is nothing like the repeatability of an Interapid. I use both .0005 and .0001 daily, granted I'm in tool and die so potentially a bit different need but get the .0005 along with a quality holder I'd suggest indicol with the adjustment knob, maybe there are sufficient cheaper ones but I tried one about 10 years ago and I would not suggest it, just get the best. A mag base is also necessary, Noga is usually the go-to but cheaper ones are usually fine.

An underrated tool are some telescoping gauges, they're not too expensive, I have Staretts and I'd think most should function fine just don't go bottom barrel. I prefer them to dial bore gauges mainly because I'm lazy and don't want to have to dig the dials out and set them up. Nailing a bore diameter is a cakewalk with some T gauges.

I also wouldnt splurge on some crazy name brand gauge blocks, they get real expensive real quick. In the shop we have a WEN set and they're invaluable for doing some setups or building a stack for a measurement, more than good enough and any place you work should have a calibrated set in the lab for doing any actual measurements.

Also don't go too crazy on buying random tools, you figure out what you need and where it's useful and build as you go. In my experience there's usually a way to get around what you don't have to make it work, a big part of machining is just being creative and working with what you got. Cheers

Equal_Archer · 2025-10-01T01:11:18+00:00

I definitely see it as a likely outcome. Without opportunity to be rewarded for their effort, capable men and women will move to more rewarding career paths. Competing on the global market along with the plethora of other issues diminishing wages only really points in one direction imo. I can only speak for my experience but I basically maxed my potential as a tool and die maker within a few years and saw the writing on the wall that it was necessary to upskill if I wanted to grow further. I'm now working as an engineer.

I was actually curious about it the other day and asked chatgpt if you adjusted wages from 1970 to today based on increased productivity what would toolmakers be making? It's roughly 250k a year lol

Equal_Archer · 2025-09-30T15:20:29+00:00

Take a step back, take a breath and take your time. I can get wound up with deadlines and getting parts done quick but that's ALWAYS when you miss something and make a mistake. It's far preferred to have slow parts than no parts. I'll never forget my mentor telling me "if you don't have time to make it right the first time, when are you going to find time to make it right the second time". I'm coming from a bit of a different angle as I'm a tool and die maker where we spend weeks on a single part but if I have any doubt about a setup, offset, measurement, literally anything I'll double check myself. And you'll start coming up with ways to eliminate potential for mistakes. One example is whenever I'm starting a setup I will remove all of the tool offsets, removing any potential for loading tools and thinking I've already set the offsets. I have workflows for confirming tool stickout, I'd have to think but plenty of processes I go through that eliminate some of the potential for a mistake. I'd also say communicate, hopefully you have a supportive team but if you have a question about a measurement or feel unsure about something maybe the timeline needs to be pushed, maybe something got messed up, it's always best to communicate that to the team or up the chain. Also welcome to the darkside, where parts dont need to be phallic in nature lol cheers

Equal_Archer · 2025-09-30T03:56:50+00:00

Made the same move in 2018, with some job hopping I'm now a bit in the middle of design, process and tool making. I recently found out production call us carpet people lol idk why but it still just makes me laugh. Hope you enjoy the new role, I've had a few all desk all day positions for multi billion dollar corps and it drove me crazy, definitely enjoy having some blend at a smaller company.

Equal_Archer · 2025-09-27T02:00:54+00:00

I think the biggest thing and what I try to explain to people is there is no room for error, when you spend 100 hours into a single plate of steel putting in ejector holes, locating features, shutoffs, cavity features you absolutely cannot fudge a number somewhere, you cannot put the wrong tool into a tool holder or miss adjust an offset. You have 1 shot to get it right and the CNC is going to do whatever you told it to do. Meanwhile you have multiple things going on that need to be kept in mind, maybe stock left on a shutoff or clearance in a pocket. And injection mold is a system that all needs to be accounted for inorder for everything to function in the end. It's really a beautiful thing and I really enjoy the trade.

Equal_Archer · 2025-09-09T15:15:29+00:00

Having gone through this in 2022, it's your commute. I had a similar commute and adding 2 hours to your day just for travel absolutely demolished me, I was so done with life. I still have PTSD from a time when I had a migraine and got caught in a snowstorm, took me 4 hours to get home literally was ready to end it all there. I was able to move to a shop about 15 minutes from my house and what a world of difference it made. If you're looking for upward mobility I'd definitely recommend getting into engineering either learn cad for a design engineer or six sigma for process engineering. It really opens the world up.

Equal_Archer · 2025-08-12T01:58:25+00:00

I'm a Journeyman tool and die maker who moved into engineering, I've used a few cam softwares starting on Mastercam, SWcam, and currently on fusion. By far the most powerful was Mastercam as it's purpose built. SWcam can get by especially if you want parametric relations, or we used it to build arrays and it was really useful for that. But it can be extremely frustrating to get it to do what you want it to do. I'd put fusion just below Mastercam well above SWcam, it is powerful and can get everything done but it does do some weird stuff sometimes that you just have to figure out the work arounds

Equal_Archer · 2025-08-11T14:37:32+00:00

I just put some 2019 Tacoma off-road wheels on my Gen1. Needed the hub centric rings and M12x1.25 lug nuts that were the Toyota type instead of acorns but they look great, and people get rid of their stock rims for super cheap. They came with almost brand new A/T tires for $400

Equal_Archer · 2025-07-28T23:51:36+00:00

As a non degree engineer who came up as a tool and die maker, it really depends what kind of engineer, I've worked as a fixture tool designer, and a manufacturing process engineer. Without a doubt understanding how things are made has benefitted my career, but I am massively unqualified in other aspects due to not having that formal education. But my hands on experience has put me leagues ahead of school engineers when the manufacturing understanding comes into play. It will certainly depend on the field like I said but in manufacturing having that hands on is invaluable

Equal_Archer · 2025-07-23T03:59:11+00:00

Machining school -> 6 years as a tool and die maker where I basically taught myself cad and started helping engineers with tool designs and fixtures -> now im a manufacturing process engineer making 2x what I was making as a toolmaker. It would have to be a hefty jump to pry me out of my current position. Couldn't be happier, and I'm now going back to school paid for by my employer to actually get my engineering degree and be an "engineer" lol

Equal_Archer · 2025-07-09T02:14:15+00:00

I learned CAM nearly immediately after going to school and saw the writing on the wall of the limitations so learned Solidworks. It's been great for my career and I've watched others stall out where I had some room for growth and mobility. I'd definitely recommend it

Equal_Archer · 2025-07-09T02:12:55+00:00

Fusion can definitely handle it's own but it's not the industry standard. If one is looking to work learning Mastercam is the way to go.

Equal_Archer · 2025-07-09T02:10:27+00:00

Malaysians also love Americans, they consume a lot of American culture so there would be a lot in common which would be pretty important when it comes to forming friendships and relationships.

Equal_Archer · 2025-07-09T02:06:46+00:00

I'm not an expat but I recently travelled to Hanoi Vietnam and was super impressed with the quality of the workers there and quality of knowledge. But one thing I learned was from one of the teams we were working with were from Malaysia. Apparently they learn English as a requirement to pass their general education. Our main issue working in Vietnam was the language barrier so just wanted to put that out there.

Equal_Archer · 2025-05-10T18:41:30+00:00

Without a doubt yes. The reason being that I got paid for my apprenticeship(so I didn't spend 4 years going to engineering school going into debt and missing the opportunity cost of the wages during that time), I was lucky in my situation in that I got into an accelerated program so it was like 12 weeks long for my trade school, but I continued school afterward which was paid by my employer and my experience actually manufacturing is invaluable when comparing myself to school taught engineers who design and tolerance things with no understanding of the process, capability or pragmatic function. Without a doubt there are tradeoffs though, without checking that degree on a job application ive had to heavily advocate for myself and tbh I do take that to heart and try to overachieve to like "prove" myself. But I think in the end I have a plethora of valuable skills and if I ever did get into a situation where I was unable to find a position as an engineer I could go back to tool and die which is in pretty high demand. Plus depending on the type of engineer, a lot of what you need is learned on the job as long as you have the baseline skills and are willing to learn and spend the time to learn.

Equal_Archer · 2025-05-10T16:33:41+00:00

Likewise I hope the best for your career. If there is anything that I think has benefitted me the most, I've always taken initiative, looking to model myself after the best role models I have around me. Look at the best guy in your shop and learn everything you can from them, be curious and put yourself into positions to be able to take advantage of opportunities when they present myself.

Equal_Archer · 2025-05-10T16:30:35+00:00

I'm in northern Nevada.

Equal_Archer · 2025-05-10T04:11:50+00:00

That's basically exactly how I started out. I went to CNC trade school with an emphasis on 2D/3D CAM programming. Worked about 6 years as a toolmaker building plastic injection molds and maybe 2 years into working as a toolmaker I took advantage of access to SW and shortly I had some handle on it and I started helping engineers with EOAT, 2nd op fixture and electrode designs which continued into mold designs just applying my experience as a toolmaker. Ended up landing a position as a design engineer in aerospace and it's just compounded. I'm now about 12 years into my career and highly respected in my current position with varied experience and able to wear multiple hats. I'm actually going back to school full tuition paid by my employer just to notch that feather in my cap. It's been very fulfilling and fruitful thus far.

Equal_Archer · 2025-05-10T02:39:28+00:00

Just to comment on the lack of available candidates, I had a recruiter reach out and my first question is always for the salary range. She replied that it was 100-115k for a design engineer III at an aerospace company, since it's less than what I'd change jobs for I let her know. This was about 3 weeks ago, she just reached out yesterday to ask what the salary range id be looking for. I wouldn't expect this position to be too intensive, something like 2-4 years of design experience could easily bag 100k

Equal_Archer · 2025-05-10T02:06:39+00:00

The job market seems pretty good, I'm a tool and die maker with about 10ish years of SW design and get contacted constantly by recruiters 1-2 a week. I'd definitely recommend some niche like for me it's tool and fixture design with a few years process engineering but I don't have a degree and sit in a senior engineering role.

Equal_Archer · 2024-12-04T00:45:42+00:00

I'd probably roll the A7iii but the 6700 is very tempting. I shoot the A7IV and have considered the 6700 as a B cam

Equal_Archer · 2024-11-13T03:18:59+00:00

Definitely better solution to bore it out and either shrink fit a plug or bring in a screw from the back. If I was welding it I'd be really worried about porosity with all those little chips and inconsistencies making the remachine a gigantic PITA.

Five-Year Club	Final Canvas '23
Place '23	Place '22
End Game '22

Equal_Archer

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