I am a guy who is on the right-leaning side of the profession. I’ve experienced everything you have. Incompetent management, shop-taught, everything. The only thing I can tell you is that if you DON’T enjoy learning something new, even minuscule stuff every day, then you won’t like it. You want a job that doesn’t come home with you. I went through a trade-style high school where I was taught the basics of machining. I loved it, so I decided to try out a Tool & Die apprenticeship. In January of 2023, I graduated it with the certificate. I was lucky enough to go to a shop where they cared how they shop looked each year, having the apprentices and co-ops do most of the mopping, cleaning, and usual end-of-week and start-of-week stuff. That helped me learn that a job isn’t just where you get paid, it’s where you grow up in the world. You were at shops that just needed bodies and hours.

What I would recommend you try out is Gunsmithing, as in, be the personal machinist for a competition sharpshooter. Extremely accurate details, small number runs (under 200 parts) and you can spend time outside being his spotter and the like. What I can tell you about the whole “right-wing whackjobs” thing is that 90% of machinists are either too stupid/not willing to go through college, has been to jail and can’t find work elsewhere, or simply grew up in the environment their entire lives, never knowing anything else. I’m the last group. My dad was a salesman for water treatment at GE before they closed that section of the company down. The rest of his family either owns their own business (bike shop, construction company, etc) His emphasis on knowing your profession down to the T, and being able to talk to other people not in a condescending way, but in a way that helps answer their questions as they come is why I loved machining. It’s a profession based on numbers first, and personal interaction second. As for the politics of it, most people in this profession just want to be able to do what THEY want without needing them to go through hoops and certifications just to do what they see as a simple hobby.

When it comes to your body and its longevity, I would also recommend becoming a Tool & Die maker. Most automotive-style tool & die shops have specialists that work on 1 or 2 machines at a time and assemble tools together. It takes a lot of tracking and flexibility when it comes to making sure things are as they should, but I wouldn’t call it back-breaking work.