u/Dry_Pea_7127

Anyone know of any smiths in the northern half of the state/Chicago area who can strip off a worn parkerized finish and hot blue a gun for me? Thanks!

Manual lathe and mill guy here, been in the trade 10 years and have worked in a variety of job shops, current one being a motor repair shop where I'm the sole machinist and still have to do and figure out everything for myself with zero hand holding.

I'm making this post for those of you out there who live in regions like myself where it feels like you can't find an employer that respects you enough. I've personally been through so many interviews over the years (while still actively working) and have turned down so many jobs because so many of these companies nowadays just do not understand what being a real Machinist involves or why what they are willing to pay just sucks. I'm starting to notice that this trend is slowly dying and improving for the better, probably a sign of the times more than anything else.

Today I managed to hardball my boss into giving me an $8 raise by going out and conducting an interview with another nearby company a week ago. I got an official job offer from said company, and I chose to use it to my advantage to see if my current employer would step up to the plate and offer more to stay. To my surprise they did.

I started off at $17hr running manuals with anywhere from 5" swing to 50" swing for my first 6 years in the trade, in hindsight it's insane to me that I was setting up 4 ton parts and making 80" long passes on said parts, or doing things like holding .0005 tolerances on shafts and bearing surfaces for around $20hr.

By 2025 I was only making $22.50, 9 years deep into the trade, and I was ready to seriously give up for a while and just go work for the post office or FedEx.

I'm now in the 30hr range with more room to grow, and from here on out I will probably feel just a LITTLE bit less like killing myself every day for choosing to get into this trade from a young age. Don't give up folks, unless you have aspirations to move onto something like Engineering or a different trade entirely, you have to just keep fighting for what you're worth. The boomer gen machinists are almost completely gone now and things seem to be getting really dire in the labor market for knowledgeable guys.