Getting Started as Tool and Die Designer 1

[dieselkopf]

Good evening to everyone, for a while now I have been thinking about a change of direction. I have been working for an MEP design firm for the past several years. But I have recently been thinking about trying to move into tool and die design. I had a summer job working in a stamping mill years ago while I was early in college, I think it was around 2005 or so. Anyway, I can't seem to find very many resources about how to get into this field. There don't seem to be a whole lot of companies that do this work where I am, in Houston, TX. What might be the best way to break into the design side of tool making? Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[ajack1]

Personally I have never found a good tool designer that has not spent at least a few years working in a toolroom as either a toolmaker or machinist.

One possibility would be to try and find a large press shop that does all the process side of the design and just requires someone to do the “nuts and bolts” side of the modelling if you have very strong surface modelling skills.

From there it is a matter of building up knowledge and experience and taking on more difficult tasks. Of course reading up as much as possible on tool design would help but believe me this is a classic example of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

I am not really sure of employment hot spots on the other side of the pond but obviously the area around Detroit is a real hot bed of automotive manufacture and press tooling.

Just out of interest what has made you decide that moving into an area where you would be starting as a novice, I assume this would be reflected in the pay, would be a good idea?

 

[TED7]

As Ajack said, toolroom experience really is vital to getting anything right, along with working wherever the tools are going to finish up, you will be amazed how far a little line experience goes towards designing tooling which does not cause a headache for everyone who touches it.

I accidentally found my position when I took up a temporary operator job on an assembly line and someone higher up found out they had an ex-engineer putting rivets in holes and pressing green buttons all day.

All but one of the other tool designers I know found their way in through toolroom aprenticeship schemes and this company has a policy of internally sourcing designers and wont advertise unless they are really struggling. You may be best off cold calling on various assembly plants and press shops (depending on the kind of tooling you want to end up designing)

Also get a copy of Fundamentals Of Machine Component Design by Juvinall and Marshek (ISBN: 978-0471661771).

I dont think there are any employment hot spots what so ever on 'this' (being the UK) side of the pond. Sheffield has the highest density of press forges and the West Midlands is where a lot of the automotive industry is focused.

Designer of machine tools - user of modified screws

 

[tygerdawg]

Getting hands on experience is certainly useful, but there are many ways to get there. Do you need to get Journeyman Machinist papers before you start designing tools? Nope. You can gain a lot of experience just by getting away from the CAD monitor for a while and getting out on the shop floor.

A couple of avenues to consider:
[ul]
[li]Take some machinists & metalworking classes.[/li]
[li]Read up on the subject, there are plenty of resources available. SME's ToolingU is one that comes to mind.[/li]
[li]Consider relocating to where you would be neck-deep in the work. Not to slam all the good work done on the Gulf Coast (I grew up there), but if you consider a relo to the Upper Mid-West (where I am now) you can't swing a dead cat... There is amazing talent, experience, and infrastructure in MI, OH, etc., that you simply don't find anywhere else. And lots of work to be had. Will you get rich doing it? Probably not.[/li]
[/ul]

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[dieselkopf]

Ajack1, thanks for the input on getting started. As I said before, what has gotten me thinking about this again is remembering the job I had in college, helping out in the tool room of a local stamping mill. Right now, I work for a firm that designs mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems for construction. I have been doing this for about 4.5 years now and am just rather bored with it. I don't know if this is really a case of "greener grass syndrome" or what. But taking a job as an entry level machinist would mean a huge paycut and starting over learning everything. The learning part would not be bad, but the paycut would be a lot more difficult to deal with. I will continue reading about tooling design, anyway, to see if this is really something that I would find interesting enough to pursue. Thanks again for the input.

 

[dvd]

One downside to tool design is that there is not much money in it. The tool and die shop sells a die for a few thousand and engineering is just a small part of it. You will be working on your own time to fix your screwups. You might even be paying for material that you ruined when you made an error on a print. I also concur with the statement about experience as a tool and die maker: seems vitally important to me.

 

[looslib]

Houston is large enough that there should be some tool and die shops around. Cold calling may be in order to see if there are any openings at them.
Like others have said tool and die work is very specialized and most of the tool designers I have worked with have come out of the shop. You can still learn a lot by being in the office if you take some time each day and go out to the shop to see how things are operating and get to know the operators of the machinery. Pick their brains a little about things that may make their job easier.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[akshaytwhare]

hello everyone, I am a fresher b.e mechanical student. i have started my career in toolings, now I am just monitoring tools & life cards. so is their any future for this work profile?

 

[chicopee]

You may want to check out manufacturers of dies used in injection and blow molding operations. Plastic bottles, grooming equipment, utensils etc... are made form these operations that uses dies. On a grandeur scale, rotational molding for such products as kayaks would require tool and die designers.

 

[wongs9982]

stamping tool is easy,
i suggest you to study the progressive die software, solidworks, ugnx, and proengineer.
please tool and product has a little difficult, you need to work on your own in the evening for over a year. to complete a 3d detail tool design.

 

[ornerynorsk]

Every good tool designer I've known had their start as a machinist in the toolroom. This is not a trade that one readily jumps into on a whim.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.