As a career? I'll assume "yes".
Go to college for ME. Not one of the big brand-name schools. The local one that services the regional mechanical engineering industry. Tell them you want a career change. If you're serious about it, they'll bend over backwards to make it as feasible as they can. They'll also be brutally honest about whether you've collectively reached the point of feasibility yet.
I'm saying this as someone who is very outspokenly critical of universities as unnecessary gatekeepers.
Focus on the serious fundamentals first. I mean like how to hammer a nail into a thing, how to screw things together. Learn the difference between nut+bolt, Truss Head screws, and pan-head screws. Learn when to use each of these things.
Visit Home Depot. Build a damn coffee table.
Focus on the fundamentals. CNC Mill comes after all this IMO on the hierarchy of knowledge. You really should be extremely familiar with fasteners (Glue vs Nuts+Bolts vs Screws vs Nails) before you start designing things that get glued/screwed/snapped together.
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Most things are left unsaid because just building a damn coffee table (or similarly simple / small object) is everything you need to know about beginner level mechanical engineering.
Finding a class (community college) with this basic level of skills really is the bulk of it. Once you've accomplished the basics, it becomes obvious how to use a CNC Mill or 3d printer or whatever these electronic tools are.
The stuff you're focusing on - basically manufacturing techniques - is a very small part of engineering in general. I didn't see any mention of CAD or FEA work, but even assuming you do know some of that or can access that type of learning you still are missing a lot of what makes an engineer an engineer.
The biggest difference I see between software developers and mechanical engineers is a way of thinking. I realize that sounds very woo, but it's very obvious to me and to other mechanical engineers I've spoken to.
For example, around my area there are schools that give out "Mechanical Engineering Technologist" degrees, which are quicker, less math intensive engineering degrees. Often times speaking to METs, I notice how they don't see connections between certain phenomenon or see why certain physical phenomenon happen in one circumstance but not another.
This isn't to discourage you. I think one very easy step you could do if you haven't already is pick up Fusion360 (it's free for hobbyists I believe) and try to simulate making a simple project. I would hesitate in calling this "mechanical engineering" but I think it would get you along in your goals.
Sorry for the long rambling message, the interplay between software and traditional engineering is something I think about quite a bit...
(1) I've been thinking of getting a certification in ANSYS or Abaqus (it's relatively cheap). Would it help if I get some certs, or would it be enough to have expertise in several open source finite element programs? - think deal.ii, PETSc, MFEM, MOOSE, FreeFEM, FEniCS and the like. I really like to use the latter because apart from being free, they give me more freedom and I can use them with parallel computing on UNIX machines.
(2) Regarding manufacturing and machines/machining, any book or resources that stood out? I'm most familiar with the Machinery's Handbook.
(3) For design, did you use a tablet? I've been looking into buying one and use it for design, preferably with FOSS. Any recs?
Thank you for your comments,
M.
Machinery handbook rocks, but it is far from perfect. It's great for machining, it doesn't cover all of mechanical engineering. I've leaned hard on Roarks formula handbook through my career. A materials reference book goes a long way too. More recently referring frequently to degarmos manufacturing book.
I've used a cheap-ish Windows laptop for almost all of my research and design. CAD can suffer as assemblies get large, I turn fancy rendering off as it is mechanical engineering, not making prettying renders. FEA can eat resources fast. I've pushed to a beefier desktop as required. I've done some CAD on a tablet, but I hate the form factor for it.
I went to a top tier school for MechE and Materials, and would recommend two intro books: Engineering Mechanics Statics by Meriam and Kriage and Shigley's Mechanical engineering Design in that order . If you fully understand the contents of these book, it probably puts you in the top 10% of mechanical engineering graduates.
For a broader education, you can read Fundamentals of Heat and Mass transfer by Incropera, DeWitt, Bergmann & Lavine as well as Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics by Munson, Young & Okiishi.
Understanding these two books will probably as well will probably put you in the top 1% of grads.
If you have a strong background in mathematics, these mostly deal with applications of linear algebra and differentials, so the value is understanding the applications.
From there, you can branch out. If applicable, Ogata's Modern Control Engineering and Tongu's Principles of vibration
Most undergraduates dont really understand these due to the heavy application of Laplace and Fourier transforms, but are relevant if you want to build complex machines.
It is basically the equivalent of a picture book, with 200 pages of free body diagrams, which may be helpful to someone if they aren't used to thinking in terms of beams, forces, and moments.
The entire books' contents is probably covered in pages of Shigley's, and perhaps for some people that is enough..
That said, it is definitely the weakest of the suggestions. The rest are serious books that a professional might refer back to. On the other hand you should really never need to refer back to a statics text, and it could be switched out for any number of options.
For self-learning, I don't know if anyone would work through the problems in a statics textbook. Shigley looks good. Thanks for that recommendation.
For heat transfer, I eventually wound up on the bibliography from Hot Air Rises and Heat Sinks by Tony Kordyban, which is more focused on cooling electronics. I have Holman's Heat Transfer on my shelf as a result and I can recommend it for self-learning. One big advantage to Holman: he shows how to set up common thermal problems in Excel in an appendix. I would consider recommending a good continuum mechanics book in the place of a fluid mechanics book - I liked Yuan-Cheng Fung's First Course in Continuum Mechanics but I haven't looked at it or anything else in its domain for a while.
Ogata is a good controls text. I don't know if any of them are good for self-learning. I tried and had to take a class to wrap my head around feedback control. Tongue looks interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.
There's an MIT course on OpenCourseware that's called (roughly) "How to make (almost) anything" and also "FUNdamentals of Machine Design." (or something like that!) I think they're by Richard (?) Slocum. I started a long time ago and cherry picked the parts I cared about. Slocum's writing is very entertaining and he's easy to follow along with.
As you can tell, my memory isn't that great :-)
It'd be like telling someone fooling with Python that they need to take a full CS degree otherwise they'll fail to appreciate the beautiful mathematical underpinnings of functional programming. That might be true, but that's also not the goal.
Edit: clarification
I personally use a Sainsmart 3020. It's relatively cheap and pretty small. For my goals, it gets what I want done. I used to have an Ender 3 Pro for 3D printing but had to give that up. If you want to get into the business of manually using a lathe or something, more power to you, but why when we live in an era of desktop manufacture? But regardless of what equipment you use, you need something that can inspect, possibly edit, and transfer the design file to the equipment i.e. CAD.
As a fellow trained ME, yes, it seems obvious to me as well. A good school and program will have you spending several years in intensive study and thought about the fundamentals and wider implications of the physical principles and mathematics of machines and systems. If you can then follow that up with a few years of good hands-on professional experience with the subject of your study, it's going to give you a level of insight into the workings of the physical world that is difficult to achieve just through direct experience.
Which is not to say that you can't succeed in manufacturing without an engineering degree. It's pretty common for experienced machinists/welders/etc. to break out of a career cul-de-sac and go into business for themselves and engage in some effective and knowledgeable engineering in the process.
But there's no shortcut. You either do the schooling, or you earn the experience. Otherwise, you're not even going to be realizing the mistakes you're making.
I am im supply chain management now, and compared to others in thay domain that are really good SCMs but not engineers, thinking like an engineer makes things easier sometimes.
I also agree on using the old hands on the shop floor when it comes to manufacturing and machining parts, engineering / design for manufacturing is something a lot of engineers struggle with. Also goes for maintenance and what not. And the good engineers listen carefully to that kind of feed-backband actually search it. This was one something my profs pointed out to us all the time as being an important part of our future jobs. Obviously, some people are better at that then others.
Can you give an example? Myself being a mechanical engineer who also turned to software development, the people I talk to from SW are used to dealing with large matrices and semi-complex math. Sure they don't know about modal analysis or Navier–Stokes equations, but the lack of a certain way of thinking I cannot recognize.
Let me put it this way - I've seen many times software engineers laugh when they encounter a funny bug or an output they didn't expect. I don't think I've ever seen an ME laugh when something breaks.
I'd say it depends whether the software engineer learned core computer science. That's maths heavy and teaches you equational reasoning, which similar to the skills used in solving systems of equations that govern physical systems.
Some of the most brilliant people I've ever met are gruff old dudes in a machine shop. They don't use CAD because they can hold an entire design in their head. You ask them about a change to a part, and they tell you why three other parts need to be modified if you want to make that change.
These "old school" types (in my experience) actually have a deeper understanding for the interplay of physical phenomena in a design. They might not know the specifics of the underlying reasoning for said phenomena, but they can absolutely tell you what the outcome will be and how to avoid it.
How'd they get started? Apprenticeships, usually. But how did they get good? They made stuff. A lot of stuff. Eventually you'll get good at it.
Just keep doing what you're doing. And wear your PPE. And try not to chop any fingers off.
Just some quick things that may help you point you in the right direction. This is coming the "small scale hobbyist", not indusdrual profesional viewpoint:
-getting better and making actual projects come to fruition is actually a lot like CS. A lot. Somebody can spend all their time reading CS theory, textbooks, MITOWC, whatever. Their technical foundation will be strong, but will struggle when it comes to coding syntax and spesific program/firmware issues. Some get stuck in that mode and are paralyzed to take action
I'd honestly recommend dropping the mech-E textbooks to read just for reading's sake. It will fill you with generic knowledge but not a better builder. Instead I'd be thinking about "what do I want to build"? Kitchen knives? Custom pens? Automotive mods? It does not need to be something you make forever. Just something that seems fun now (just like the pet CS video game project)
Just like CS hacking (in the PG sense), THEN you will start to look up how it's done. Kitchen knives need metal forging? Okay, now its time to look up edu material for that. What tools are needed? Can I custom-make tools to get them cheaper? What edu material is out there for that… rinse and repeat
...just remember 2 things. 1, safety first. 2, a pretty drawing means nothing if you can't manufacture it to your desired specs
-honestly, drafting or 3D modelling, it's all fine. What's important is what allows you to implement your ideas and record them fastest. Also, right tools for the right job
I made a bench for my balcony. Just rough, imprecise measurements, knowing I'd make ad-hoc cuts to size when I had my material
For extreme lightweighted, funtion-over-form stuff or geometrically sensitive stuff, ya, CAD or FEA software will be needed
Just use whatever is appropriate and will allow you to achieve the results you want. Honestly, if you're not making F1 parts, drafting or CAD is fine
-your proto-prototyping is GREAT. This is exactly how you get started into this. Try something out on a small scale, see where you could improve with tooling, materials, methods and process, try again. Want to make a bronze casting? Try plaster casting first. You say you're lost, but you are ahead of 99% of people in all the damn makerspaces or home hobbyists. Trust me :)
-janky tools. Beautiful. For things that don't need to hit specifications (like firm +/- tolerances), this is one of my favourite things to do. I made an air extraction unit with a thrift shop electric leaf blower motor and some scrap hvac conduit. This is a crucially important skill IMO, as mechanical things get expensive. This allows you to go MUCH further with the money invested to try things out
-collecting weird stuff? Get some plastic bins. Lol. Out of sight out of mind
And last tip? When things around you break, try to fix them. That really starts to add to your "mechanical intuition". I'm pretty familiar with hvac, plumbing, general indusdrial fastners, air and fluid power systems. Next time your sink clogs up, don't call the plumber right off the bat. Explore tutorial videos to see if you would be comfortable doing it (and no problem of you're not; i am not with electronics). But at least you start to get very familiar with standard tools, parts, designs, etc. It's almost uncanny how similar many product classes are
I work in R&D in heavy mfg
I find when people outside the "handy" diciplines (factory operations, industrial setting eng, skilled trades), they think mfg and engineered components are much more elegant than they really are
Perhaps things like apple, F1, dyson and defence distort that view. They do make their products with "spaceship" technologies. But it's critical to understand they are the exception, not the norm... plus... the treasuries and workforce they can utilize to pull it off
It's hilarious how products like Yeti, cammelback, premium razors are just permutation of very simple products (not knocking them one bit and great marketing). x2 the quality of standard products for x4 the price (and often that's just fine)
Usually products start out a little jank just like software. Red bull and lululemon come to mind. Start small leveraging available things, start local markets, scale from there. Just like FB with Harvard students
Hey, my favourite jank tip: an O ring blew but you don't have a replacement? Bubble gum works pretty well for a few days
Live full production systems? Usually no one will be willing to risk the OSHA or ISO violations where critical failure affects safety. Or, if they do, that company won't last long
Ratchet straps can be a good insulator, when clean and used properly, to higher voltages than you'd suspect.
But other days I kind of like the piecemealed nature of sharing "tribal knowledge" when you bump shoulders with others
You start to hit the next threshold when you start to become a mad-max salvager. Fan motor controller is broken but the motor is fine? Salvage the motor, chuck the rest!
Also, reballing the BGA solder balls doesn't fix the solder bumps inside the RSX.
Screw you NVIDIA!
Also, to add on to the reading comment - keep an eye out for old (40's->70's in particular) technical books and manuals on topics that interest you. I find they had a way of conveying information that was somewhat lost once video became commonplace.
60 years with man and machine
A guy who started as a millwright in 1890. Was a touring magazine editor until the end of ww2
It's hard to find but it's a banger
For spesific methods (like jewelry making), there are pockets of web 2.0 vbullitin sites out there... kind of like hacker news
That jewelry site in question (i used it for metal casting knowledge)
Yes. I miss TechShop, where I did CNC machining. It's not all that difficult. Maybe 100-200 hours to minimal competence.
What's left of the maker movement seems to have been taken over by little old ladies into crafting. Gluing construction paper and macrame, not machining and welding. Activities classes for middle schoolers where they assemble kits, not original work. In the early days of TechShop, it was people making rocket engine nozzles for the X-Prize, and people who commuted to Shenzhen to get their stuff made in volume. Four Bridgeport mills, all going at once.
Then again I live in the (relative) boonies, so the closest I'll come to a makerspace is what I stick in my garage :)
Austin, TX: https://asmbly.org/
Worcester, MA: https://technocopia.org/
Irvine, CA: https://urbanworkshop.net/
The problem is that none of them are what I would call "cheap" anymore.
> Activities classes for middle schoolers where they assemble kits, not original work.
Don't look down on this. Assembling an electronics kit is what got a LOT of us greybeards into electronics. Debugging something you put together is non-trivial.
Something about mechanical engineering feels amazing, unlike software getting real tangible /physical/ results from your work. I feel the CS experience gives a very distinct advantage as well here. Software and CAD isn't scary for a CS brain. CnC (additive and subtractive) seems like logical way to do everything, which is what makes cool parts for projects.
I've acquired a few cheap Harbor Freight welders and oxy/acetylene cutting tools, started with small CnC routers to carve soft metals for parts. 3d print what I can't do in metal.
One really easy area to get into for a software dev is robots, look into RoS, an open source robotics OS based on Linux, order some parts from the RoS wiki. And you can get to your own advanced little r2d2 pretty quickly (real-time 3d mapping of your house, arm with gripper control, voice control, image recognition in real time) - most of the software pieces that ME might struggle with are not so difficult for CS folks, and it enables some really cool results!
For one thing, sketching out variations on a design typically reveals there's a wide space of possible parameters in the spec. In many cases it's obvious that only a small subset will actually be technically feasible (either for machining or for reasonable functionality of the finished artifact or both), but not obvious exactly what that subset will be.
I'm not even talking about what could be revealed by finite element analysis or other formal methods (though I'm not averse to learning those too). I mean the feel, the taste, and the intuition I can't get from just drawing and doing the math. Like Jackie Stewart said, "You don't have to be an engineer to be be a racing driver, but you do have to have Mechanical Sympathy." I have mechanical sympathy for computing systems, for rapidly narrowing down appropriate design spaces in software projects, but I don't yet have mechanical sympathy for mechanical systems.
Urban apartment, I'd stick to electronics, pcb, soldering, code.
You want meche career change, just go work in a local cnc machine shop that runs Fusion 360. Then you can have unlimited access to all the tools you could ever want. If you want to be a good designer, I'll sell you my book once it's written.
It's tough to plan a path toward growth in these skills without sustaining inordinate expenses at each step. I can't afford to become afflicted with Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I've come close to dropping huge sums of cash on tools before discovering, at the last minute, critical reasons that they could not do what I need for the designs I have in mind. Maybe I'll visit a makerspace? Ah, but every one in my area appears to have gone defunct since Covid year zero.
So the journey up to this point has been:
- A lot of reading: not just faffing around with hobbyist blogspam -- full-on MechE textbooks, learning what really goes into engineering schematic diagrams, all that good stuff
- Getting back up to speed with the pencil-on-paper geometry and math skills I've lost after years of doing all my intellectual work in digital form (at least I can still draw a freehand circle)
- Proto-proto-prototyping: just making some physical objects roughly of the same geometry as what I've designed -- whittling them out of wood, sculpting them out of polymer clay
- Hacking together janky tools: trying to make a crappy mini lathe out of Meccano-clone parts, trying to make a crappy mini lathe out of an electric drill, just to get a basic feel for what's involved
- Apologizing to my wife for all this weird scary stuff in the corner of the apartment
I was a CS major. The only hands-on physical engineering I did in college was cooking a single-transistor chip in a freshman applied physics lab. Basically I feel like someone who has studied everything about the physics of bicycles but has never ridden one. I'm really struggling on how to proceed.