Manufacturing industry in Portland? (Milwaukie, Wilsonville: apartments, rent, transfer)

[JimmyDownfall]

Hello
I have a degree in advanced machine tool technology (A.S), and I currently work as a CNC lathe operator/set-up technician, I'm also an Air Force Vet with a mechanical background. I'm really interested in relocating to Portland around this same time next year, as it soooo seems like my kind of place (I'm the artsy creative, musician type). I'm trying to do my research first instead of impulsively and naively packing my bags and hitting the road. I found this link:
Portland Economic Development Strategy
I found it very encouraging but who knows if it's grounded in reality or not. I was just curious if anyone had some first hand knowledge, links, or maybe you know someone who knows someone.. or just anything they could share about manufacturing in Portland, preferably having to do with the CNC machining career field. One really cool thing I noticed about Oregon is that you guys have very reasonable tuition rates at state colleges, and I would like to transfer into, and baby step my way into a mechanical engineering degree, as that would be the logical follow on to what I'm doing now.
Common sense suggests the closer I live to where the action is the more expensive it will be as far as living arrangements go.. But are there any surrounding areas with reasonable rent (studios or 1bdrm $700-$1000 per mo. range) where I could live but still reach with public transit after a night on the town? Maybe I buy a bike? I'm single no kids, early 30's btw..

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any input you can give me.

[JimmyDownfall]

Just realized my post made it sound like I don't have a car. I do have a car, but I'm not a big fan of drinking and driving.

[Nell Plotts]

Check out CastParts, aka Precision CastParts, particularly their small structures division.

[EnricoV]

I can't speak to the field in particular. Those are some good companies listed, however. I think you'll find that most of them, though, are located in the surrounding areas ... Troutdale, Milwaukie, etc.. Swan Island, in North Portland, may be the only one in the city.

Your budget for housing sounds reasonable. I'd look for housing, though, somewhere between where you work and "where the action is," as they're not likely to be near one another.

[AndyAMG]

Indeed.com. Is where I found my job, I have a similar background but I earned a bachelors in mechanical engineering. It's a lot of head hunters and temp agencies for the machinists. CNC is pretty big here, there is a shortage of GOOD machinists here because the boomers are retiring. It will all depend on how long you worked, who you worked for, what machines you know, how well you do programming at the machine, the setups you have encountered. It sounds as if you are an operator with some set up experience. Less than 5 years don't expect to start out at more than $16/hr. Portland is a microcosm of random machine tools. One shop runs mori seki, another HAAS an other Takasawa and Hwaechon. It's hard because schools teach HAAS and Okuma mainly and our machines are all random. So the boss is looking for people with Mori Seki or Mazatrol experience when most of the new guys are taugh Fanuc, HAAS, and Okuma controls. We also find that the kids that get out of A.A.T A.A.S programs at comm. coll. know very little about anything beyond 3-axis for mills and live tooling lathes are greek to them. So if you have a little 5 axis and live tooling under the belt, you would be extremely valuable. Being a vet will help a lot.

I can tell you anything you want to know. I'm quite in the know.. Disclaimer: I will not give you my personal information, I will not direct you to where I know there are jobs, I will not give you the names of people I know in the industry. But I can tell you anything you specifically want to know.

Just so you know don't discount head hunters, that's how 3 of my friends got really good jobs. Volt and Aerotek were instrumental in finding my friends jobs in the local area.

Live in Milwaukie/Clackamas/Gladstone or SE Portland. Most good apartments are about $800-1000. $700 dollar apartments are becoming scarce.

There has been a huge boom in machine shops in Canby, Aurora, Wilsonville, and Sherwood. Machine shops are everywhere scattered all over Portland, they are not confined to one area or even several areas.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

AndyAMG is spot on.

Listen to his advice.

The company I worked for was always searching for good machinists.


It's a good field to be in around here.

[JimmyDownfall]

Originally Posted by AndyAMG

Indeed.com. Is where I found my job, I have a similar background but I earned a bachelors in mechanical engineering. It's a lot of head hunters and temp agencies for the machinists. CNC is pretty big here, there is a shortage of GOOD machinists here because the boomers are retiring. It will all depend on how long you worked, who you worked for, what machines you know, how well you do programming at the machine, the setups you have encountered. It sounds as if you are an operator with some set up experience. Less than 5 years don't expect to start out at more than $16/hr. Portland is a microcosm of random machine tools. One shop runs mori seki, another HAAS an other Takasawa and Hwaechon. It's hard because schools teach HAAS and Okuma mainly and our machines are all random. So the boss is looking for people with Mori Seki or Mazatrol experience when most of the new guys are taugh Fanuc, HAAS, and Okuma controls. We also find that the kids that get out of A.A.T A.A.S programs at comm. coll. know very little about anything beyond 3-axis for mills and live tooling lathes are greek to them. So if you have a little 5 axis and live tooling under the belt, you would be extremely valuable. Being a vet will help a lot.

I can tell you anything you want to know. I'm quite in the know.. Disclaimer: I will not give you my personal information, I will not direct you to where I know there are jobs, I will not give you the names of people I know in the industry. But I can tell you anything you specifically want to know.

Just so you know don't discount head hunters, that's how 3 of my friends got really good jobs. Volt and Aerotek were instrumental in finding my friends jobs in the local area.

Live in Milwaukie/Clackamas/Gladstone or SE Portland. Most good apartments are about $800-1000. $700 dollar apartments are becoming scarce.

There has been a huge boom in machine shops in Canby, Aurora, Wilsonville, and Sherwood. Machine shops are everywhere scattered all over Portland, they are not confined to one area or even several areas.

Hey, thanks so much for taking the time to write that. I definitely appreciate it. Oddly enough, my CNC work experience thus far has dealt exclusively with dual spindle multi axis (5-7+) swiss style lathes (citizen brand in particular) all with live tooling, working in a ISO 9001 certified shop. So maybe I'll be a hot commodity . I won't have 5 years when I get there, but I'm hoping that the degree and a few years real world cnc experience coupled with the technical military background and my age, might put me in the $18-20/hr range. I actually prefer to work second shift, so if there are shift differentials with an extra dollar or two more an hour, I'll be all over that. Really I'll be happy with clearing 2,200 a month after taxes, I imagine that would be enough to get by without feeling like I'm living check to check. If it comes down to it, maybe I'll do the roommate thing for the first year and save a few hundred a month.. I'm really not too keen on the idea because I've yet to enter a roommate situation that doesn't descend into absolute drama.

I see Boeing is in the area.. That would be a sweet gig to land a spot there.

[AndyAMG]

As you know there is usually a range. Avg range in Portland is $18/23 hr. Most CNC shops have a lot of work. Manual shops are hurting though. You should easily clear 3k a month with overtime, which from what I have seen and heard is mandatory most places. Most machinists are putting in 50 hrs plus. Grave shift is big right now. Roommates suck. You can get an apartment for about $800. Get a crap car and put $500-1000/mo in savings. I assure you no machinist at our shop makes less than $2800/mo, even the single 20 somethings. Boeing pay is low at first $16.75/hr but then it sky rockets to $21.25 after the first 2 years. With 20 hours overtime at time and a half your approaching engineer pay. You'll be fine. Come back and let us know what happens, it could help others.

[Mr.Quiet]

Are a lot of former military in the machining industry there in general? Portland?

[patrick_m]

I'm an inventor/M.E./U.S. citizen with my own business in Taiwan. We're relocating to the Sherwood area in June for my son's education. Precision mechanisms are my specialty. I'd like to have my prototypes machined locally. Can anyone PM me with the names of some good job shops in the Sherwood/Wilsonville area I can get quotes from? If the prices are okay I'll start working locally in advance of our arrival in order to establish business relationships. Thank you.