Good machinists are something akin to lion tamers. CNC machine tools inspire a special sort of horror. They're mechanical beasts that growl and groan, ready to lunge at a moments notice with sharpened fangs, and will disembowel you if you let them. Working with a machine that will happily blow itself to pieces with a few errant keystrokes does wonders to focus one's attention. You learn to move carefully and deliberately in their presence.
I'm a software developer who has had occasion to program a CNC mill and lathe over the past few years. The relative banality and physically harmless nature of software bugs made in my normal job made the stakes seem so much higher by contrast, when touching machine tools. I partly credit this "culture shock" in helping to keep me safe and the equipment undamaged - apart from a trio of snapped endmills on Day 1 (F100 instead of F10).
I can definitely echo that the ability to work safely, quickly, is one thing that sets the pros apart. I'm glad I have the luxury of time that light production affords.
I managed to program a 'hard interrupt' into my skull so that before I press the play button I at least have brought into mind what I expect to happen... It usually works. You have to keep a lot of state in mind, and when you run multiple machines at once you do get immersed in the flow and time flies. It is a power trip when you're punching buttons with complete confidence like you're part machine yourself. A quick one to come down from too. :)
I'm a software developer who has had occasion to program a CNC mill and lathe over the past few years. The relative banality and physically harmless nature of software bugs made in my normal job made the stakes seem so much higher by contrast, when touching machine tools. I partly credit this "culture shock" in helping to keep me safe and the equipment undamaged - apart from a trio of snapped endmills on Day 1 (F100 instead of F10).
I can definitely echo that the ability to work safely, quickly, is one thing that sets the pros apart. I'm glad I have the luxury of time that light production affords.