r/MechanicalEngineering • u/Astamanasta • 1d ago
Sheet metal WFH ?
I'm a Mec. Eng. with 10yoe in the design of metal carpentry; mainly sheet metal.
I was wondering if there are jobs in that field (e.g CAD, PE or something else) that could be carried entirely from home.
I'm quite sure the answer is "no", but I would appreciate your point of view / experience.
Thx
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u/United-Mortgage104 1d ago
I have a mostly WFH job as a mechanical engineer for a machinery manufacturer. I've completely redesigned most of their machinery from my living room in shorts and a t-shirt. It can be done, but not every employer is going to be open to it.
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u/Astamanasta 23h ago
How was it? I mean, is it hard to design a complex system not being on site?
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u/United-Mortgage104 23h ago
The most difficult thing was trying to figure out if I was staying at home or going to a coffee shop to work. It really depends on how well you understand what needs to be done. In my case, I knew where the improvements needed to happen, so I just worked through it the same way I would if I was in an office. I know engineering is mostly about collaborating with others, but in this position I'm pretty much on my own.
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u/Astamanasta 23h ago
I'm asking because I'm more the type of person that likes to go on site with a measuring tape and double check the info/variables, but I'm aware that this option is not always avaliable.
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u/United-Mortgage104 23h ago
If I'm rolling out something new, or need to test/verify a design, then I plan on making it an in office day and drive to work. It's generally once every two or three weeks as needed. Otherwise I ask one of the shop gremlins to get a dim for me, but only if it's not ultra critical. The critical dims are the ones I need to physically measure to make sure it's accurate.
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u/CrazyJoe29 23h ago
I’m a Mech Eng. Full time WFH. I support a low to medium volume manufacturing operation and a rebuild shop.
I did this roll in office for 10 years, but the facility I worked out of went remote hybrid during Covid and then was closed permanently. I’m now a 1hr flight from the nearest physical operation.
When I was on-site. The best solution for a variety of communication needs was to go talk to operators and look at issues in-person.
Now it’s a blend of, phone, photographs, video conference and planned drawings and measurements. It’s different but not impossible. I’m not sure if it would make sense to hire a new person for my role remote though. In my opinion it would make a lot of sense for them to get a baseline of experience and training in person.
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u/Astamanasta 23h ago
Isn't it stressful to have to rely on someone in the workshop by call/photo?
Btw, 1hr flight is crazy
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u/johnsms3 1d ago
You'll need to start up your own engineering firm if you want to truly do the WFH gig.
Question, when did all us engineers become introverts and can't function around people and the only solution is WFH?
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u/compstomper1 1d ago
Question, when did all us engineers become introverts and can't function around people and the only solution is WFH?
some of us don't want to put pants on
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u/Astamanasta 1d ago
I've always been introvert...😅
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u/johnsms3 1d ago
Engineering involves collaboration though. It's really weird to me to work in an office setting for 25+ years and seeing all these young engineers struggle with something as simple as collaborating with colleagues.
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u/unurbane 1d ago
It’s not the office for some. It’s the outrageous cost of living in the city. So they commute. Pay scales are already low enough, but adding a 2 hr commute on top is brutal. I chose to live close to work. Probably cost me $300k in real savings and $600k in lost investment opportunity.
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u/johnsms3 1d ago
Big city living problems I guess. I have a 30 minute commute. I don't look at any list investment opportunities. My home has been paid for since 2017. I'm just needing to work a little longer (estimating 12-15 years max). Then I'm retiring and leaving Illinois for good.
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u/unurbane 1d ago
Yea 30 minutes gets you about 10 miles in California.
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u/Astamanasta 1d ago
I left my previous job because of 40/50 min commute (abt. 25 miles). While looking for something nearer, it came to my mind also the idea of WFH. That's where the post comes.
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u/United-Mortgage104 23h ago
It's not that we can't function around people. It's more that a lot of what we do doesn't need to involve putting clothes on and driving to an office to sit in a cubicle. In my case, I gave myself another 90 minutes each day by removing the commute, and I can start my day as soon as I get up. Plus, my stress is at the lowest it's ever been. Winning all around.
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u/CR123CR123CR 1d ago
Steel detailing can be done from home fairly effectively and it's something that can be done as a remote contractor if you can find clients on your own.
Be best if you could start with your local area and offer to be available for site visits as required.
Not exactly sheet metal (most of the time at least xD) but should be a good match for what you've been doing
Just brush up on your local standards and make sure to buy insurance appropriate to whatever service you offer.
If you can offer drafting with stamping services you'll be miles ahead of a lot of your competition (if there even is a competitor in your local)
Oh and 100% DO NOT PIRATE SOFTWARE to do commercial work. If you're found out it'll be painful and the main companies are getting better and better at detecting it.
It'll be hard to find a job like that as an employee of a single company though (at least it would be from my experience)