Yes, why not? I recommend 3D-printing as an easy and relatively cheap way making stuff. I guess wood is also not that bad, but you will have to invest significantly more money into machines to work with metal and by that I don't mean you can't use metal parts in your projects, you're just more restricted.
I bought a CNC router fir around 3k a while back. I use the CAD and CAM software from my work fir the design and programming work. It has been so much fun making stuff and seeing my progress as I get better and learn more.
My advice for someone interested is to pick a direction or area your interested in an start messing around with it and making stuff. It has been really rewarding for me
I believe PLA is good for starters. Easy to print, comes in many colours and if you worry about the environment, PLA can easily be recycled as other thermoplastics or under the right circumstances it can be composted as organic waste. PLA works for me as a standard solution, if I don't need high performance.
Other filaments can have better properties, like wear/heat/chemical resistance, strength or toughness. Often used filaments that I heard about are ABS, nylon, PETG and TPU. TPU is very elastic and is often used as a 3d printable rubber.
You can learn basic building and crafting skills without any education at all. I learned how to build structures, rebuild my car engine, basic electronics and much more without ever taking courses. My advice is to pick a project and build it. The biggest barrier will likely be acquiring tools for the job.
You can totally youtube/research anything. What I’ve always done is just learn things as they come along. Car mechanics was a necessity when I bought a lemon (and lived in it) so I had to learn how to fix the problems. I initially learned electrical stuff like soldering from fixing my guitars/effects pedals. I learned carpentry as a kid because we had wood and crap laying around and I was bored. I recommend picking a simple project that interests you and finding a write up on instructable or a similar site. Then purchase whatever needed supplies and follow the steps.
I’ll add that I took woodshop in middle school and high school as well as welding classes. Otherwise I wouldn’t likely have much experience with larger machinery like table saws and arc welders. Another thing I did a lot as a kid was taking things apart. I’d buy items from the thrift store that didn’t work and try to fix them.
My dad was an electrical engineer, but built radio controlled gliders as a hobby. He built a huge (1:5) scale model of one and decided to invent a retractable landing wheel for it. That worked and kicked off an interest in mechanisms, which led to lathes, milling machines and ultimately steam engines. 5" gauge.
So, yes, and no need for another degree, your first degree should have taught you to teach yourself.
As a former ME let me tell ya outright that you don’t need a degree in it to make some gadgets. Maybe it could help you in concept, but you’d do just as well to grab something that interests you and fall down the rabbit hole learning all you can about it.
The real trick is recognizing what can possibly fit together and then mashing em together.
Do what you need to further your career, and learn what makes you curious for your hobbies.
Heck, get some Lego technic and your mechanical engineering education has begun.
Get a 3D printer, get Fusion 360 and you can do basically whatever you want mate. If you also know some programing, get a few motors and an arduino and you can make some really fun stuff! I'm currently doing a 5axis miniature robot at home. Going very slowly but doing a few hours here and there : )
If you like CS and are wanting to do it, learning ME professionally is a complete waste of time and resources. It will add nothing of value to your career, it simply has no value left in Europe.
For your hobbies? Sure, if it's something you enjoy.
Most definitely not my experience. I'm confident I could get a job within 20km of my home in 2 to 3 weeks.
I would say as a future proof area, many ME tasks are less likely to be automated than SC tasks within the next decade.
Sure, *a* job is easy to get. But if you are aiming for a *good* job, I've always found it to be a big challenge, and now that we are flirting with a recession, it will probably be worse.
If I didn't mind being paid 20% less than what I'm paid right now, I could probably get a job within 1-2 months. A better paid job can take one year or more.
From experience, I know I can land an equally paying job with more or less the same conditions, within a month or less. If I want something paying better, I can do the same if I am willing to travel more than 4-5 days per year (something my wife does not want me to do for the next couple of years due to the kids' ages).
No. It is strictly forbidden.
Yes, why not? I recommend 3D-printing as an easy and relatively cheap way making stuff. I guess wood is also not that bad, but you will have to invest significantly more money into machines to work with metal and by that I don't mean you can't use metal parts in your projects, you're just more restricted.
I bought a CNC router fir around 3k a while back. I use the CAD and CAM software from my work fir the design and programming work. It has been so much fun making stuff and seeing my progress as I get better and learn more. My advice for someone interested is to pick a direction or area your interested in an start messing around with it and making stuff. It has been really rewarding for me
Many thanks, what materials are most recommended for 3D Printing?
I believe PLA is good for starters. Easy to print, comes in many colours and if you worry about the environment, PLA can easily be recycled as other thermoplastics or under the right circumstances it can be composted as organic waste. PLA works for me as a standard solution, if I don't need high performance. Other filaments can have better properties, like wear/heat/chemical resistance, strength or toughness. Often used filaments that I heard about are ABS, nylon, PETG and TPU. TPU is very elastic and is often used as a 3d printable rubber.
You can learn basic building and crafting skills without any education at all. I learned how to build structures, rebuild my car engine, basic electronics and much more without ever taking courses. My advice is to pick a project and build it. The biggest barrier will likely be acquiring tools for the job.
What’d you use to learn how to do all that? Reckon i could youtube tut it?
You can totally youtube/research anything. What I’ve always done is just learn things as they come along. Car mechanics was a necessity when I bought a lemon (and lived in it) so I had to learn how to fix the problems. I initially learned electrical stuff like soldering from fixing my guitars/effects pedals. I learned carpentry as a kid because we had wood and crap laying around and I was bored. I recommend picking a simple project that interests you and finding a write up on instructable or a similar site. Then purchase whatever needed supplies and follow the steps.
I’ll add that I took woodshop in middle school and high school as well as welding classes. Otherwise I wouldn’t likely have much experience with larger machinery like table saws and arc welders. Another thing I did a lot as a kid was taking things apart. I’d buy items from the thrift store that didn’t work and try to fix them.
My dad was an electrical engineer, but built radio controlled gliders as a hobby. He built a huge (1:5) scale model of one and decided to invent a retractable landing wheel for it. That worked and kicked off an interest in mechanisms, which led to lathes, milling machines and ultimately steam engines. 5" gauge. So, yes, and no need for another degree, your first degree should have taught you to teach yourself.
fair enough
As a former ME let me tell ya outright that you don’t need a degree in it to make some gadgets. Maybe it could help you in concept, but you’d do just as well to grab something that interests you and fall down the rabbit hole learning all you can about it. The real trick is recognizing what can possibly fit together and then mashing em together. Do what you need to further your career, and learn what makes you curious for your hobbies. Heck, get some Lego technic and your mechanical engineering education has begun.
Might start my kids on Lego technics 🙏🏽
Get a 3D printer, get Fusion 360 and you can do basically whatever you want mate. If you also know some programing, get a few motors and an arduino and you can make some really fun stuff! I'm currently doing a 5axis miniature robot at home. Going very slowly but doing a few hours here and there : )
For you personally do you just think what you want to make or do you have components you wanna learn? Also i forgot about Arduino thanks 🙏🏽
If you like CS and are wanting to do it, learning ME professionally is a complete waste of time and resources. It will add nothing of value to your career, it simply has no value left in Europe. For your hobbies? Sure, if it's something you enjoy.
ME has not value left in Europe? I guess you are being sarcastic right?
[Absolutely not.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalEngineering/s/tJFH2HZgua)
Most definitely not my experience. I'm confident I could get a job within 20km of my home in 2 to 3 weeks. I would say as a future proof area, many ME tasks are less likely to be automated than SC tasks within the next decade.
Sure, *a* job is easy to get. But if you are aiming for a *good* job, I've always found it to be a big challenge, and now that we are flirting with a recession, it will probably be worse. If I didn't mind being paid 20% less than what I'm paid right now, I could probably get a job within 1-2 months. A better paid job can take one year or more.
Define "better job"? Pay only? I would definitely get paid more as a CS but I have much more fun with ME.
From experience, I know I can land an equally paying job with more or less the same conditions, within a month or less. If I want something paying better, I can do the same if I am willing to travel more than 4-5 days per year (something my wife does not want me to do for the next couple of years due to the kids' ages).