So, in my recent dealings with my job, it has become apparent that a new career path might not be a bad idea. I like programming, and there's going to be a need for programmers for quite some time, but part of me wonders if that's really all I want to do for the rest of my life.
I've thought about other careers, few of which will pay as good as developers (at least right now), but being unhappy in a job is a miserable existence. I'd rather exist on half of what I make now and be happy with my life.
One thought popped into my head today that might be lucrative and challenging with the added benefit that it's something I could do on the side for a while until I became world famous and could 'quit the day job' and that is become a gunsmith.
Now, end goal is to not simply fix broken firing pins or sit around polishing feed ramps, but literally being able to take a hunk of metal and turn it into a firearm. I know that as of right now, I barely can use scissors to cut paper and that working with my hands isn't what I'm known for, but that's only because it's not something I do.
One of my greatest traits is that I can learn practically anything quickly. The downside is that I forget things just as fast if I'm not constantly doing it. I have noticed that as I've gotten older, it's taking more and more time for new concepts to sink in. Before my brain solidifies, I probably should learn a new skill, just in case.
I've been thinking about building firearms for a while and how cool it would be to be able to do so in my garage. It would also be nice to be able to do small, custom jobs on the side. If the country spirals into chaos, that's a skill that would really be useful as well.
So, I think I'm going to look around to see what sort of options there are for learning. I know of a few gun manufacturers near me, and I'd be more than happy to volunteer my time working for them in exchange for the experience if they need the help. I also need to figure out what types of books and basic materials I would need. There are trade schools, but they're not local so that's out of the question. I'll look to see if the local communist community college has courses available, but I seriously doubt that.
Any ideas or tips would be appreciated, even if it's just to dash my hopes and dreams into the rocks of reality.
Arms makers "iron" lands into bores using a carbide button, a process called rifling. Pressure on the button, which is either pushed or pulled as it rotates through the stationary barrel, also hardens and polishes the inside of the barrel. Radial forces generated by the button are usually 120,000 lbs or more, letting the button overcome the metal's plastic resistance.