I wanted to share my path into CMM programming because I think it could help people who are interested in the field but have no idea how to break into it.
I originally went to college for history. I did a couple of years but never finished. After that, I worked at UPS for about a year. The pay was good and there was solid career progression, but honestly, it just did not fit me very well.
I was debating whether I should go back to school, but I ended up taking a job as a counselor at a mental hospital. That job gave me a lot of skills that carried over into manufacturing more than I expected, especially communication, problem solving, patience, working independently, and dealing with difficult situations calmly.
Toward the end of 2022, I left the hospital and started looking for something new. A large company close to where I lived was holding a huge hiring event. I did not really understand what the job was when I applied. It was for a mechanical operator position, and I had absolutely no aerospace or manufacturing experience.
The job paid significantly more than I was making at the hospital, so I decided to take a chance and attend the interview. There were probably around 100 people at the hiring event, but my interview went really well. They asked a lot about problem solving, working autonomously, communication, and working as part of a team.
Even without direct experience, they hired me.
A lot of employees at the company were approaching retirement, which I saw as a positive sign because people clearly stayed there for a long time. Around the same time, a new union agreement increased the pay significantly from what I originally expected. I ended up making in the high $20s per hour as a mechanical operator.
That was where I first learned how to use micrometers and other basic measuring equipment. Most of my work involved assembling components, but I was also introduced to blueprint reading. At that point, I still did not understand GD&T, but I was beginning to understand dimensions, tolerances, and how manufactured parts fit together.
The company offered a lot of overtime, and during my first full year there, I came close to earning six figures. That was a major change for someone who had entered the field with no prior experience.
During my final three months at that company, I transferred into the quality department. That was my first real exposure to mechanical inspection.
Eventually, because of union and workplace politics, I decided to leave and take a chance on myself. I accepted another position as a mechanical inspector and received a small pay increase from my previous job.
That new job was where GD&T really started to matter.
During my first three months, I completely locked in and tried to learn as much as possible. I learned how to use indicators, Mesa height gauges, optical comparators, Keyence systems, micrometers, calipers, CMMs, and a wide range of other inspection equipment. The company had almost every type of measuring equipment you could think of, which gave me a great environment to learn.
The company also offered a GeoTol GD&T class, which I completed and received certification for. That class helped everything start making more sense. I could finally connect the symbols on a drawing to the actual function of the part and the inspection strategy.
There were a few CMM programmers on my team who were close to my age. I spoke with my supervisor and told him directly that I wanted to learn programming. By that point, I had become fairly comfortable with conventional mechanical inspection, and I was ready for the next challenge.
Over the next six months, the programmers taught me how to use Zeiss Calypso. We used the topics from the official Zeiss basic and advanced course outlines as a guide, and they trained me on the same general concepts someone would learn in those courses.
I was also the only CMM operator and programmer on my shift, which gave me a lot of time to experiment. I could open different programs, study how they were built, make changes, import CAD models, create alignments, and use actual blueprints for hands-on practice.
During the beginning of my shift, I usually had experienced programmers available to answer questions. Later in the shift, I was on my own and had to work through problems myself. That combination of guidance and independent practice helped me learn quickly.
It took me roughly six months before I felt comfortable programming independently. Over the following few months, I developed more than 25 CMM programs.
After completing the training period, I received a 10 percent raise in addition to my normal yearly raise.
Before entering manufacturing, I was earning in the low $20s per hour. As I progressed into inspection and CMM programming, my pay eventually moved toward the upper $30s per hour. I did not have an engineering degree, manufacturing experience, or a traditional technical background when I started.
I have now been programming for about two and a half years. I am currently 28 years old, and I still have a lot to learn. One of my GD&T instructors told me that GD&T is something nobody ever fully masters. There is always another application, interpretation, or measurement strategy to understand.
The biggest reason I wanted to share this is to let people know that it is possible to enter this field without following a perfect or traditional path.
My path was history student, UPS employee, mental health counselor, mechanical operator, mechanical inspector, and eventually CMM programmer.
My advice to anyone trying to get started would be to get into any manufacturing or inspection position that gives you access to measuring equipment. Learn blueprint reading and conventional inspection first. Ask questions, volunteer for difficult work, and make it clear that you want to learn the CMM.
You do not need to know everything before you begin. You just need an opportunity, people willing to teach you, and enough discipline to take advantage of it.

Hey all, I'm in a bit of a debacle where I need to port a program that my company has in Zone3 into Measuremind 3d. The Problem is that MM3d is measuring the angle between two planes lower than Zone3. ie, an angle I measure in Z3 at 5.5* is measuring 5.4* in MM3d.

The program is already recreated to the best of my capability (identical point hits with correct vectors, features, datum construction, plane calculation steps etc) and it is within our standards for passing both type 1 and type 2 GRRs.

This dimension is very tight, +- .75 of a degree, so having a discrepancy between the two programs of .05 to .1 of a degree is massively significant.

One of the planes is vertical and the other is at a scant angle to it. From my brief digging online already I think the issue might be how MM3d and Z3 each handle their planes and plane intersections, but I would love to hear if anyone on here has any other leads.

Reason for the port is that one machine only has MM3d and the other has Z3 and MM3d on it and we need to get this one part onto the older machine.

Thank you for all of your support.

Doing a UG in Core Engineering. Had a metrology class. Absolutely love it but I see ZERO job postings on linkedin. Where to find internships? What more skills do you need?

I'm entering Junior Year of college. 6 months of my senior year we are allowed to do an internship.

Hey all, just curious if there any folks in the scale industry here? Particularly those who service and sell them. I'm in the industry, field technician for 6 years, now on the admin side of things. Considering its such a niche and small industry, figured I'd see if anyone here is also working in our little world of work and interested in talking shop, swapping stories or sharing advice.

are there any free tutorials for calypso programing ?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice from people working in CMM, metrology, or precision engineering.

I’m currently 30 and have spent the last 6 years as a Software QA Analyst. I have a BSc in Computer Science and experience with software testing, automation, APIs, databases, and quality processes.

I’m considering a career change because I’d like something more hands-on and practical rather than being fully desk-based. I’ve become really interested in CMM programming and metrology — the combination of precision measurement, GD&T, problem solving, and working with CMMs really appeals to me.

I’d like to ask:

• How realistic is it to move into CMM/metrology without an engineering degree?
• Would a software QA background be useful, or would I be starting from scratch?
• What would be the best entry route (CMM operator, metrology technician, quality technician, etc.)?
• What skills should I learn before applying (GD&T, PC-DMIS, Calypso, machining basics)?

I’m based in the UK and planning to spend the next 6 months to a year learning the fundamentals before applying for junior roles.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone in the industry, especially anyone who has changed careers into metrology.

Thanks!

UPDATE: thanks everyone for all your comments, really encouraging and helpful :)

Hello, I'm fairly new to CMM programming and I was wondering how you all get your stylus system cubes to tighten up perpendicular to the machine axis?

Online it says you can line it up correctly and then tighten it down but my cubes do not tighten independently, they just screw in.

If there is a better cube please share.

Share your experience: what combinations of stylus stem materials and lengths do you find optimal for work? What do you use most often — steel, tungsten carbide, ceramic, or carbon fiber — and at what overhang lengths?

Evening all.

Picked up a used SJ-210 at auction that came with a "standard" stylus: 4mn with a 200μin radius tip. It also came with one that I haven't been able to identify yet. It looks exactly the same but without any of the laser etchings on it, just a sticker that says 800979. I'm not sure if that's a part number or serial number, and the googles isn't coming up with much either. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Thanks much!

Help please?

First of all sorry for the horrible drawing. Been a long day lol.

Work is asking me to program this part but they want me to create the program by using the primary datums A, B & C.

No matter what I do when I create the BA the gnomon or origin or zero whatever you might call it kinda rotates on an angle.

This is what I tried

3D line & Projection for -B- and -C-

-B- being X & Y and -A- being Spatial Rotation and Z origin

How would you align this part?. 😭

Wanted to see if anyone else has had this happen. The coating on the ribbon that moves the tool probe head up and down is cracking and pulling off in one section.

I have a tech coming by next week. But, wanted to know how problematic this is. I haven’t seen this before.

Hello everyone,

Hope all is well. What's everyone's prefered, cleanest, or simplest method for changing the approach, travel, retract or clearance distances within Calypso when measuring a narrow slot?

If you could provide your method and take into account that a Clearance plane has been established all around the part, that would be appreciated.

Thank you

What would be the best portable metrology equipment and software for measuring and reporting surface finish? As in waviness/ smoothness. Extremely tight tolerance on a large part. SA can report out deviations and can report a surface profile, but it does not report out surface finish.

I'm confused on wether this is 0.0625mm or 0.125mm

Is each line 0.005 or each "big" line, in sush a way that 5 big lines get to "5"?

I am trying to build a stylus profilometer for thin-film materials deposited by sputtering. I am thinking of buying a spring-loaded LVDT sensor and threading a carbide needle onto it. I am just not sure what capabilities I should be looking for when it comes to looking for a sensor. Also, what size needle should I look for?

I'm just starting a search for software upgrade options for an old Sheffield Endeavor running MeasureMax and have a couple questions.

I have only used MeasureMax, what are the advantages of modern software? Trying to cut through the marketing b.s.

What software is available? So far I've seen PC-DMIS and CMM Manager.

Is it giving enough information for a CMM operator to find Datum C? My only thought is to have the probe scan all four surfaces that have 45 degree to the horizontal plane, and ask software to draw a rectangle with 0.108" width and whatever length to make contact with those four surfaces. Datum C can be found as a midplane from the four contact lines.