As somebody trying to get into mechanical engineering while living in a small urban apartment, this …

Take a woodworking class at your community college. Focus on the serious fundamentals first. I mean like how to hammer a nail into a thing, how to screw things together. Learn the difference between nut+bolt, Truss Head screws, and pan-head screws. Learn when to use each of these things. Visit Home Depot. Build a damn coffee table. Focus on the fundamentals. CNC Mill comes after all this IMO on the hierarchy of knowledge. You really should be extremely familiar with fasteners (Glue vs Nuts+Bolts vs Screws vs Nails) before you start designing things that get glued/screwed/snapped together. -------------- Most things are left unsaid because just building a damn coffee table (or similarly simple / small object) is everything you need to know about beginner level mechanical engineering. Finding a class (community college) with this basic level of skills really is the bulk of it. Once you've …

> As somebody trying to get into mechanical engineering As a career? I'll assume "yes". Go to college for ME. Not one of the big brand-name schools. The local one that services the regional mechanical engineering industry. Tell them you want a career change. If you're serious about it, they'll bend over backwards to make it as feasible as they can. They'll also be brutally honest about whether you've collectively reached the point of feasibility yet. I'm saying this as someone who is very outspokenly critical of universities as unnecessary gatekeepers.

I was a mechanical engineer before I shifted to software development (so kind of the opposite of you) and I think you need actual, full on college level schooling to be a mechanical engineer in most cases. The stuff you're focusing on - basically manufacturing techniques - is a very small part of engineering in general. I didn't see any mention of CAD or FEA work, but even assuming you do know some of that or can access that type of learning you still are missing a lot of what makes an engineer an engineer. The biggest difference I see between software developers and mechanical engineers is a way of thinking. I realize that sounds very woo, but it's very obvious to me and to other mechanical engineers I've spoken to. For example, around my area there are schools that give out "Mechanical Engineering Technologist" degrees, which are quicker, less math intensive engineering degrees. Often …

Hey man, actual Mech-E here. Also general mechanical hobbyist and handyman; not just one of those CAD guys Just some quick things that may help you point you in the right direction: -getting better and making actual projects come to fruition is actually a lot like CS. A lot. Somebody can spend all their time reading CS theory, textbooks, MITOWC, whatever. Their technical foundation will be strong, but will struggle when it comes to coding syntax and spesific program/firmware issues. Some get stuck in that mode and are paralyzed to take action I'd honestly recommend dropping the mech-E textbooks to read just for reading's sake. It will fill you with generic knowledge but not a better builder. Instead I'd be thinking about "what do I want to build"? Kitchen knives? Custom pens? Automotive mods? It does not need to be something you make forever. Just something that seems fun now (just like …

> Maybe I'll visit a makerspace? Ah, but every one in my area appears to have gone defunct since Covid year zero. Yes. I miss TechShop, where I did CNC machining. It's not all that difficult. Maybe 100-200 hours to minimal competence. What's left of the maker movement seems to have been taken over by little old ladies into crafting. Gluing construction paper and macrame, not machining and welding. Activities classes for middle schoolers where they assemble kits, not original work. In the early days of TechShop, it was people making rocket engine nozzles for the X-Prize, and people who commuted to Shenzhen to get their stuff made in volume. Four Bridgeport mills, all going at once.

Similar position here. CS major who went to work software / FAANG pretty much for my 30 year career. Something about mechanical engineering feels amazing, unlike software getting real tangible /physical/ results from your work. I feel the CS experience gives a very distinct advantage as well here. Software and CAD isn't scary for a CS brain. CnC (additive and subtractive) seems like logical way to do everything, which is what makes cool parts for projects. I've acquired a few cheap Harbor Freight welders and oxy/acetylene cutting tools, started with small CnC routers to carve soft metals for parts. 3d print what I can't do in metal. One really easy area to get into for a software dev is robots, look into RoS, an open source robotics OS based on Linux, order some parts from the RoS wiki. And you can get to your own advanced little r2d2 pretty quickly (real-time 3d mapping of your house, a…

A question to answer: is the enjoyment coming from actually being the machinist, or is it coming from assembling something you designed? The answer could be either. But if you just want to bring something you designed to physical fruition and you are limited on space then I would recommend finding machine shops that will make what you design for you. This is what Protolabs, Shapeways, Xometry, etc do. You don't need to actually have a 3D printer or laser cutter or CNC mill to get things built. You can probably find a local fabricator too. I found a guy that made handrails and would do random welding jobs, I used to go to his shop for all sorts of different things. Even if you get the money and space to build out a shop, there's a lot of skill to these crafts and people dedicate their whole career to becoming experts in them.

There's a 18 part video series by Dan Gelbart I can recommend where he goes over how to prototype products using a laser cutter and a hydraulic press. If I was setting up a home shop, I'd start there. I have very good access to CNC milling and turning machines, but usually find it cost and time prohibitive to go that route, preferring to laser cut/3D print wherever possible. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https:/... Urban apartment, I'd stick to electronics, pcb, soldering, code. You want meche career change, just go work in a local cnc machine shop that runs Fusion 360. Then you can have unlimited access to all the tools you could ever want. If you want to be a good designer, I'll sell you my book once it's written.