I often get the sense that I’m in the only one here doing manual labor but I’m sure there are others.

Identify yourselves.

  • CarterH739@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 days ago

    Machinist here. But not just any machinist. I work almost exclusively with graphite. I’m sure you can imagine what a mess that makes. We do have a powerful dust collector that runs all day, but it doesn’t catch everything. We get covered in the dust every day. The company does have a locker room and showers for us though, so it’s not too bad. We still leave nice and clean.

      • CarterH739@lemmy.world
        2·
        6 hours ago

        Sorry for the delay. Apparently this app doesn’t tell me when people reply.

        Most of what I make ends up in space. We use pyrolytic graphite, which we actually make ourselves on site, which can stand up to some pretty extreme temperatures with very little expansion or contraction. There are other applications as well, mostly involving any situation where conductivity is important. Some hospital imaging machines use it instead of aluminum in high temperature scenarios. It’s very good at what it does, but its use is fairly limited due to its absolutely insane price tag.

  • Agrivar@lemmy.world
    10·
    2 days ago

    I used to be a programmer, but I got sick of the whole corporate scene. Now I build and maintain houses - and my hands are dirty a good amount of the time!

  • Track_Shovel@slrpnk.netEnglish
    241·
    3 days ago

    Soil scientist. I spent 10 years stomping through the bush and digging pits when I got there.

    Now I sit behind a desk.

  • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 days ago

    It’s not really “dirty” in the same sense but I’m a massage therapist. Don’t think it gets more literally hands-on as far as a job goes lol. I primarily do deep tissue work, I REALLY enjoy injury-focused work, so it can be a bit tiring but it’s generally pretty satisfying.

  • That_Devil_Girl@lemmy.ml
    19·
    3 days ago

    Shipwright welder. I crawl all throughout the bowels of Navy and civilian ships with my gear in tow. I build new areas, cut out old areas, and perform repairs on hulls and pipes.

    • ContrarianTrail@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      10·
      3 days ago

      I love welding. One of my favourite things to do in my previous job. I’m highly skilled at oxy-acetylene welding steel pipes in really tight and difficult places but my favourite one was TiG welding stainless steel with automatic and ventilated mask while listening to podcasts. Really meditative just being in your own bubble staring at the bright spot of molten metal.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        3 days ago

        I’m shit at welding for someone who’s generally handy in just about every other area. If you want two pieces of metal that barely stick together, with wires sticking out all across the seam, then I’m your guy!

        • domdanial@reddthat.comEnglish
          3·
          2 days ago

          Right? I tried my hand at welding a rec tube to a plate to make an oil tank for knife making. I had to use epoxy to keep it water tight.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      Do you get covered from head to toe with grease and grime? Does it pay well? I have a friend who’s about ready to wrap up his underwater welding classes, and supposedly he’ll make some big bucks after he graduates.

  • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
    8·
    2 days ago

    Facility maintenance. We grease motors, change belts, tighten bolts. One of the fuel pumps on our generator has a leak, so that’s a fun bit of dirty hands.

    My approach to maintenance also involves a lot of cleaning, because I believe clean equipment runs better over time. So cleaning off fan blades, insides of electrical cabinets, sumps, etc. We also fix sinks and toilets.

  • Chef_Boyardee@lemm.ee
    5·
    2 days ago

    Caretaker for my father. Lots of poop.

    Also still paying my dues to the electrical union. That was a dirty AF job. Miss it a bunch, tho.

  • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    2 days ago

    I don’t have a dirty job anymore, but the dirtiest job I’ve had by far was industrial carpenter. I’d go to work with clean jeans and a clean white shirt, and every day I’d come home with jeans that were black from the knees up, and a shirt that was black from the chest down.

    I had to wear white shirts because nothing else would come clean. Only white with a lot of bleach would give any appearance of being laundered after a day at work on that job.

    I still have a T-shirt from that job, some-odd 20 years later, and it has Hilti C100 industrial epoxy stains all over it, just as hard as the day the shirt was stained. That’s my “shit’s about to get real” work around the house shirt.