[fourjawchuck]

I’m a manual machinist. I think it fits your criteria.

I recently left software development partially because of the complaints you mentioned.

Machining doesn’t pay much these days though so don’t expect software money

[giantg2]

I guess people want their stuff fast (COTS) and cheap (China) these days. Just the material/stock costs can be much more than a finished item from China, without even adding in the labor. At least that's what I've seen when I've investigated having different things made. Usually I've opted to abandon my planned project because something that would provide me $20 of utility would cost me $200 to have made.