A machinist is a craftsman who uses machine tools to make parts or alter parts by cutting away excess material. The parts are most frequently made of metals but may also be made from many other kinds of materials, such as plastic or wood products. The goal of these cutting operations is to produce a part that conforms to a set of specifications, usually in the form of three-view orthographic drawings commonly known as blueprints. Craftsman is an artisan who practices a handicraft or trade; a style of architecture and furniture arising from the Arts and Crafts movement; a military rank within the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, equivalent to a private; and ... A machine tool is a powered mechanical device, typically used to fabricate metal components of machines by the selective removal of metal. ... For alternative meanings see metal (disambiguation). ... For the 2003 film, see Blueprint (movie). ...

Within the title machinist are other specialty titles that refer to specific skills that may be more highly developed to meet the needs of a particular job position. Some examples of these specialty titles are fitter, turning hand, mill hand, and grinder. Also, there are titles that are related but actually are a further development of machinist skills such as tool and die maker, tool maker, trim die maker, die sinker, patternmaker and mold maker. These latter titles are also more commonly found in specialized areas of industry.

A machinist is to metal as a carpenter is to wood. The most common materials that machinists make parts from are steel, aluminum, brass, copper, and various alloys of these materials. Other less common materials such as vanadium, zinc, lead, or manganese are often used as alloying elements for the most common materials. Materials that machinists work with occasionally are various plastics, rubber, glass, and wood products. Rarely, machinists also work with exotic metals and refractory metals, for example beryllium or molybdenum. While the foregoing were primarily the materials that a machinist would be cutting, the cutters that the machinist uses must be harder and tougher than the materials to be cut. The materials in the cutters a machinist uses are most commonly high speed steel, tungsten carbide, ceramics, Borazon(tm), and diamond. Hot metal work from a blacksmith Look up Metal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... tools of a medieval carpenter, c. ... The old steel cable of a colliery winding tower Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... Aluminum is a soft and lightweight metal with a dull silvery appearance, due to a thin layer of oxidation that forms quickly when it is exposed to air. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic brown Atomic mass 63. ... An alloy is a combination, either in solution or compound, of two or more elements, at least one of which is a metal, and where the resultant material has metallic properties. ... General Name, Symbol, Number vanadium, V, 23 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 5, 4, d Appearance gray-white metal Atomic mass 50. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Atomic mass 65. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish white Atomic mass 207. ... General Name, Symbol, Number manganese, Mn, 25 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 7, 4, d Appearance silvery metallic Atomic mass 54. ... Alloying elements are the materials added to the primary or base metal to create the desired properties in the final alloy. ... The term plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic condensation or polymerization products that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or fibers. ... Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of several varieties of plants though can be produced synthetically. ... Glass can be made transparent and flat, or into other shapes and colours as shown in this ball from the Verrerie of Brehat in Brittany. ... Refractory metals are a class of metals extraordinarily resistant to heat, wear and corrosion. ... General Name, Symbol, Number beryllium, Be, 4 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 2, s Appearance white-gray metallic Atomic mass 9. ... General Name, Symbol, Number molybdenum, Mo, 42 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 6, 5, d Appearance gray metallic Atomic mass 95. ... High speed steel (HSS) is a material usually used in the manufacture of machine tool bits and cutters. ... Tungsten carbide, WC or W2C, is a chemical compound containing tungsten and carbon, similar to titanium carbide. ... Ceramics can refer to: Ceramic, a type of material Ceramics (art), a fine art. ... Borazon is the third hardest substance that is artificially produced, preceded by aggregated diamond nanorods and man-made diamonds, respectively. ... For other uses, including the shape â—Š, see Diamond (disambiguation). ...

Machinists usually work to very small tolerances, usually within 0.01" (more commonly expressed as +/-.005") (0.25 mm), and sometimes at tolerances as low as 0.0001" (0.0025 mm) for specialty operations. A machinist deals with all facets of shaping, cutting and some aspects of forming metal, except for welding, which is typically a separate trade. The operations most commonly performed by machinists are milling, drilling, turning, and grinding. There are other more specialized operations that a machinist will less frequently be called upon to perform such as honing, keyseating, lapping, and polishing, to name a few. Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. ... A Miller is a person who operates a mill for grinding material and usually refers to one who grinds a cereal crop to make flour. ... An electric drill A drill is a tool with a rotary drill bit used to bore holes through material. ... Turning, CNC turning, or manual turning is the process used to produce cylindrical components in a lathe. ... The word grinding can mean many things: Grinding is a manufacturing process that uses friction with a rough surface to wear away or smooth the surface of a work piece - see grinding machine. ... Honing could refer to the practice of sharpening Honing, Norfolk This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Lapping is an abrasive machining operation. ...

The tools that a machinist is expected to be proficient with fall into 6 broad categories:

1. Measuring tools: The measuring tools come several basic varieties:

• Comparison tools such as adjustable parallels and plain calipers,
• Direct reading tools such as rules, scales, and vernier calipers,
• Micrometer tools based on screw threads,
• Indicator tools based on clockwork gear movements,
• Electronic measuring tools based on tranducers.

2. Hand tools: The hand tools are the usual complement of tools found in a complete auto mechanics set except that auto specialty tools would be absent and some outsized tools would likely be present, such as 1 1/2" (38mm) open end wrench.

3. Machine tools: The machine tools have undergone a dramatic shift in the last 20 years. Manual machines have given way to Computer Numerically Controlled Machines (CNCs). For clarity's sake a categorization based on the historical groupings will be offered. Each of these groupings has been altered by the advent of CNCs and the CNCs meld some groups and blur the lines between others. In the past, the most common machine tools fall into 4 categories:

• Drilling machines, bench, floor, radial, and horizontal
• Milling machines, horizontal, vertical, and boring mills
• Turning machines, engine lathe, turret lathe, vertical turret late, vertical boring mill
• Grinding machines, surface, cylindrical, centerless

4. Workholders: The workholders may include vises, chucks, indexing accessories, pallets, specialty jigs or fixtures, and faceplates

5. Toolholders: The toolholders may include chucks, cutter adapters, cutter extension, indexable turrets, box tools, quick change adapters, arbors, and collets.

6. Cutting tools: Cutting tools include various milling cutters such as face mills, shell mills, endmills, and form cutters; various drills, reamers, taps, countersinks, counterbores, and core drills; various turning tools, form tools, and threading tools; various grinding wheels distinguished by their geometry, bond, grit size, and compound.

A machinist is usually called upon when some material needs to be shaped into a specific part by cutting . Such a part may be unique or may be needed in the thousands. This could include a machinery part for a production line or generally anything that can be made from metal or plastic. Producing a part will often require more than one machine tool. Each machine tool is designed to play a specific role in cutting away excess material. When large numbers of parts are needed, production planning is required to map out the most efficient way to use a collection of machine tools and machinists to produce the lot (collection of parts). The collection of machine tools may be any grouping that satisfies the cutting requirements. It might include one of the older style multi-spindle machines, swiss-style machines or a computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine. A CNC Turning Center The abbreviation CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control, and refers specifically to the computer control of machine tools for the purpose of (repeatedly) manufacturing complex parts in metal as well as other materials, using a program written in a notation conforming to the EIA-274-D...

CNC machines are becoming the standard due to their speed, precision and reduced downtime while changing jobs. Production runs consisting of large numbers of parts are more cost effective and commonly referred to as production work in the trade. Conversely, small production runs are sometimes referred to as prototype or jobbing work.

Production engineers use blueprints and drawings to produce detailed specifications of the part, especially its geometry (shape) , then decide on a strategy to make it. Machine toos are then configured by the machinist or toolsetter and production commences. The machinist works closely with the quality department in order to insure the original specifications are maintained in the part produced.

Related Links

• Machinist calculator

[1]National Institute for Metalworking Skills Standards download page Machinist Calculator (MC-20). ...

Metalworking:
Metalworking occupations: Image File history File links Blacksmith-hammer-anvil-50x50. ... Turned chess pieces Metalworking is the craft and practice of working with metals to create parts or structures. ...	Bellmaking | Boilermaker | Die making | International Metalworkers' Federation | Ironworkers | Machinist | Metal spinning | Millwright | Moldmaker | Sawfiler Bellmaking or bellfounding is the craft of creating bells in a foundry. ... A boilermaker, also known as a depth charge, is a cocktail consisting of a shot of whiskey, or vodka, and a glass of beer. ... Die making is the process of creating a die for pressing coins. ... International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) is a global union federation of metalworkers trade unions, founded in Zürich, Switzerland in August 1893. ... The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers or the Iron Workers International Union is a workers union founded in 1896. ... Metal Spinning is a process by which circles of metal are shaped over mandrels (also called forms) while mounted on a spinning lathe by the application of levered force with various tools. ... Derived from the trade of carpentry, a millwright originally was a specialised carpenter who was trained as a carpenter and as well had working knowledge of gear ratios, driveshaft speeds, and other equations. ... Moldmaker (mouldmaker) is the designation for a profession in the metalworking industry. ... Sawfiler benching a double cut saw A sawfiler is a person who maintains and repairs saws in a saw mill. ...
Metalworking topics:   Casting | CNC | Cutting tools | Drilling and threading | Fabrication | Finishing | Grinding | Jewellery | Lathe (tool) | Machining | Machine tooling | Measuring | Metalworking | Hand tools | Metallurgy | Milling | Occupations | Press tools | Smithing | Terminology | Welding One half of a bronze mold for casting a socketed spear head dated to the period 1400-1000 BC. This article is about the manufacturing process; for other uses, see Casting (disambiguation). ... A CNC Turning Center The abbreviation CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control, and refers specifically to the computer control of machine tools for the purpose of (repeatedly) manufacturing complex parts in metal as well as other materials, using a program written in a notation conforming to the EIA-274-D... a Cutting Tool, in the context of Metalworking is any tool that is used to remove metal from the workpiece by means of shear deformation. ... Drilling is the process of using a drill bit in a drill to produce holes. ... A typical steel fabrication shop Fabrication is an industrial term generally applied to the building of metal machines and structures. ... Metalworking finishing is the activity of making things out of metal in a skillful manner. ... Rotating abrasive wheel on a bench grinder. ... Jewellery (Jewelry in American spelling) comprises ornamental objects worn by persons, typically made with gemstones and precious metals. ... Conventional metalworking lathe In woodturning, metalworking, metal spinning, and glassworking, a lathe is a machine tool which spins a block of material so that when abrasive, cutting, or deformation tools are applied to the block, it can be shaped to produce an object which has rotational symmetry about an axis... A lathe is a common tool used in machining. ... A machine tool is a powered mechanical device, typically used to fabricate metal components of machines by the selective removal of metal. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Turned chess pieces Metalworking is the craft and practice of working with metals to create parts or structures. ... Metalworking hand tools are hand tools that are used in the metalworking field. ... Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and of materials engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds and their mixtures, which are called alloys. ... Cutters for a milling machine. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Smith (metalwork). ... Power press with a fixed barrier guard A press, or a machine press is a tool used to work metal (typically steel) by changing its shape and internal structure. ... A smith or metalsmith is a person involved in the shaping of metal objects. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. ...