the machines used by the machinist are called machine tools thousands of things we use every day are made with them or they are used in making other machines that make bicycles electric motors gasoline engines in fact most of the necessities and comforts of our modern lot although machine tools work on metals they have a familiar cousin in a familiar machine the wood working late the basic features of the design and of the operation of the woodworking lathe in the home or school shop are much the same as lathes used for machining methods in addition the woodworking lathe does with wood what some machine tools do with metal it also demonstrates one of the five basic ways in which metal is formed by the machine on this engine lathe the machinist is producing a cylinder from a steel bar in much the same manner our home craftsman was with the wooden cylinder in his woodworking later this fundamental method of machining metal is called turning in this case a perfect cylinder all the exact diameter is being made by the machine that's the tool to cut so the steel bar acts in much the same way as the in cutting the wood in the wood working late in the drill press demonstrates the second way in which metal is machine it is a simple machine tool in which a drill produces a hole in addition to drill presses the engine laden and other more complicated machines are also used to produce holes of all sizes in metal a milling machine sometimes is used to produce flat surfaces this third method of machining metal is called milling this fourth way of working metal is called planing in the shape or the work is stationary on another machine called the planer the tool is stationary while the work is moved back and forth grinding is the fifth way to machine metal there are many kinds of grinding machines and many types of grinding operations through the use of an abrasive wheel are flat or even a round surface of extremely smooth finish and of great accuracy may be produce no matter where he works in the shop the machinist must know how to read blueprints and they show him the shape of the machine parts or other article he has to make and its exact dimensions and in order to be sure that whatever he is making corresponds to the blueprint the machinist must measure it with tools such as these outside calipers he must learn to use them skillfully and accurate some measuring tools are simple or they may be more complicated like the micrometer skill of thousands one of the introductions to shop work for the beginner is bench work piling metal to size for example not of a skill that can be learned through practice scraping is another type of bench work to learn this hand operation long practice and great skilled is required because extremely accurate surfaces as specially on machine parts may be produced in this manner beginners in the machinist trade usually start work on a production job where they do the same type of work each day if they work on an automatic machine a little skill is required on semi automatic machines like this through a lathe more skilled is required of the operator the most nothing of the tools he is employing and of their function and operation in order to operate his machine properly he may even have to measure his work to check on its accuracy when he learns how to set up work in the machines he is operating the student machinist may be promoted to the position of setup man or line foreman and set up work in a more advanced type of the set up man and machinist is one who can set up jobs in several types of machines or who is qualified to operate several different kinds of machines he is a general machin t when he becomes skilled in the operation of all types of machines knows their parts and how they operate the machinist the works constantly to better himself maybe come a maintenance man the maintenance man in the large shop not only keeps machines in perfect mechanical condition through routine repairs but he may also make parts for the machines in his care this  a step short of the tool maker highly specialized machines are developed for use in many large industrial plants usually to do one particular job or type of work some are enormous and others are of ordinary side some require a high degree of skill to operate and others may be entirely automatic many of them present complicated work for set up and maintenance tool maker is a highly skilled and experienced machinist he may work within a half a thousandth of an eon a space no bigger than a hair and making the original samples of a new job the shop is to produce or in making precision tools that the machine a service shop will use in producing some large scale production job tool makers may work in either the small job shop or they may have the best paying jobs of the biggest sho skill in all phases of the machinist craft last experience are necessary before one can become a tool maker closely akin to the tool maker in skill and in precise work is the die maker frequently the same man who makes tools will make dies or in both jobs this ability to work accurately and precisely is essential long training and experience lie behind both the tool maker and the die maker the experience tool or die maker who gains of full and complete knowledge of his trade and those machines may be karma tool designer knowledge of machine principles and of higher mathematics  the small job shop offers an opportunity to gain experience with various types of machines to learn the fundamentals of the machine a scratch or one can begin as a helper to an experienced machinist in a larger shop it is in this manner that many apprentices in big manufacturing plants begin in addition to their work in the planet machines apprentices attend classes in mathematics machine design and sign school machine shops offer another opportunity for learning the machinist trade if you learn decimals and simple arithmetic in the classroom if you like to work with your hands if you like to make things if you are not afraid of oil if you like machinery you can become a machinist with that simple background you can obtain a fairly good job day or night trade schools either public or the reliable private trade schools offer a sound background in machine shop practice this is supplemented by classes and mechanical drawing and the simple arithmetic of fractions and their equivalents that will enable one to become a skilled machinists the school drafting room will teach you to read through print something you must know as specially if you want to become a designer the designer must know i or mathematics and the t knows something of how they apply to his work and both most people abreast of every new development in machine practices and machine design if you can develop your manual and mental skills to do a job accurately and well with a machine tool if you want to learn and are ready to start at the bottom if you are not afraid of hard work then the machinist trade offers you opportunity for your life