The largest number of machining workers are skilled and semi-skilled workers who run lathes, drilling machines, milling machines, grinders and other machine tools. Machine tool operators commonly work with only one kind of machine tool. A tool and diemaker specializes in making dies for use with presses and die casting machines, and also makes devices to guide drills into metal gauges to check work to determine whether the work meets specified tolerances. In Machine Shop students learn to skillfully cut, grind, weld, and shape metal. In addition to learning the proper use of the tools, such as an engine lathe, milling machine, and grinder, machinists also learn to read and create layout instruction for the finished piece.
Students then progress to computers and computer-controlled machines.
Personal Requirements Machining work is not physically strenuous. Machine tools do the actual cutting while the machinist sets the machine, watches the controls, and checks the accuracy of the work. The workers usually stand at their jobs but move about frequently. A machinist should be mechanically inclined and temperamentally suited to do highly accurate work that requires concentration as well as patience. Courses in mathematics are needed to operate numerically controlled machines.