page_title: Metalworking
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Metalworking / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Turret lathe operator machining parts for transport planes at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant, Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Deutsch: Arbeiterin fertigt Flugzeugteile an einer Drehbank in einer Fabrik der Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, Fort Worth, USA. Español: Operaria labra piezas para aviones en un torno revólver en una fábrica de Consolidated Aircraft Corporation en Fort Worth, Texas, Estados Unidos. Français&#160;: Ouvrière-tourneuse usinant des pièces d'avion de transport dans l'usine de la compagnie Consolidated Aircraft, à Fort Worth, dans le Texas, aux USA. Norsk (bokmål)‎: Blåsnipparbeider, kvinne lager maskindeler i en flyfabrikk i Texas 1942. Română: În timpul războiului, femeile au lucrat în uzinele din toate ţările implicate în război.
context_page_description: Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large-scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills, processes, and tools.
  Metalworking is a science, art, hobby, industry and trade. Its historical roots span cultures, civilizations, and millennia. Metalworking has evolved from the discovery of smelting various ores, producing malleable and ductile metal useful tools and adornments. Modern metalworking processes, though diverse and specialized, can be categorized as forming, cutting, or joining processes. Today's machine shop includes a number of machine tools capable of creating a precise, useful workpiece.
context_section_description: By the historical periods of the Pharaohs in Egypt, the Vedic Kings in India, the Tribes of Israel, and the Maya civilization in North America, among other ancient populations, precious metals began to have value attached to them. In some cases rules for ownership, distribution, and trade were created, enforced, and agreed upon by the respective peoples. By the above periods metalworkers were very skilled at creating objects of adornment, religious artifacts, and trade instruments of precious metals (non-ferrous), as well as weaponry usually of ferrous metals and/or alloys.  These skills were well executed.  The techniques were practiced by artisans, blacksmiths, atharvavedic practitioners, alchemists, and other categories of metalworkers around the globe. For example, the granulation technique was employed by numerous ancient cultures before the historic record shows people traveled to far regions to share this process.   This and many other ancient techniques are still used by metalsmiths today.
  As time progressed metal objects became more common, and ever more complex. The need to further acquire and work metals grew in importance. Skills related to extracting metal ores from the earth began to evolve, and metalsmiths became more knowledgeable. Metalsmiths became important members of society. Fates and economies of entire civilizations were greatly affected by the availability of metals and metalsmiths. The metalworker depends on the extraction of precious metals to make jewelry, build more efficient electronics, and for industrial and technological applications from construction to shipping containers to rail, and air transport. Without metals, goods and services would cease to move around the globe on the scale we know today.
caption: A turret lathe operator machining parts for transport planes at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant, Fort Worth, Texas, USA in the 1940s.
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