Hourly Rates up to | Jobs Available |
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$53 | 34,800+ |
What Does a Machinist Do?
Responsibilities
- Set up, operate and maintain precision equipment
- Mill, turn, drill, shape and grind machine parts to specifications
- Repair parts or create new ones
- Consult with engineers and coworkers
- Understand the properties of different metals
- Inspect and test finished products
- Program mills, drills and lathes
- Follow safety rules
- Maintain production and quality logs
- Plan stock inventory
How To Become a Machinist: FAQs
The bottom line:
As a job shop machinist, no two days are the same. Lots of machinists and tool and die makers work regular business hours. With some organizations working around the clock, you might need to work some evenings and weekends. A machinist’s hours can total more than 40 hours a week.
Machinist jobs involve all kinds of hands-on skills. You’ll get to know the technical programs needed to do your work, even show your completed products to customers and make necessary changes. There are other tasks you’ll do as part of your job, like maintaining production and quality logs, or planning inventory. You might be making parts for existing machinery or repairing them. When an industrial machine breaks down, a machinist is the person tasked with remanufacturing the broken part, using the original methods to make the replacement.
As a tool and die maker, you’ll create the fixtures that hold metal while it is bored, stamped, forged or drilled. You’ll also make gauges and other measuring tools – like metal molds used for diecasting and for molding everything, from plastics to ceramics. You’ll make and adjust parts, then test the completed tools and dies to make sure they are to spec. You’ll also condition the surfaces of tools and dies to finish them.
Working in a field that uses CNC machines will put you at the cutting edge of technology. In this trade, you’ll be using digital and mechanized tools in every step of machining. Developing your skills and working as part of a team are what it’s all about in this industry. As a CNC machinist, you’ll be working with every employee in the company, from your co-workers on the shop floor to the management team upstairs.
For many machinists, being relied upon to do good work, and getting support from others when you need it is what makes this job so enjoyable.
What's it like to be a tool and die maker?
When Tony Tinge graduated from high school with honors, he knew he wanted to find a career, not just a job. Lincoln Electric provided a place for Tony to train as a tool and die maker through an apprenticeship.
“You can make an extremely good living as a tool and die maker," he says. "Plus, you get the satisfaction of helping create so many different things people use every day.”
Read Tony’s story and learn how he became a tool and die maker.
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