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Machinists

Set up and operate a variety of machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments out of metal. Includes precision instrument makers who fabricate, modify, or repair mechanical instruments. May also fabricate and modify parts to make or repair machine tools or maintain industrial machines, applying knowledge of mechanics, mathematics, metal properties, layout, and machining procedures.
Related: Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators  Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers  Lathe & Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic  Milling & Planing Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic  Tool & Die Makers 
Industries: Manufacturing 

  • Summary

  • Details

    • Work Activities

    • Set up, adjust, or operate basic or specialized machine tools used to perform precision machining operations.
    • Test experimental models under simulated operating conditions, for purposes such as development, standardization, or feasibility of design.
    • Establish work procedures for fabricating new structural products, using a variety of metalworking machines.
    • Dismantle machines or equipment, using hand tools or power tools to examine parts for defects and replace defective parts where needed.
    • Set up or operate metalworking, brazing, heat-treating, welding, or cutting equipment.
    • Separate scrap waste and related materials for reuse, recycling, or disposal.
    • Install repaired parts into equipment or install new equipment.
    • Test experimental models under simulated operating conditions, for purposes such as development, standardization, or feasibility of design.
    • Confer with numerical control programmers to check and ensure that new programs or machinery will function properly and that output will meet specifications.
    • Design fixtures, tooling, or experimental parts to meet special engineering needs.
    • Lay out, measure, and mark metal stock to display placement of cuts.
    • Support metalworking projects from planning and fabrication through assembly, inspection, and testing, using knowledge of machine functions, metal properties, and mathematics.
    • Study sample parts, blueprints, drawings, or engineering information to determine methods or sequences of operations needed to fabricate products.
    • Monitor the feed and speed of machines during the machining process.
    • Align and secure holding fixtures, cutting tools, attachments, accessories, or materials onto machines.
    • Check work pieces to ensure that they are properly lubricated or cooled.
    • Program computers or electronic instruments, such as numerically controlled machine tools.
    • Fit and assemble parts to make or repair machine tools.
    • Install experimental parts or assemblies, such as hydraulic systems, electrical wiring, lubricants, or batteries into machines or mechanisms.
    • Measure, examine, or test completed units to check for defects and ensure conformance to specifications, using precision instruments, such as micrometers.
    • Diagnose machine tool malfunctions to determine need for adjustments or repairs.
    • Dismantle machines or equipment, using hand tools or power tools to examine parts for defects and replace defective parts where needed.
    • Prepare working sketches for the illustration of product appearance.
    • Set up or operate metalworking, brazing, heat-treating, welding, or cutting equipment.
    • Support metalworking projects from planning and fabrication through assembly, inspection, and testing, using knowledge of machine functions, metal properties, and mathematics.
    • Calculate dimensions or tolerances, using instruments, such as micrometers or vernier calipers.
    • Operate equipment to verify operational efficiency.
    • Lay out, measure, and mark metal stock to display placement of cuts.
    • Machine parts to specifications, using machine tools, such as lathes, milling machines, shapers, or grinders.
    • Maintain machine tools in proper operational condition.
    • Evaluate machining procedures and recommend changes or modifications for improved efficiency or adaptability.
    • Confer with engineering, supervisory, or manufacturing personnel to exchange technical information.
    • Machine parts to specifications, using machine tools, such as lathes, milling machines, shapers, or grinders.
    • Operate equipment to verify operational efficiency.
    • Dispose of scrap or waste material in accordance with company policies and environmental regulations.
    • Calculate dimensions or tolerances, using instruments, such as micrometers or vernier calipers.
    • Install repaired parts into equipment or install new equipment.
    • Advise clients about the materials being used for finished products.

    Skills

    • Active Learning
      • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
    • Mathematics
      • Using math to solve problems.
    • Service Orientation
      • Looking for ways to help people.
    • Monitoring
      • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
    • Reading Comprehension
      • Reading work-related information.
    • Programming
      • Writing computer programs.
    • Operations Monitoring
      • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
    • Repairing
      • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
    • Systems Analysis
      • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
    • Systems Evaluation
      • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
    • Time Management
      • Managing your time and the time of other people.
    • Learning Strategies
      • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
    • Science
      • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
    • Social Perceptiveness
      • Understanding people's reactions.
    • Instructing
      • Teaching people how to do something.
    • Technology Design
      • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
    • Equipment Selection
      • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
    • Operation and Control
      • Using equipment or systems.
    • Equipment Maintenance
      • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
    • Troubleshooting
      • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
    • Management of Personnel Resources
      • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
    • Installation
      • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
    • Management of Material Resources
      • Managing equipment and materials.
    • Critical Thinking
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
    • Negotiation
      • Bringing people together to solve differences.
    • Coordination
      • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
    • Persuasion
      • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
    • Speaking
      • Talking to others.
    • Complex Problem Solving
      • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
    • Active Listening
      • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
    • Writing
      • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
    • Quality Control Analysis
      • Testing how well a product or service works.
    • Judgment and Decision Making
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
    • Management of Financial Resources
      • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
    • Operations Analysis
      • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    Abilities

    • Gross Body Equilibrium
      • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
    • Memorization
      • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
      • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
    • Oral Comprehension
      • Listening and understanding what people say.
    • Stamina
      • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
    • Far Vision
      • Seeing details that are far away.
    • Extent Flexibility
      • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Night Vision
      • Seeing at night or under low light.
    • Flexibility of Closure
      • Seeing hidden patterns.
    • Finger Dexterity
      • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
    • Selective Attention
      • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
    • Speech Clarity
      • Speaking clearly.
    • Perceptual Speed
      • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
    • Control Precision
      • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
    • Speed of Limb Movement
      • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
    • Number Facility
      • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
    • Written Comprehension
      • Reading and understanding what is written.
    • Deductive Reasoning
      • Using rules to solve problems.
    • Written Expression
      • Communicating by writing.
    • Problem Sensitivity
      • Noticing when problems happen.
    • Reaction Time
      • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
    • Trunk Strength
      • Using your lower back and stomach.
    • Multilimb Coordination
      • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
    • Rate Control
      • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
    • Gross Body Coordination
      • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
    • Visualization
      • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
    • Mathematical Reasoning
      • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
    • Speech Recognition
      • Recognizing spoken words.
    • Information Ordering
      • Ordering or arranging things.
    • Time Sharing
      • Doing two or more things at the same time.
    • Inductive Reasoning
      • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
    • Originality
      • Creating new and original ideas.
    • Fluency of Ideas
      • Coming up with lots of ideas.
    • Category Flexibility
      • Grouping things in different ways.
    • Static Strength
      • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
    • Explosive Strength
      • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
    • Hearing Sensitivity
      • Telling the difference between sounds.
    • Dynamic Strength
      • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
    • Auditory Attention
      • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
    • Sound Localization
      • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
    • Dynamic Flexibility
      • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Spatial Orientation
      • Knowing where things are around you.
    • Wrist-Finger Speed
      • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
    • Response Orientation
      • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
    • Visual Color Discrimination
      • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
    • Peripheral Vision
      • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
    • Near Vision
      • Seeing details up close.
    • Glare Sensitivity
      • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
    • Speed of Closure
      • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
    • Manual Dexterity
      • Holding or moving items with your hands.
    • Depth Perception
      • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
    • Oral Expression
      • Communicating by speaking.

    Knowledge

    • Customer and Personal Service
      • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
    • Chemistry
      • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
    • Production and Processing
      • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
    • Computers and Electronics
      • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
    • Mechanical
      • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
    • Law and Government
      • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
    • Philosophy and Theology
      • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
    • Telecommunications
      • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
    • Foreign Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
    • Communications and Media
      • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
    • Biology
      • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
    • Fine Arts
      • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
    • Public Safety and Security
      • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
    • History and Archeology
      • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
    • Physics
      • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
    • Geography
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
    • Medicine and Dentistry
      • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
    • Education and Training
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
    • Food Production
      • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
    • Engineering and Technology
      • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
    • Design
      • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
    • Building and Construction
      • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
    • Administration and Management
      • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
    • Transportation
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
    • Mathematics
      • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
    • Sales and Marketing
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
    • Economics and Accounting
      • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
    • Administrative
      • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
    • Therapy and Counseling
      • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
    • English Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
    • Personnel and Human Resources
      • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
    • Psychology
      • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
    • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    Education

    Education
    High school diploma or equivalent
    Work Experience
    No work experience
    Training
    More than 1 year on-the-job training
    Education and Training Opportunities

    Pay

    Washington Annual Salary
    64510/yr
    Washington Hourly Wage
    31.01/hr

    Washington Employment Trends

    Currently Employed
    7,980
    Yearly Projected Openings
    860

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:
    • Cautiousness
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Perseverance

    Tools

    • Adjustable angle plate
    • Adjustable wrenches
    • Angle cutter
    • Anvils
    • Arbors
    • Ball peen hammer
    • Bench dog
    • Bench vises
    • Binocular light compound microscopes
    • Blow torch
    • Boring machines
    • Calipers
    • Casting machines
    • Center gauge
    • Chamfering machine
    • Chucks
    • Cold chisels
    • Column and knee milling machine
    • Combination pliers
    • Combination wrenches
    • Coordinate measuring machines CMM
    • Cylinder gauge
    • Deburring tool
    • Desktop computers
    • Dial indicator or dial gauge
    • Double ended stud
    • Drill press or radial drill
    • Drilling machines
    • End cut pliers
    • Facial shields
    • Feeler gauges
    • Flat hand file
    • Forklifts
    • Gage block set
    • Gas welding or brazing or cutting apparatus
    • Grinders
    • Grinding machines
    • Hacksaw
    • Half round file
    • Hammers
    • Hand clamps
    • Hand reamer
    • Height gauges
    • Hex keys
    • Honing machine
    • Horizontal machining center
    • Horizontal turning center
    • Hydraulic press frames
    • Induction heating machine
    • Ladders
    • Laser printers
    • Levels
    • Locking pliers
    • Machine end mill
    • Magnetic tools
    • Manual press brake
    • Metal band sawing machine
    • Metal broaching machines
    • Metal cutters
    • Metal inert gas welding machine
    • Micrometers
    • Mill saw file
    • Milling machines
    • Multi-tasking or universal machining center
    • Needlenose pliers
    • Personal computers
    • Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
    • Pipe wrenches
    • Pitch measuring instruments
    • Planing machines
    • Plasma arc welding machine
    • Platform lift
    • Pneumatic sanding machines
    • Power buffers
    • Power chippers
    • Power drills
    • Power grinders
    • Power planes
    • Power sanders
    • Power saws
    • Protractors
    • Pry bars
    • Punches or nail sets or drifts
    • Putty knives
    • Radius gauge
    • Ratchets
    • Rubber mallet
    • Rulers
    • Safety glasses
    • Saws
    • Screwdrivers
    • Scribers
    • Shaper cutter
    • Sharpening stones or tools or kits
    • Shears
    • Shielded metal arc welding or stick welding machine
    • Sine bar
    • Sledge hammer
    • Slings
    • Socket sets
    • Spot welding machine
    • Squares
    • Surface gauge
    • Surface grinding machine
    • Swaging tools
    • Taps
    • Telescoping gauge
    • Thermal spray machine
    • Thread counters or gauges
    • Threading die hand tool
    • Threading machine
    • Tongs
    • Tracer or duplicating or contouring lathe
    • Traveling column milling machine
    • Tube bending machine
    • Tungsten inert gas welding machine
    • Turret lathe
    • Utility knives
    • Vertical machining center
    • Wave soldering machine
    • Wedges
    • Welder torch
    • Welding masks
    • Workshop cranes

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Industrial control software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Presentation software
    • Procedure management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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