Existing comment:
Machining and Machine Tools
Machinists were the skilled craftsmen of the machine age. Using a variety of hand and machine tools, they fabricated (and often designed) production machinery. Upon them depended the maintenance and the day-to-day improvement of machines. Machinists were geographically and industrially mobile, learning their skills in one industry and applying them in a second or a third. Their experiences were varied and the demands upon them great -- a situation that promoted inventiveness and novel solutions to mechanical problems. While new factory machinery usually reduced the skills needed by production workers, it increased the skills required of machinists. |