[handlewanker]

When you start out in your career as a machinist you undergo a structured list of assignments that prepare you for the coming rest of your life.....if you stick to the learning routine and acquire the fundamentals as laid down in the book you then get a piece of paper that specifically states that you did actually study and practice the disciplines of your choice as laid down in the book.

The subject was (and still is) so important to the knowledgeable that in the past guilds were formed to identify those that were fully in the know about the subject they purported to excel in and were attempting to rub shoulders with people who were in a likewise state of knowledge.

If you were working alongside a helper and in your infinite kindness endowed that person with some of the fundamentals you had spent 5 years to acquire, at best that person is an operator, not recognized by the rest of the mob but quite capable of working within the narrow guidelines that he has been shown.

Employers hire people for specific tasks and having that bit of paper accreditation does make your life bearable when it comes to being ahead of the crowd on a crowded shop floor, and if you know how but don't have that bit of paper it soon shows.......5 years is a long learning curve and you don't get to the winning post by shortening the course or cutting corners.

Some times you need a short order fast food preparer while at other times you need a Chef, and everyone is a Chef in their own kitchen.
Ian.

[tjm229]

I wouldn't term a machine operator as a machinist as they are both at different skill levels. We have both operators and cnc machinists at our subcontract machining company. The operators generally check the parts over, retip and replenish bar stock. The CNC setters program and setup the jobs.

Thanks

Tim

www.mmturnedparts.co.uk