Machinist

“ The machinist observes a new invention and finds in it a new application of an old principle. As he passes along from one machine to another he is much interested in noting new devices and novel appliances and at the end of an hour he leaves the hall with a mind enriched. The other observer sees the same machines and their parts, but does not detect the principle of their construction. His previous knowledge of machines is not sufficient to give him the clue to their explanation. ”

“ Precisely those who are called MACHINISTS. Since tools have been so admirably perfected, a machinist is simply a man who knows how to handle a file or a plane: as for mechanics, that is the business of engineers and foremen. ”

“ The cheap machinist or helper, who before was able to run perhaps merely a drill press, is taught to do the more intricate and higher priced lathe and planer work, while the highly skilled and more intelligent machinists become functional foremen and teachers. ”

“ In the machine-shops systematized by us we have found that there is not one machine in a hundred which is speeded by its makers at anywhere near the correct cutting speed. So that, in order to compete with the science of cutting metals, the machinist, before he could use proper speeds, would first have to put new pulleys on the countershaft of his machine, and also make in most cases changes in the shapes and treatment of his tools, etc. ”

“ Real good trained machinist now, and I'm gonna walk out of here clean. Get a job down at the space-yards.
"Machinist helper, see? Then, soon's I been there a while, I'll get my papers and go contract machinist. Real good money. Maybe you'd do better, you try that."
From the lower bunk, Big Carl Marlo laughed softly.
"Sure, kid, sure. You got it all made, huh? Pretty quick, you own Janzel Equipment, huh? Hah! Know what happens, you go outside?
"Sure, they give you a job. Like you said, helper. They pay enough you get a pad and slop to keep you alive. That's all you get." ”

“ Enough has been said to show the important part played by the machinist, to whom, as was pointed out in paragraph 1, most of the credit is due. The economical improvement which is noticeable in the condition of the workpeople is largely the result of the improvements made in the machinery. In fewer hours more work can be turned out, and this with a constantly decreasing strain upon the operatives. ”

“ I make this a leading text in the presentation of this book; namely, that individual merit and stimulus is something of such extreme importance that it should be made the keynote for every boy who tries to become a mechanic.
The machinist easily occupies a leading place in the multitude of trades and occupations. There is hardly an article of use but comes to the market through his hands. His labor is most diverse, and in his employment doing machine work he is called upon to do things which vary widely in their character. ”

“ In a word, this was possible because the art of cutting metals involves a true science of no small magnitude, a science, in fact, so intricate that it is impossible for any machinist who is suited to running a lathe year in and year out either to understand it or to work according to its laws without the help of men who have made this their specialty. Men who are unfamiliar with machine-shop work are prone to look upon the manufacture of each piece as a special problem, independent of any other kind of machine-work. ”

“ There are hundreds of drill press hands who cannot operate a milling machine, lathe hands who know nothing of planer work, and so on. The subdivision of these occupations follows closely the advance in invention, so that employers advertising for help frequently specify not only the machine tool to be used but add the name of the firm which manufactures that particular type of machine, with the result that there are about as many kinds of machinists as there are manufacturers of machine tools. ”

“ He's the only honest machinist in the county, and a good fellow besides, if you take him right." And so here I was.
After a while, Bill wriggled himself out from under the machine, and rose slowly up in the air to the length of about six feet. ”

“ It may thus readily be seen that it is the little bar of metal from which the small tool is made that needs our care and attention.
This is particularly true of the expensive milling machines, where the little saw, if not in perfect order, and not properly set, will not only do improper work, but injure the machine itself.p. 27 More lathes are ruined from using badly ground tools than from any other cause.
In the whole line of tools which the machinist must take care of daily, there is nothing as important as the lathe cutting-tool, and the knowledge which goes with it to use the proper one. ”

“ The numerous tools used by machinists are illustrated, and also the adjuncts of the lathe. In fact, the entire subject is treated in such a thorough manner as to make this book the standard one on the subject. It is indispensable to the manager, engineer, and machinist as well as to the student, amateur, and experimental, man who desires to keep up-to-date. ”

“ Without a vast number of drawings, the tools and machinery used by the carpenter and machinist cannot be described and explained so as to be of any great practical service. The book is rather to create an interest in these trades than to furnish a guide to young mechanics. ”

“ Men in all stages of experience, ambitious apprentices, unskilled clerks, drivers, porters, etc., who wish to enter the local munition factories come to these classes.
As an instance of extremes we may take the case of a painter of sixty who entered the Marlin Rockwell Corporation on machine work after two seasons of study; and the case of an experienced toolmaker taking advantage of the equipment to learn some new operations so as to fit himself for a higher grade of work. Both [Pg 9] men made good. Machinists take the continuation course so that they may qualify as toolmakers. ”

“ There is no economy in making men work with poor light, bad air and in a cold place.
Buying Machine Tools.—Having secured by lease or by purchase a shop, or factory suitably located your next effort will be directed toward equipping it with the proper tools and machinery.
Besides the usual machinists’ hand tools you should buy (1) a gas furnace; (2) a grinder; (3) a plain lathe; (4) a screw cutting lathe; (5) a drill press; (6) a planer; (7) a shaper; (8) perhaps a milling machine, and (9) a buffer. Several of each of these kinds of machines may be needed.
Fig. ”

“ We have taken high grade machinists in Detroit who have been in the shops for a couple of years and were familiar with the use of drawings, decimal equivalents, etc., and made tool room machine operators doing work of considerable variety, each on a single type machine, almost immediately. ”

“ Is a manual for Engineers and Machinists on modern machine shop practice, management, grinding, punching, cutting, shearing, bench, lathe and vise work, gearing, turning, and all the subjects necessary to advance in shop practice, and the working and handling of machine tools. ”

“ Many of the replies admitted that machinists would make the best runners if they would consent to fire one year after having learned their trade, as they would then have the advantage of knowing all about the construction of the locomotive. Of course, when speaking of that class of men, they meant bright, intelligent young machinists, men with nerve and energy, and quick to act in cases of emergency. ”

“ Here are employed approximately 1,000 expert tool makers, machinists and die sinkers. These men are engaged in making new machinery (designed in the company shops) , tools, jigs, fixtures and other machine shop accessories, and repairing those in use.
Overhead are traveling cranes which have a capacity of forty tons each. ”

“ Realizing then the difficulty that the future held in store of securing competent, reliable toolmakers and machinists, we undertook to train men who had no previous experience in this line. Our results were quite gratifying. We classified all work and trained men to operate specific machines against the various classifications. ”

“ Such are among the triumphs of modern mechanical engineering, due in a great measure to the perfection of the tools by means of which all works in metal are now fashioned. These tools are themselves among the most striking results of the mechanical invention of the day. They are automata of the most perfect kind, rendering the engine and machine-maker in a great measure independent of inferior workmen. For the machine tools have no unsteady hand, are not careless nor clumsy, do not work by rule of thumb, and cannot make mistakes. ”

“ The real problem is how to remove chips fast from a casting or a forging, and how to make the piece smooth and true in the shortest time, and it matters but little whether the piece being worked upon is part, say, of a marine engine, a printing-press, or an automobile. For this reason, the man with the slide-rule, familiar with the science of cutting metals, who had never before seen this particular work, was able completely to distance the skilled mechanic who had made the parts of this machine his specialty for years. ”

“ But another conclusion follows more irresistibly, namely—that the mechanical engineer who devotes his attention to the construction and management of massive machinery, such as pumps, hydraulic and lever presses, looms, and steam-engines, whether locomotive, marine, or other, must, in order to be master of his profession, be thoroughly familiar with every step of their construction; and such familiarity can only be acquired by a course of practical study in the machine-tool shop. ”

“ We are able to machine the earth in much the same way as a piece of metal is machined in the machine shop. In fact, the drill, [252] the circular saw, the slotter, and even the milling machine have their counterpart in the excavating machinery of to-day. Of course we cannot expect to find the counterpart of such machines as the lathe, boring mill, and planer, in which the work revolves against the tool, because this planet of ours is rather too big a piece of stock to be placed between lathe centers or to be bolted to a planer bed. ”

“ And even this labour has now been got rid of; for, by an arrangement of the gearing, the slide itself has been made self-acting, and advances with the revolution of the work in the lathe, which thus supplies the place of the workman's hand. The accuracy of the turning done by this beautiful yet simple arrangement is as mechanically perfect as work can be. The pair of steel fingers which hold the cutting tool firmly in their grasp never tire, and it moves along the metal to be cut with an accuracy and precision which the human hand, however skilled, could never equal. ”

“ In a milling machine the cut is carried continuously from its commencement to its end, whereas in a shaping or planing machine the tool does not usually cut during the back or return stroke. In either of these machines, therefore, the operator’s skill is required as much in measuring the work, setting the tools feeds, &c., as in shaping the tools, whereas in the milling machine all the skill required lies in the chucking and adjustment of the work to the cutter, rather than in operating the machine, which may therefore be operated by comparatively unskilled labor. ”

“ A great deal of it, to be sure, was crude, but it was also practical; and when a piece of machinery would not perform well I went to work, and kept at it until it would, and in the end had not the slightest trouble in rolling, casting, drilling, planing, and turning iron or cast-steel, in all reasonable shapes. To be sure my machinery was not painted, or even well finished, except in the working parts, but to those sections I gave a mechanic's care. I not only worked here, however, on stormy days alone, but also nearly every spare moment that I had from other duties that were also pressing. ”

“ We also broke men in on drill presses and shapers, using same tactics and had very successful results. To give you an idea as to the class of men from which we have made machine operators, we have working in our shop to-day one bartender, piano tuner, street car conductor, bricklayer, coal miner and an artist—self made. The other unskilled men had had some previous experience on productive labor, either running punching presses, nailing machines, or work requiring a smattering of mechanical ability. ”

“ CHAPTER XVI. WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN. "In science there is work for all hands, more or less skilled; and he is usually the most fit to occupy the higher posts who has risen from the ranks, and has experimentally acquainted himself with the nature of the work to be done in each and every, even the humblest department." J. D. Forbes.
The development of the mechanical industry of England has been so rapid, especially as regards the wonders achieved by the machine-tools above referred to, that it may almost be said to have been accomplished within the life of the present generation. ”

“ These men or women (for female labour is employed for polishing) hold the frames on grinding wheels or in some cases endless belts coated with emery, and they grind or polish the whole frame till it is bright and very smooth.
The frames and forks then go to the enamellers, a part of the factory we shall visit presently, when the other parts are ready for the painting process.
The Machine Shop is the department where all the parts that require turning, boring, milling, or profiling, are machined, as the various metal removing processes are termed. ”