MACHINE SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT YOU’LL START SEEING
As your apprenticeship develops, you'll notice that different machines require different equipment.
Understanding what you're looking at is part of becoming a machinist.
Milling machines
On a mill, you'll start encountering equipment such as:
Machine vices
Parallels
Edge finders
Collets
Tool holders
Cutters
Drills
Centre drills
Boring tools
DTI and magnetic bases
Workholding fixtures
You'll learn that workholding is just as important as cutting the material.
A perfectly programmed toolpath isn't much use if the component isn't securely and correctly held.
Lathes
Turning introduces another set of equipment.
You may see:
Three-jaw chucks
Four-jaw chucks
Face plates
Soft jaws
Centres
Turning tools
Boring bars
Parting tools
Threading tools
Tailstock equipment
Collets
You'll begin learning how different tools perform different operations and why setup matters so much.
Bench work
Don't underestimate bench work.
Files, hacksaws, scribers, engineers squares, deburring tools, hammers and hand tools teach you precision and care away from the machine.
Bench work can seem basic compared with CNC, but the fundamentals you develop there remain useful throughout your career.
As you progress, you'll start seeing specialist equipment specific to the machines and work your company undertakes.
You don't need to understand everything immediately.
Ask what something is.
Find out what it does.
Then watch someone use it.
Over time, the workshop starts becoming less of a room full of unfamiliar equipment and more like a collection of tools you understand.