Machinist Coursebook

A machinist is usually called upon when a part needs to be produced from a material by cutting. Such a part may be unique or may be needed in the thousands. This could include a machinery part for a production line or anything that can be made from metal or plastic. Producing a part will often require several steps and more than one machine tool. Each machine tool plays a specific role in cutting away excess material. When large numbers of parts are needed, production planning is required to plan the most logical route using primarily computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines. The machinist works with the quality department to ensure the specifications are maintained in the finished product. A machinist is to metal as a woodcarver is to wood. The most common materials that machinists make parts from are steel, aluminium, brass, copper, and various alloys of these materials. Other less common materials such as vanadium, zinc, lead, or manganese are often used as alloying elements for the most common materials. This book on this subject deals with definitions and derivations, principles and problems to be studied by the ITI students.