What are some of the various areas of specialization in the machinist trade?
The machinist trade has several different areas a person could decide to specialize in. The major departments in a machine shop are CNC Lathes, Manual Lathes, CNC Mills, Manual Lathes, Grinding, and the Saw department. If your Apprenticeship follows the specifications set by the U.S Department of Labor, you will be required to have hands-on experience in each of these areas, as well as a few others. My personal favorite was the CNC Lathe department, although I believe a large part of this was due to the fact that had I started my career in the CNC Lathes department, and therefore had much more experience in that department than some of the other departments. I also enjoyed the Manual Lathes, Manual Mills, and CNC Mills departments.
