Sheister, I served an apprentiship as a Toolmaker. I worked for a machine building company. I worked with the engineers from concept to building a working machine. If needed we'd build prototypes to test a theory. We'd bring in raw steel and manufacture the parts of the machine, assemble it, run and de-bug it's operation. I'm required to have the working knowlege of the electrical controls, I install the hydralic systems (pipefitters plumb them), and do all mechanical assembly. Metalurgy, strength of materials, fit and finish all play a part. I've built sparkplug assembly machines, torque converter testing machines, oil and air filter paper folding machines. We built keyboard assembly machine that used 2 high speed robots to place the keys for Apple Computer. We also built a machine that would slam aircraft tires (to simulate high impact landings) until they would explode. Guess you could say that I have the necessary skills to demand a fair wage.