Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Any machinists here...?

Could you please tell me about this NIMS test that is forthcoming?

According to the instructor, it is the first of several tests that need to be passed to receive a certificate.

This past fall, I enrolled in the local CC to learn how to use a mill and lathe. The beginners/hobby class got canceled due to the lack of interest (apparently, I was the only one to enroll) so I got rolled into this whole 2 year NIMS professional development course, at a incredibly reduced rate so I thought what the heck.

I hold a Certificate of Apprenticeship from GE for Journeyman Machinist, it was a four year program. Google explains the NIMS testing, it's new to me.

I think it has to do with what you've been trained to use and at what level. I have no idea of the content of the class though as I have never taken it but I've never worked in a union shop either. Good luck with the learning though. I've been in the trade since 1979 and am still learning things after all these years. Allot has changed since then but the basics of machining are still the same. Safety is number one.

GE was a union shop and holding a certificate was never a requirement or an issue for any of the jobs. Those in the Apprenticeship were not eligible to join the union. One could join the union after graduating if they elected to remain on the floor, I moved into management and was not eligible.

Who was eligible to join the union?

Beats me

I started Tech school in 1996 and graduated in 1988

I apprenticed 4 years in an Injection Mold shop and recieved my Journeyman certificate in 1995 and was promoted to Leadman shortly after.

Fast forward 36 years and I'm still building molds and never heard of the test you speak of.

Job's were classified as eligible or ineligible, basically the divide was management and those working on the floor. It made sense, my first position was a piece work administrator and determined the premiums payed for productivity above a set level. I treated the workers fairly and was open to contested hours but would then review all of the back records and commonly found errors in their favor. I let the past errors stand if they dropped their current objection. If I found no errors then I would pay out the claim. The workers and the management liked this approach and I was soon promoted away from this assignment.

wikipedia
Just more bull crap to keep a guy from actually making money, If anything like the shop I work in, you read a booklet and answer a questionnaire regarding what you read, It's just more OSHA garbage.

NIMS is an organization developing training for different fields... in your case it's probably a school that is certified by NIMS and teaches their curriculum and instruction. Probably more in the line of CNC skills instead of basic old school machining.

Phil

Never heard of the test...
I spent just over three years working as a Toolmaker apprentice in a non-union shop. The program was administered through the federal labor board and onced finished I received a certificate of completion from the Michigan Department of Labor. There were specific classes I had to take through an apprentice program at a community college (math, metalurgy/strength of materials, electrical/machine controls, hydraulic/ pneumatic, machine design, CNC programming), I had to have a minimum amount of time spent in each department (lathe, mills, grinders, CNC machines, EDM, bench work and machine assembly) of the plant where I worked (the company kept track of our hours/work experience. I recieved a union journeyman's card after I was hired by GM.

Now that is regressing!

Sounds like ISO to me.
Someone, somewhere, is making Billion$.
Off a bunch of crap overseen by an army of well paid minions.

The more I read into it, the more it sounds like you may be correct. I have searched about fifty local job ads on Indeed, and not a one of them says anything about NIMS.

The class is two evenings per week, broken up into one night of classroom and one night in the shop.

The classroom is set up so we can pass several of these NIMS online tests to obtain our certification.

During the shop nights, we are given blueprints of small widget projects to turn out on one of the Bridgeport mills that the school has.

All new machines at the school, so thats nice, though in addition to learning how to run the mill, you're fighting worn out endmill and drill bits that get you out of spec (from what I understand is thanks to the high school kids beating on them all week) which makes it a little frustrating.

Next is turning and lathe work, then CNC.

I do enjoy learning the new skills.

Its this one, i guess established in 1995:

National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS)

But you're probably right on the money as more than half of it had been OSHA related.

It appears that they're trying to standardize the metalworking industry, as a few have pointed out, so someone has to spend tons of money to enter the field, just like everything else.

...and they wonder why skilled trades are dying.

That's the benefit of getting into an apprenticeship program. The company you work for pays for your classes and buys your textbooks, you get paid while you're working and learning the trade. The only thing I had to pay for was my precision tools which I used my GI benefits to purchase.

I didn't know what it was but all pointed the ISO IMO as well .

And, from where I look, ISO doesn't seem to carry much weight anymore.

It's that kinda crap, (and Obama) that got me to go to work for someone with deeper pockets than I.
Granted, I tried to start a business without a degree in managing one, I could do the PR and definitely the machining, but couldn't manage the government part of business to save my ass.
Was definitely worth trying, and I don't regret it, just wish I could have made a better go of it.
Good luck on whatever endeavor you pursue with this.

If your mill and lathe work will only be a hobby thing and you're not looking for employment, who gives a red rat's rear about certification?

I have a very good friend who has never taken a welding class.
To work, he had to join a union. When he told them he had never been an apprentice or taken college level courses, they laughed at him, but did agree to test him. By the time he finished the test, they were asking him to teach an apprentice class.

P S. - Union? Bah! Humbug! I'm not paying some jerk in a union hall for a job.

Yeah....let's try 1986 instead lol

Allot of what you learn in regard to any trade is your willingness to learn and having access to people and information that pertain to it. If you have a mind for building things and can do that project in your head before ever making a chip you're way ahead of the normal person. Being able to actually think in 3D is real. Some people can and some can't. These machines we use are capable of some amazing things if we can learn to use them to their potential. I know this doesn't have a thing to do with your first post but after having spent the past 43 years doing this stuff I have seen allot of people come and go. I sure wish you well in learning and getting started. Without our trade man would not have walked on the moon, won both World Wars, or a host of many other things. It's been one of the most rewarding things in my life and in many ways it is my life. I'm not knocking a certificate, degree or training program but the most gifted craftsman I have had the honor to get to know had none of these things but they had wonderful minds. A gift from God.