Machinist

You use lathes, mills, grinders, and CNC machines to turn raw metal into precision parts measured in thousandths of an inch. A hair is about 3 thousandths thick — you work tighter than that. You'll read blueprints, set up machines, and make parts for everything from jet engines to medical implants. If you love precision and hate 'good enough,' this is your trade.

What you'll actually do

• 01Set up and operate manual lathes, mills, and grinders to make parts within thousandths of an inch
• 02Read blueprints and GD&T callouts that look like hieroglyphics to the untrained eye
• 03Measure finished parts with micrometers and gauges — if it's off by half a thou, it's scrap
• 04Select cutting tools, speeds, and feeds based on material and geometry
• 05Maintain machines that cost more than most houses and throw metal shavings everywhere
• 06Make one-off prototype parts that engineers designed without thinking about manufacturability