Job Profile:      Aircraft Tool Maker


Analyze specifications, lay out metal stock, set up and operate machine tools, and fit and assemble parts to make and repair dies, cutting tools, jigs, fixtures, gauges, and machinists' hand tools.

51-4111
Job Information
   
   
38,040 63,300 99,180

Select Tasks
Verify dimensions, alignments, and clearances of finished parts for conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments such as calipers, gauge blocks, micrometers, or dial indicators. Visualize and compute dimensions, sizes, shapes, and tolerances of assemblies, based on specifications. Set up and operate conventional or computer numerically controlled machine tools such as lathes, milling machines, or grinders to cut, bore, grind, or otherwise shape parts to prescribed dimensions and finishes.
File, grind, shim, and adjust different parts to properly fit them together. Fit and assemble parts to make, repair, or modify dies, jigs, gauges, and tools, using machine tools and hand tools. Conduct test runs with completed tools or dies to ensure that parts meet specifications, making adjustments as necessary.
Inspect finished dies for smoothness, contour conformity, and defects. Smooth and polish flat and contoured surfaces of parts or tools, using scrapers, abrasive stones, files, emery cloths, or power grinders. Lift, position, and secure machined parts on surface plates or worktables, using hoists, vises, v-blocks, or angle plates.
Measure, mark, and scribe metal or plastic stock to lay out machining, using instruments such as protractors, micrometers, scribes, or rulers. Cut, shape, and trim blanks or blocks to specified lengths or shapes, using power saws, power shears, rules, and hand tools. Design jigs, fixtures, and templates for use as work aids in the fabrication of parts or products.
Select metals to be used from a range of metals and alloys, based on properties such as hardness or heat tolerance. Set up and operate drill presses to drill and tap holes in parts for assembly. Develop and design new tools and dies, using computer-aided design software.
Set pyrometer controls of heat-treating furnaces and feed or place parts, tools, or assemblies into furnaces to harden.





Select Abilities
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem. The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways. The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem. The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures. The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns. The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object. The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you. The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources). The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects. The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion. The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part. The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears. The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists. The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects. The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object. The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without 'giving out' or fatiguing. The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath. The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs. The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion. The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). The ability to see details at a distance. The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
The ability to see under low light conditions. The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead. The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
The ability to see objects in the presence of glare or bright lighting. The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness. The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated. The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.




Tools Used
Abrasive cutoff saws Acetylene torches Adjustable widemouth pliers
Air compressors Air grinders Air-powered sandblasters
Allen wrenches Angle gauge blocks Angle plates
Arbor presses Band saws Bearing pullers
Bench grinders Bore gauges Boring bars
Brazing equipment Bridge cranes Broachers
Chuck keys Claw hammers Cold chisels
Combination milling machines Combination squares Compound sine bars
Computerized numerical control CNC turning centers Coordinate measuring machines CMM Counterbores
Countersinks Cutoff saws Deburring machines
Deburring tools Depth gauges Desktop computers
Dial calipers Dial indicators Diamond dressers
Die grinders Die maker's squares Die spotting presses
Digital micrometers Digital plotters Disc grinders
Dividers Drill point gauges Drill presses
Dust collectors Dust masks Ear plugs
Electrical Discharge Machining EDM machines Engraving machines Feeler gauges
Flat blade screwdrivers Forklifts Furnace ladles
Gap lathes Gauge blocks Gear lathes
Grease guns Grinding wheel dressing sticks Grinding wheels
Grit blasting cabinets Hacksaws Hand clamps
Hand jacks Hand reamers Handheld refractometers
Hardness testing devices Heat treatment furnaces Height micrometers
Hermaphrodite calipers Hoisting equipment Honing machines
Honing stones Horizontal boring mills Hydraulic pressing equipment
Jig bores Knee mills Knurling tools
Laptop computers Laser cutters Laser scanner coordinate capturing equipment
Layout squares Loupes Magnetic drill presses
Magnifying glasses Mallets Measuring tapes
Metal inert gas MIG welders Metal markers Metal scribers
Oil dispensing cans Optical comparators Optical flats
Oxyacetylene welding equipment Phillips head screwdrivers Plasma arc welding equipment
Plug gauges Portable drills Portable welders
Power drills Power grinders Power press brakes
Power shears Precision files Precision levels
Precision rulers Precision tapered reamers Profile grinders
Protective face shields Protractors Punch sets
Radial drill presses Radius gauges Rasps
Riveting tools Rotary surface grinders Safety glasses
Safety goggles Shielded arc welding tools Stamping presses
Steel rules Stick welders Surface finish comparators
Surface gauges Surface grinding machines T-style tap wrenches
Tap extractors Tap sets Telescoping gauges
Telescoping measuring rods Tensile testers Thread gauges
Thread ring gauges Tin snips Tongs
Toolmaker's microscopes Tube benders Tungsten inert gas TIG welding equipment
Turning tools Turret lathes Turret punch presses
Ultrasonic testing equipment V blocks Vernier calipers
Vernier height gauges Vernier protractors Vertical bandsaws
Vertical belt sanders Vertical milling machines Vibratory tumblers
Welders Wire brushes Wire electrical discharge machines
Workshop bench vises Workshop cranes

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