WEBVTT

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>> My name is Nicholas [inaudible].

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I'm a journeyman tool and die maker.

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We make a lot of tin snips.

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We make gun parts.

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We make wire cutters.

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We make motorcycle parts for Harley-Davidson.

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We make parts for John Deere.

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We make -- I mean, the list goes
on and on: Emerson, Micro Motion.

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We make a lot of parts.

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The most common ones you see would be John
Deere, Ruger, Remington, and Harley-Davidson.

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I build -- wax injection molds
is what we specialize in.

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I also build machining fixtures.

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I build straightening fixtures, gauges, and also
various one-off things to keep machines running.

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Basically anything that I've got a
print for, I can build it from material:

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anything from bronze, aluminum to
tool steels to hardened steels.

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Basically, in our process the first one we
use is a 5X CNC machine which we run daily.

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Second would be a milling machine, manual
milling machine such as a Bridgeport.

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Then we also use a CNC lathe
and a surface grinder.

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After we get the print for the part
for the company, we design this mold.

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We build it mainly out of aluminum.

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We, as tool makers, receive what we call is a
file which is a computer-generated blueprint

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which we can break down into any
different component we are producing.

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So we take this raw aluminum, start setting
up CNC programs, start fitting it together,

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and the outcome is a mold that can produce
into the millions for parts, piece parts.

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At your apprentice level, you
basically are there to learn.

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And you're expected to pick up as
much as possible from each individual.

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So you're kind of like --
you're at school almost.

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You've got the same respect for the
instructor but as an outcome you want your card

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so you're learning these
processes in greater detail

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with these tool makers as
it goes through the process.

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And once you're a journeyman,
by then you're expected

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to know how to run every single machine.

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When we are tool makers, especially at the
journeyman level after our apprenticeship,

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we are expected to know every single
step short of designing the part itself.

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The file is complete when we get it, but
there should be no process of that tool

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that we can't complete solely on ourselves.