Hello from Ontario

[Susquatch]

I once had a Millwright explain machinist/millwright difference to me as " a machinist takes the work to his machines and a millwright takes his files, hammers & chisels to the work.

I heard the same ditty slightly different.

A machinist takes the work to his tools, and a millright takes his tools to the work.

The other ditty I used to hear was that machinists make stuff and millwrights fix and move stuff. In that sense, we are all the same in retirement.

 

[Aliva]

Engineers design stuff, millwrights make it work.

 

[Susquatch]

Engineers design stuff, millwrights make it work.

I heard that one the other way around too!

An engineers job is to make it strong enough so the millright can't break it. That way they know it's safe in the customers hands.

 

[Dusty]

What a coincidence , he also worked on the guns, the sighting electronics and optics, I think. i believe he said he was RCEME, too many acronyms for me to remember.

RCEME acronyms meaning: Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

Check them out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corps_of_Royal_Canadian_Electrical_and_Mechanical_Engineers

 

[LenVW]

In my experiences as a mechanical designer and project manager:

A machinist turns and mills material into parts that are specified on component drawings.
They have extensive knowledge about the capabilities of machining workcenters and the accuracy achievable with various processes.

A millwright builds machinery to suit the application using skill and experience. They have vast experience with part interaction and suitable material characteristics. They have more skill related to forming and fusion of materials to produce components.

On development projects, I had hoped for both of these people to be on the build team. The machinist to produce parts and the millwright to assemble and fit them together.

 

[Susquatch]

In my experiences as a mechanical designer and project manager:

A machinist turns and mills material into parts that are specified on component drawings.
They have extensive knowledge about the capabilities of machining workcenters and the accuracy achievable with various processes.

A millwright builds machinery to suit the application using skill and experience. They have vast experience with part interaction and suitable material characteristics. They have more skill related to forming and fusion of materials to produce components.

On development projects, I had hoped for both of these people to be on the build team. The machinist to produce parts and the millwright to assemble and fit them together.

That's very interesting. It wasn't quite like that in my career.

That's a pretty good description of a machinist, but millwrights didn't touch parts - just machines and process equipment.

Highly union environment though.

Funny how such things can vary. I would not have guessed that.

I like my new world. I get to do everything from end to end. No rules about who does what anymore.

 

[LenVW]

I might add that depending on the company and it’s resources, the work is distributed to the group that needs the job and show that they are capable of success.

One company may have machinists dedicated to completing customer orders while the mechanics and millwrights are better suited to the task of fitting and trialing machinery.

Believe me, there is much more satisfaction in seeing the machinery come together and operate versus making the initial components on a mill & lathe.
It was the reason that I went on to Machinery Design and Project Management after I worked as a manual machinist with Ex-Cell-O Corp.

 

[darrin1200]

What a coincidence , he also worked on the guns, the sighting electronics and optics, I think. i believe he said he was RCEME, too many acronyms for me to remember.

Yeah, it is a small world. I was a Weapon Tech and he is an EO Tech. We worked hand in hand in the turrets.

 

[LenVW]

It comes down to the company culture.

I worked at a company for a couple years on improving existing tooling sets. With the help of maintenance and production managers we altered the existing production equipment to improve products and efficiency.
Then I was handed the job of designing an entirely new production process along with 5 sets of size tooling.
We were awarded a PCT patent for our efforts.

We were machinists and college technologists.
There was no P.Eng in the group and because we were designing ‘in-plant’ equipment there was no need for an Engineer’s STAMP on the design drawings.
I did all the stress analysis calculations and material specs for the structural frame and aluminum alloys used in the tooling castings.

The company and their executives decide who is going to come up with NEW ideas and improve operations.

 

[Aliva]

It comes down to the company culture.

I worked at a company for a couple years on improving existing tooling sets. With the help of maintenance and production managers we altered the existing production equipment to improve products and efficiency.
Then I was handed the job of designing an entirely new production process along with 5 sets of size tooling.
We were awarded a PCT patent for our efforts.

We were machinists and college technologists.
There was no P.Eng in the group and because we were designing ‘in-plant’ equipment there was no need for an Engineer’s STAMP on the design drawings.
I did all the stress analysis calculations and material specs for the structural frame and aluminum alloys used in the tooling castings.

The company and their executives decide who is going to come up with NEW ideas and improve operations.

You were fortunate, everything at my former employer had to be stamped by and engineer for liability reasons. The company had a raft of engineers in all disciplines. They just very slow.

 

[LenVW]

You were fortunate, everything at my former employer had to be stamped by and engineer for liability reasons. The company had a raft of engineers in all disciplines. They just very slow.

Luckily we were building machinery for ‘in-plant’ use. In-plant process machinery is not open to public access and falls under the Ministry of Labour as requiring safety enclosures to limit human access. The machinery was patented and only used in company facilities.
Years later, the corrugators that we built were reviewed for structural integrity and they were found to have 4 to 5 FOS.
The company, ‘Big O Inc‘ had 14 plastic extrusion plants across Canada In the 1990s.
I was in one of the plants a few weeks ago and saw the machine still running.

 

[Aliva]

Luckily we were building machinery for ‘in-plant’ use. In-plant process machinery is not open to public access and falls under the Ministry of Labour as requiring safety enclosures to limit human access. The machinery was patented and only used in company facilities.
Years later, the corrugators that we built were reviewed for structural integrity and they were found to have 4 to 5 FOS.
The company, ‘Big O Inc‘ had 14 plastic extrusion plants across Canada In the 1990s.
I was in one of the plants a few weeks ago and saw the machine still running.

When I referred to liability , this was for employees safety not public. All safety provision were required as I'm sure in all industries. The company sure didn't want any compensation claims. Since the company fell under the OHSA for a mining plant, some of the regs are different than for a manufacturer, but I'm sure most are pretty close.
Glad to see your design is still functioning.

 

[LenVW]

All of the line employees were extensively versed in the functions of the production machinery.
From the bulk resin handling to extruders, preforming dies, corrugator cycles, spray bath coolers and automated perforators. The extrusion lines would be classified as ‘hot work areas’ with dies operating over 250 degrees C.

What did you do at the company you worked for ?

 

[Aliva]

I was hired as a Millwright ( industrial mechanic) I have a Millwright and HDEM ticket along with CWB certification in all positions including high pressure pipe. My last position was materials procurement and distribution coordinator for the utilities dept. which included power house, O2 plant. acid plant and SO2 plant

 

[LenVW]

Sounds like a big facility in Sudbury.
The last time I worked for a company that big was Kellogg’s in London (1986-90).

Most of my employment was with smaller enterprises, where your job description changed depending on what you were working on that month. Interesting work that took me to the US, Australia and Europe for ‘Big O’ projects.

 

[ShawnR]

Hi from Thunder Bay

 

[Aliva]

Sounds like a big facility in Sudbury.
The last time I worked for a company that big was Kellogg’s in London (1986-90).

Most of my employment was with smaller enterprises, where your job description changed depending on what you were working on that month. Interesting work that took me to the US, Australia and Europe for ‘Big O’ projects.

It's a fair size operation, there's around 4000 employees here, 2500 hourly 1500 staff. World wide I believe Vale has approximately 70,000 employees

 

[LenVW]

Thanks for the information.
20 years ago Central Ontario Metal built some ‘mine shaft bracing‘ for Sifto Salt in Goderich.
I remember hearing about the miles of shafts under Lake Huron.

Does Sudbury still have a huge nickel deposit ?

 

[Aliva]

There still is a massive amount of nickel in the area, it's just getting deeper and more expensive to get to. #9 shaft at Creighton, has a shaft depth of 7200 feet to the loading pocket. A ramp then goes down to I believe 8800 feet. At that depth ventilation becomes more of an issue along with ground heat . I think Creighton 9 shaft is one of the deepest in North American, but not sure. South African gold mines have some deeper shafts at around 13000 feet.

 

[LenVW]

The mine operations are on a unbelievable scale. There are still HITACHI Dump Trucks being built near here in Guelph, but I think they are changing to a refitting & repair shop.
I think VALE has some operations here for material processing and telescopic belt conveyors.
I have setup training programs with the CWB in Milton. Our millwrights at Central Ontario Metal were multi-position welders and very creative metal formers.