Handicaps
Filing, chipping, hammering, etc., may be done by men provided with an artificial hand or arm. The training required before a man can become accustomed to this substitute will take some time, since the bench worker is required to use a variety of tools, and the output of work will depend on the skill of the worker in handling these tools.
Previous experience in the employment will go a long way toward starting a man in the trade again. The use of hand tools is relatively less complicated than that of machine tools, and previous experience should provide the man with the essential knowledge of processes.
Reeducation for any line of bench work should take all possible advantage of previous experience. Many of the things done by the bench hand can be taught in a school in short courses, but experience at the bench on productive work may be obtained at the same time. If the school is provided with satisfactory benches of the proper height and with standard vises, the course may require no longer than from three to six months, allowing for instruction in the reading of blue prints, the use of tools, and for getting accustomed to the work again.