The bench hand uses a variety of files, marking punches, light and heavy hammers, cold chisels, measuring tools and gauges, and often uses hand or power machines, such as bench drills, hand taps and dies.
Hours, Wages, and Conditions of Work
The hours of labor are as a minimum forty-eight a week, and will average between fifty-one and fifty-four. Wages are generally according to the scale paid to machinists and are subject to overtime, piecework, and premium rate changes. For instance, the wage scale in railroad shops is now 68 cents per hour and in shipyards 72 cents. Other shops seldom pay as much, but the union scale is from 50 cents to 75 cents an hour in sections where large shops predominate.
The health of the worker is not apt to be impaired by his work, as the muscular strain is not severe, and the sanitary conditions of shops are not generally unfavorable.
The importance of the bench worker in the metal-working industry is decreasing with the increased use of automatic machines, jigs, and fixtures which do away with laying out, and with improvements in molding and casting. All repair work in railroad, automobile, and other shops, however, require much handwork at the bench.
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.