Machine operators work about nine hours a day. They receive in wages from 25 cents to 50 cents an hour. The man who cuts up good lumber with a swing saw may receive more than the average because he must know how to avoid wasting expensive material. His good judgment is his capital.
The machine woodworker often moves from one factory to another, but he is usually in demand and may count on steady employment without much regard to the season.
Re-education for Machine Operating
No apprenticeship is usually considered necessary for machine operators. A try-out period of a few weeks will decide whether a man is likely to make good or not. A short period of training in a school where a variety of different machines is provided will help a man to get a real insight into his prospective occupation.
The training required is usually obtained in the factory, but disabled men can shorten the period of training necessary in their case considerably by taking a short course in a well-equipped school under an instructor who is a practical woodworker. The course taken will be planned to prepare the pupil for a definite occupation. An agreement may be made with a prospective employer before the course is undertaken, so as to provide opportunity for overcoming any handicap in a definite way.
The same results may be secured by short tryout courses in the factory itself and in most cases this will appeal both to the man himself and to the employer. But in order to guarantee an adequate course of training the factory must be required to make definite preparations to train disabled men under an agreement as to the instructor, the length of the course, and the subject matter of the instruction.
PLAN No. 936. CABINETMAKERS
The Occupation
The work of the cabinetmaker, and of such other allied occupations as chair makers, assemblers, and box makers, is to use hand tools, and sometimes certain machines, in putting together furniture, interior woodwork, or manufactured articles of wood. In some factories he actually builds furniture or a completed product. In others he performs a few operations and passes the work on.
Men who assemble furniture must apply glue to the joints, nail and screw parts together where necessary, and see that the finished product is clean, square, and solidly built. They use a variety of hand tools and sometimes take material to machines for certain operations. They are expected to leave surfaces well scraped and sanded. In all high class work they must show considerable skill in construction and knowledge of design. What tools are used will depend on the line of work. They are usually the property of the workman and are kept in order by him. They include the usual outfit of hammers, squares, saws, rules, shaves, chisels, bits, levels, planes, rasps, etc.