There were no
cnc machined parts lying around my first machine shop.To be sure, there were parts strewn about the place but not one was the product of a CNC machine. Of course, it wasn't just that my first machine shop was at the junior high school I attended but the chief reason was that in those days CNC machines were little more than a fantasy on paper.
Even my dad who was an extremely skilled machinist in a thoroughly equipped machine shop didn't have the use of either the convenience or the automation of a single CNC machine. His boss most assuredly would have had something like it had it been available. The big problem was that the technology in those days just wasn't what it is today and computers, although around, were nowhere near the sophisticated models that are so common in industry today. To be sure he had lathes, saws, routers, drill presses and all the other machines you'd figure to see in a machine shop and he was the one who worked each and every one of them.
Reflecting back to my first machine shop adventure, I recall a special fondness for both the wood and metal lathes. There was something thrilling about both pieces of equipment. I could have spent my entire school day at either one, shaping and turning raw materials into finished products. I probably developed that particular fondness from my father who also had completely outfitted our basement into a workshop where he took on part time work making machine parts for clients. I spent many evenings at his side watching him work his way with his machines. Take a look on
Wikipedia for more information.
I guess that in those days I had a child's view of those machines; one that was a bit romantic instead of the business sense that my father viewed them as. My father was an excellent machinist but every so often he made mistakes and had to redo the work that was marred by human error. It's unfortunate that CNC machined parts were not available at the time. The business that he loved so much could have granted him so much more in terms of additional business and at the same time given him time to do the other things that he enjoyed doing.
CNC machines are familiar in machine shops these days and have greatly improved how machine parts are made. Computers have made it possible to turn out critical parts to very precise specifications for Aerospace and Defense projects that have extremely strict requirements. But CNC machined parts are not reserved just for such critical clients. They're wanted by just about anyone who has need of a customized part in a hurry and which is usually not in such high demand to be mass produced. CNC machines can create thousands and thousands of custom-made parts quickly, efficiently and precisely and have consequently greatly revolutionized how machine shops do business all over the world.