Somehow, everyone is connected in some way to a machine shop. Much like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you likely know someone who knows someone who owns or works at a machine shop. They have been a huge part of what makes the world go round for centuries. From the early Ancient Egyptians who are believed to have created the lathe, to the early blacksmiths who created and formed the armor for the knights who rode into battle, to the men and women of today who create and repair machinery of all kinds.
When it comes to the first machine tools, historians go as far back as 1200 BCE to find the first ones in use. They were handcrafted and were repaired and kept up by those who created them. Machine shop repair costs were often simply the time it took for the craftsmen to repair their own tools. Lathe repair obviously took a great deal longer that it does now with the machinery that we have to repair our machinery.
The Industrial Revolution saw many dramatic changes in the number of different tools that were invented. With the need for more portable tools to climb the heights of the skyscraping towers being built and to be easily maneuvered around the assembly line work being done in the car factories, new machining techniques made smaller tools more functional and larger machines more affordable.
Machine tools have been engineered over time to perform certain tasks. If you have ever worked with tools on any kind of regular basis, then you already know how important it is to use a specific tool only for that tool’s specific purpose. Machine tools are extremely hard and very durable. If they are not made to be so, they will not be able to function properly. This means that regular maintenance and repairs are a must for quality purposes when it comes to keeping a shop fully functional.
In today’s world of machine shop services, machinists have the special skills that have always been required to repair tools and give them the maintenance they need to function properly in any given situation. Machine shop repair costs will vary, depending on what needs to be done to a certain tool or machine. If regular maintenance is all that needs to be done, you can expect a lower cost than if something needs to be welded or refitted.
Since the early days of the Ancient Egyptians and their lathes, machines and tools have been at the heart of the building of societies. Machinists have been there all along the way, applying their trade to repair and provide the upkeep of tools for personal use and construction companies alike. Machine shop repair costs have fluctuated as supply and demand have dictated, but a good machinist will always give you a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.