Bench Fitting Skills

This course provides candidates with the opportunity to acquire essential workshop bench skills. The candidates fabricate a practical project, using hand tools and pillar drills. The project requires the reading of drawings, marking out, sawing, filing, drilling and tapping and these skills are taught as the candidates progress through the project.

The proper and safe use of tools coupled with the necessity to fabricate to the tolerances specified in the drawings ensures that the candidates improve their practical bench skills and also learn how to apply themselves to the exercise most effectively.

The course is designed to complement course 700: Mechanical maintenance skills and is suitable for craft personnel already involved in maintenance activities.

The course format is very much 'hands on' - the emphasis being on development of sound practical skills within the context of safe working practices.

On completion of the course, participants will be able to

• apply safe workshop practices when performing basic fitting skills
• read and interpret engineering drawings
• correctly use measuring and marking out equipment
• practice the correct use of hand tools
• manufacture items within tolerance using hand tools
• select the correct drilling speeds for various materials
• drill, tap and ream holes
• produce drive keys
• safely operate a pillar drill
• understand the geometry of correctly sharpened drill bits
• apply correct methods of drill sharpening.