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Specialties that raise your rate

• Tool and die making

  Building the dies, molds and fixtures that mass production runs on. The top of the trade and paid like it.

• Five-axis machining

  Complex aerospace and medical parts. Fewer people can do it, so shops pay for those who can.

• Swiss screw machining

  Tiny high-volume precision parts, common in medical devices. A specialty of its own.

• Quality inspection

  Coordinate measuring machines and GD&T (geometric dimensioning and tolerancing). A route off the floor without leaving the trade.