Millwright
Encyclopedia
A millwright is a craftsman
or tradesman
engaged with the construction and maintenance of machine
ry.
Early millwrights were specialist carpenters
who erected machines used in agriculture
, food processing
and processing lumber
and paper
. In the early part of the Industrial Revolution
, their skills were pressed into service building the earliest powered textile mills.
Modern millwrights work with steel
and other materials in addition to wood
and must often combine the skills of several skilled trades in order to successfully fabricate industrial machinery or to assemble machines from pre-fabricated parts. The modern millwright must also be able to read blueprints and other schematics to aid him in the construction of complex systems. Millwrights are frequently unionized
, although experienced millwrights often set themselves up as independent contractor
s.
who had working knowledge of driveshaft
s, bearings, gearing and mechanical belts
. The "mill" in millwright refers to the genesis of the trade in building flour mills, sawmill
s, paper mills and fulling mills
powered by water
or wind
.
A number of prominent early-modern civil engineer
s originally trained as millwrights, including James Brindley
, John Rennie
and William Fairbairn
.
s, pumping station
s and other utilities, print shop
s, and other industries employing fixed heavy machinery.
Millwrights must be able to read blueprints and schematic drawings to determine work procedures, to construct foundations for and to assemble, dismantle and overhaul machinery and equipment, using hand and power tools and to direct workers engaged in such endeavors. The use of lathes, milling machines and grinders may be required to make customized parts or repairs. In the course of work, millwrights are required to move, assemble and install machinery and equipment such as shafting, precision bearings, gear boxes, motors, mechanical clutches, conveyors, and tram rails, using hoists, pulleys, dollies, rollers, and trucks. In addition, a millwright may also perform all duties of general laborer
, pipefitter
, carpenter
, and electrician
. A millwright may also perform some of the duties of a welder
, such as arc welding
, mig welding, tig welding and oxyacetylene cutting.
Millwrights are also involved in routine tasks, such as lubrication of machinery, bearing replacement, seal replacement, cleaning of parts during an overhaul and preventitive maintenance.
Millwrights also must have a good understanding of fluid mechanics
(hydraulics
and pneumatics
), and all of the components involved in these processes, such as valve
s, cylinders, pump
s and compressors
.
Modern standards of practice for millwrights also require working within precise limits or standards of accuracy, at heights without fear; the use of logical step-by-step procedures in work; planning, solving problems and decision-making based on quantifiable information.
Millwrights are trained to work with a wide array of precision tools, such as vernier calipers, micrometers, dial indicators, levels, gauge blocks, and optical and laser alignment tooling.
Millwrights by nature of their profession have to be extremely well versed in many aspects of construction/demobilization. They may install a conveyor system at an airport one week and the following week work at a Industrial wastewater treatment
plant.
Millwrights in the power generation industry assemble, set, align
and balance turbines/rotors. Millwrights also perform critical lifts involving major components to be flown level at up to and within .005” (5 thousandths of an inch). Millwrights are generally chosen to work on tasks associated with flying and setting heavy machinery.
Millwrights are also in demand as teachers for vocational programs, both at the high school level and in post-secondary institutions. Many high schools feature fabrication courses that include metal work, where the experience of a qualified millwright is valuable. Often, these millwrights are paid a premium based on their years of field experience.
A high percentage of millwrights join unions
. Those with a high level of skill often start their own businesses as independent contractors.
programs where they receive a combination of classroom education along with a good deal of on-the-job training. Most programs last about four years. Apprentices are usually paid a percentage of the average millwright's wage, and this percentage increases with experience.
Training courses received by a Union Millwright:
Master craftsman
A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....
or tradesman
Tradesman
This article is about the skilled manual worker meaning of the term; for other uses see Tradesperson .A tradesman is a skilled manual worker in a particular trade or craft. Economically and socially, a tradesman's status is considered between a laborer and a professional, with a high degree of both...
engaged with the construction and maintenance of machine
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
ry.
Early millwrights were specialist carpenters
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
who erected machines used in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, food processing
Food processing
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...
and processing lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
and paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
. In the early part of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, their skills were pressed into service building the earliest powered textile mills.
Modern millwrights work with steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and other materials in addition to wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
and must often combine the skills of several skilled trades in order to successfully fabricate industrial machinery or to assemble machines from pre-fabricated parts. The modern millwright must also be able to read blueprints and other schematics to aid him in the construction of complex systems. Millwrights are frequently unionized
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, although experienced millwrights often set themselves up as independent contractor
Independent contractor
An independent contractor is a natural person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement. Unlike an employee, an independent contractor does not work regularly for an employer but works as and when...
s.
History
A millwright originally was a specialized carpenterCarpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
who had working knowledge of driveshaft
Driveshaft
A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a mechanical component for transmitting torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drive train that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement...
s, bearings, gearing and mechanical belts
Belt (mechanical)
A belt is a loop of flexible material used to link two or more rotating shafts mechanically. Belts may be used as a source of motion, to transmit power efficiently, or to track relative movement. Belts are looped over pulleys. In a two pulley system, the belt can either drive the pulleys in the...
. The "mill" in millwright refers to the genesis of the trade in building flour mills, sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s, paper mills and fulling mills
Fulling
Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
powered by water
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
or wind
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
.
A number of prominent early-modern civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
s originally trained as millwrights, including James Brindley
James Brindley
James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
, John Rennie
John Rennie (father)
John Rennie was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, and docks.-Early years:Rennie, a farmer's younger son, was born at Phantassie, near East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland, and showed a taste for mechanics at a very early age, and was allowed to spend much time in the...
and William Fairbairn
William Fairbairn
Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer and shipbuilder.-Early career:...
.
The modern millwright
A millwright today is someone who maintains or constructs industrial machinery for assembly lineAssembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods...
s, pumping station
Pumping station
Pumping stations are facilities including pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, such as the supply of water to canals, the drainage of low-lying land, and the removal of sewage to processing sites.A pumping station...
s and other utilities, print shop
Print shop
Print shop may refer to:* Printer , someone providing commercial printing services* The Print Shop, a desktop publishing software...
s, and other industries employing fixed heavy machinery.
General duties
Millwrights are usually responsible for the unassembled equipment when it arrives at the job site. Using hoisting and moving equipment, they position the pieces that need to be assembled. Their job requires a thorough knowledge of the load-bearing capabilities of the equipment they use as well as an understanding of blueprints and technical instructions.Millwrights must be able to read blueprints and schematic drawings to determine work procedures, to construct foundations for and to assemble, dismantle and overhaul machinery and equipment, using hand and power tools and to direct workers engaged in such endeavors. The use of lathes, milling machines and grinders may be required to make customized parts or repairs. In the course of work, millwrights are required to move, assemble and install machinery and equipment such as shafting, precision bearings, gear boxes, motors, mechanical clutches, conveyors, and tram rails, using hoists, pulleys, dollies, rollers, and trucks. In addition, a millwright may also perform all duties of general laborer
Laborer
A Laborer or labourer - see variation in english spelling - is one of the construction trades, traditionally considered unskilled manual labor, as opposed to skilled labor. In the division of labor, laborers have all blasting, hand tools, power tools, air tools, and small heavy equipment, and act...
, pipefitter
Pipefitter
A pipefitter is a tradesman who lays out, assembles, fabricates, maintains and repairs mechanical piping systems. Pipefitters usually go through a mix of apprentice and trade school training. Journeyman pipefitters/steamfitters deal with industrial process piping and heating/cooling systems...
, carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
, and electrician
Electrician
An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...
. A millwright may also perform some of the duties of a welder
Welder
A welder is a tradesman who specializes in welding materials together. The materials to be joined can be metals or varieties of plastic or polymer...
, such as arc welding
Arc welding
Arc welding is a type of welding that uses a welding power supply to create an electric arc between an electrode and the base material to melt the metals at the welding point. They can use either direct or alternating current, and consumable or non-consumable electrodes...
, mig welding, tig welding and oxyacetylene cutting.
Millwrights are also involved in routine tasks, such as lubrication of machinery, bearing replacement, seal replacement, cleaning of parts during an overhaul and preventitive maintenance.
Millwrights also must have a good understanding of fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest; fluid kinematics, the study of fluids in motion; and fluid dynamics, the study of the effect of forces on fluid motion...
(hydraulics
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
and pneumatics
Pneumatics
Pneumatics is a branch of technology, which deals with the study and application of use of pressurized gas to effect mechanical motion.Pneumatic systems are extensively used in industry, where factories are commonly plumbed with compressed air or compressed inert gases...
), and all of the components involved in these processes, such as valve
Valve
A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically pipe fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category...
s, cylinders, pump
Pump
A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...
s and compressors
Gas compressor
A gas compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transport the fluid through a pipe. As gases are compressible, the compressor also reduces the volume of a gas...
.
Modern standards of practice for millwrights also require working within precise limits or standards of accuracy, at heights without fear; the use of logical step-by-step procedures in work; planning, solving problems and decision-making based on quantifiable information.
Millwrights are trained to work with a wide array of precision tools, such as vernier calipers, micrometers, dial indicators, levels, gauge blocks, and optical and laser alignment tooling.
Areas of specialty
A typical job description for an industrial maintenance mechanic (millwright) often includes the primary purposes of installing, maintaining, upgrading and fabricating machinery and equipment according to layout plans, blueprints, and other drawings in industrial establishment.Millwrights by nature of their profession have to be extremely well versed in many aspects of construction/demobilization. They may install a conveyor system at an airport one week and the following week work at a Industrial wastewater treatment
Industrial wastewater treatment
Industrial wastewater treatment covers the mechanisms and processes used to treat waters that have been contaminated in some way by anthropogenic industrial or commercial activities prior to its release into the environment or its re-use....
plant.
Millwrights in the power generation industry assemble, set, align
Align
Align may refer to:* An album, Align released by Halifax .* The process of alignment * Align * Asset Point...
and balance turbines/rotors. Millwrights also perform critical lifts involving major components to be flown level at up to and within .005” (5 thousandths of an inch). Millwrights are generally chosen to work on tasks associated with flying and setting heavy machinery.
Millwrights are also in demand as teachers for vocational programs, both at the high school level and in post-secondary institutions. Many high schools feature fabrication courses that include metal work, where the experience of a qualified millwright is valuable. Often, these millwrights are paid a premium based on their years of field experience.
A high percentage of millwrights join unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
. Those with a high level of skill often start their own businesses as independent contractors.
Training
Most millwrights are educated through apprenticeshipApprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
programs where they receive a combination of classroom education along with a good deal of on-the-job training. Most programs last about four years. Apprentices are usually paid a percentage of the average millwright's wage, and this percentage increases with experience.
Training courses received by a Union Millwright:
- Shaft alignmentShaft alignmentShaft alignment is the process to align two or more shafts with each other to within a tolerated margin. It is an absolute requirement for machinery before the machinery is put in service....
- RiggingRiggingRigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...
- WeldingWeldingWelding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
- SteelSteelSteel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
Fabrication - Conveyor systems
- Steam TurbineSteam turbineA steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
installation - Gas TurbineGas turbineA gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
installation - BlueprintBlueprintA blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a technical drawing, documenting an architecture or an engineering design. More generally, the term "blueprint" has come to be used to refer to any detailed plan....
basic, intermediate and advanced - SafetySafetySafety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...