Curt Beck, instructor for Introduction to CNC Lathe with some parts created on the lathe in the background.
The need for metal machining workers in our region continues to grow. Penn State DuBois and Workforce Solutions, in partnership with several of the region’s leading metal manufacturing companies, developed an entry-level training to help get more operators into the local industry.
This course was created in early 2019 for job seekers or existing employees who would like to learn basic computer numerical control (CNC) lathe operating and programming skills.
The 72-hour training was developed as part of a grant program through Workforce Solutions and was successfully completed by 11 trainees in June 2019. The upcoming class will have room for 12 new participants.
This rewarding and much-needed career has tremendous growth potential for someone with basic skills and knowledge of the CNC machinery that is so prevalent in our powder metal secondary shops and other metal fabrication facilities.
The program runs from early March until mid-May, 2020, and consists of both classroom training and hands-on training. Class sizes are limited to allow more interaction with the instructors and there are a limited number of classes each year.
A unique combination of high-level classroom and hands-on training, the classes all take place on the Penn State DuBois campus. Utilizing some of the region’s best manufacturing instructors and veteran CNC operators, students gain both the knowledge and the skills to become CNC Lathe operators. Hands-on classes are taught using a HAAS Lathe in the campus’s engineering production laboratory.
Lecture courses include industrial math, blueprint reading, metrology, geometry, and geometric dimensioning and tolerance. Hands-on classes include introduction to CNC lathe (eight hours), CNC lathe operations (six hours), basic G and M codes and touching offsets (five-and-a-half hours), CNC programming and set-up (16 hours), and CNC lathe troubleshooting (three hours).
Job seekers or companies who would like to discuss enrolling trainees into an upcoming CNC Lathe Training should contact Penn State DuBois Continuing and Community Education at 814-375-4836. General information, including name, contact information and current occupation can also be submitted via email at [email protected]
