As a machinist, you use grinders, milling machines, lathes, and drills to create custom-designed precision parts for equipment and machinery. You plan how to cut the rough part from a piece of aluminum, steel, or other materials based on blueprints or drawings. Then you operate a lathe and other tools to create and refine the part. Additionally, you devise ways to repair broken parts by referring to the blueprints that were used to create them and replicating damaged sections. In this job, your duties and responsibilities require meticulous attention to detail, as well as creativity and problem-solving.