[WhiteTiger]

Books and hands on. Had a bit of an early advantage though as I was being paid by John Bean May & Barret to install and maintain automotive alignment, brake and engine machinery when I was still in school. (long story, not worth the telling)

First actual machine tool exposure was right after high school, running lathes and mills finishing and tuning cast rolls for the printing industry. Just kinda growed from there


Tiger

[Geof]

Traditional apprentice program which was actually a contract between the company that I was indentured to and my father. The apprenticeship term was 10,000 hours and for the first three years included one day every two weeks attendance at technical school and two nights a week night school. Because I lived in the country I did correspondence schooling instead of night school. I started a few months after my 16th birthday and because I completed all my exams with acceptable marks I had the term reduced to 8,000 hours. My papers for Completion of Apprenticeship and my New Zealand Trade Certificate as a Fitter, Turner and Toolmaker were dated on my 21st birthday.

I don't think these kind of apprenticeships are at all common now, anywhere.

The interesting thing is that two years later I moved to Canada and in the first job I got there I finished up supervising apprentices 5 years older than me.