Glossary
Metal Model Maker Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential metal model maker terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key metal model maker vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in metal model maker training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Additive manufacturing
- 3D printing.
- Assembly
- Combined parts.
- CAD
- Computer-aided design.
- First article
- First part checked before a run.
- Fit
- How parts go together.
- Fixture
- Holds parts.
- GD&T
- Geometric tolerancing.
- Iteration
- Design revision.
- Lockout/tagout
- Energy isolation before servicing.
- PPE
- Personal protective equipment.
- Prototype
- First model.
- Rapid prototyping
- Fast model building.
- Scrap
- Parts that fail inspection.
- SOP
- Standard operating procedure.
- Tolerance
- Allowed variation.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Metal Model Maker practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Metal Model Maker training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.