Dave Buchanan - The Machinist

Dave Buchanan's great work in the pit is an important component to Tim's performance ever race. Click the image for bigger.

Tim Norris may be in the driver’s seat, but the apprenticesearch.com racecar wouldn’t make it to the finish line without a little help from his friends. After every race, the car needs to be checked, rechecked and checked again to ensure it’s running at peak performance. Dave Buchanan, a long-time friend of Norris’, is one of the most important members of the team, and it’s his experience in the skilled trades that make him so valuable.

Buchanan’s responsibilities in the pit include checking the tires for heat expansion, ensuring there’s enough fuel in the car, making adjustments to the engine and underbody and keeping track of everything to make sure Norris is at his fastest out on the circle.

It’s his work away from the racetrack that has really given Buchanan the tools to help Norris out. Buchanan is a machinist for Goodrich Corporation, the leading supplier of systems and services to the aerospace and defense industry. Buchanan works specifically with the refurbishing of aircraft landing gear, an often difficult and complicated task

Buchanan has been working as a machinist for 7 years now. “I always wanted to work in the skilled trades,” he says, “It was something that really appealed to me.”

Buchanan makes an adjustment to the wheel on the apprenticesearch.com racecar. Click for bigger.

Buchanan credits his experiences with high school shop classes as something that really helped him move towards the skilled trades. “We had a variety of different kinds of shop, and I loved them. It’s a different kind of learning.”

Taking up an apprenticeship after high school was a natural move. The Machinist apprenticeship lasts approximately 4 years or 8000 hours, and includes three-levels of in-class training, each lasting 8 weeks.

“I don’t know where I’d be without apprenticeship,” says Buchanan. The opportunity has led him into a successful career, one he finds immensely satisfying.

“There are three things to look at when you’re considering a career. The first is whether you enjoy it. The second is whether there’s a job out there for you. And the third is whether there’s enough money in it.”

“But,” he adds, “The first one is the most important. You have to enjoy it.”

At Goodrich, Buchanan supervises operation of the lathe, work that requires a lot of skill.

“Being a Machinist is really a whole bunch of jobs,” he says. “You’re running the machine, you’re an inspector, you’re reading blueprints, you need to be able to work with other people, you need good communication skills and problem solving abilities, you need to be able to work with numbers and you have to know the specifications of whatever it is you’re doing.”

Buchanan and Driver Tim Norris work quickly to get things ready for the race. Click for bigger.

Buchanan is a huge supporter of young people entering into the skilled trades. “The opportunities are endless right now,” he says, “There’s so much out there. ” He cites the huge possibility for promotion, noting that all the managers in his shop are former machinists.

That goes for both young men, and young women. “There’s no reason a woman can’t be a Machinist,” he says, “It’s always good to see more women in the trades.”

“There’s huge opportunity in every trade right now,” he says, “It’s something a lot of young people should be looking at.”

For more information on becoming a Machinist, see this page in our About Trades section. 

-Matt Elliott

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