I was a Millwright for nearly 4 years (see
http://www.carpenters.org/Home.aspx), then regular maintenance for a few more. Always got to play with the fun stuff like lathes and milling machines...probably can't call myself a real machinist like the union trained guys (see
http://www.goiam.org/), but I can daddle in it. Never used any CAD/CAM machines...