Editing Metalworking (section)

{{short description|Process of making items from metal}}
{{for|metal assembly|Metal fabrication}}
[[File:Dreher an einer Drehbank.jpg|thumb|A fireman turning a bar of metal on a [[lathe]] on [[USS Harry S. Truman|the USS ''Harry S. Truman'']] in 2004]]
'''Metalworking''' is the process of shaping and reshaping [[metal]]s in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale: from huge [[ship]]s, buildings, and [[bridge]]s, down to precise [[engine]] parts and delicate [[jewelry]].

The historical roots of metalworking predate recorded history; its use spans cultures, civilizations and millennia. It has evolved from shaping soft, [[native metal]]s like [[gold]] with simple hand tools, through the [[smelting]] of ores and hot [[forging]] of harder metals like [[iron]], up to and including highly technical modern processes such as [[machining]] and [[welding]]. It has been used as an industry, a driver of trade, individual hobbies, and in the creation of art;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://idiotdiary.com/this-steampunk-metal-scupltures-by-igor-verniy-will-leave-your-jaws-wide-open/|title=Steampunk Metal Sculptures|access-date=2012-08-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707190819/http://idiotdiary.com/this-steampunk-metal-scupltures-by-igor-verniy-will-leave-your-jaws-wide-open/|archive-date=2015-07-07}}</ref> it can be regarded as both a science and a craft.

Modern metalworking processes, though diverse and specialized, can be categorized into one of three broad areas known as forming, cutting, or joining processes. Modern metalworking workshops, typically known as [[machine shop]]s, hold a wide variety of specialized or general-use [[machine tool]]s capable of creating highly precise, useful products. Many simpler metalworking techniques, such as [[blacksmithing]], are no longer economically competitive on a large scale in developed countries; some of them are still in use in less developed countries, for artisanal or hobby work, or for historical reenactment.