This book is the first of its kind to investigate the ongoing significance of industrial craft in deindustrialising places such as Australia. Providing an alternative to the nostalgic trope of the redundant factory 'craftsman', this book introduces the intriguing and little-known trade of engineering patternmaking, where objects are brought to life through the handmade 'originals' required for mass production.Drawing on oral histories collected by the author, this book highlights the experiences of industrial craftspeople in Australian manufacturing, as they navigate precarious employment, retraining, gendered career pathways, creative expression and technological change. The book argues that digital fabrication technologies may modify or transform industrial craft, but should not obliterate it. Industrial craft is about more than the rudimentary production of everyday objects: it is about human creativity, material knowledge and meaningful work, and it will be key to human survival in the troubled times ahead.

This book is the first of its kind to investigate the ongoing significance of industrial craft in deindustrialising places such as Australia. Providing an alternative to the nostalgic trope of the redundant factory ‘craftsman’, this book introduces the intriguing and little-known trade of engineering patternmaking, where objects are brought to life through the handmade ‘originals’ required for mass production.

1. Introduction: Re-evaluating Industrial Craft Through the Lives of Engineering Patternmakers.- 2. Navigating Class and Populist Politics in Contemporary Oral History Practice.- 3. The Patternmaker's Toolbox: Making Things on the Side in Industrial Craft Apprenticeship.- 4. Industrial Craft as Design Knowledge: Hidden Intermediaries of Design and Production.- 5. ‘Just Finishing’: From Manual Patternmaking to CNC Machine Milling.- 6. Not Fitting the Pattern: Women in Industrial Craft.- 7. Patternmaker-Artists: Creative Pathways for Industrial Craftspeople in the Context of Australian Deindustrialisation.- 8. Conclusion: Industrial Craft and Alternative Futures for Australian Manufacturing.