ITI/NCVT Tool & Die Maker (AITT Theory) study guide
ITI/NCVT Tool & Die Maker (AITT Theory) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The ITI/NCVT Tool & Die Maker (AITT Theory) is the theory paper of the All India Trade Test sat by trainees who have completed the Tool & Die Maker trade under the Craftsman Training Scheme. It is a trade-theory assessment, not a design portfolio review: it tests whether you can reason about materials, machines, tooling geometry and press-tool practice the way a shop-floor toolmaker must. The ITI/NCVT Tool & Die Maker (AITT Theory) study guide has 9 sections and about 2,702 words.
01Safety, environment and housekeeping
Safety, environment and housekeeping tests whether a tool-room candidate can work without creating risk to people, machines or the workshop. Expect questions on PPE, guarding, isolation, fire response, waste segregation and everyday order.
293 words, about 1 min02Engineering materials and heat treatment
Engineering materials and heat treatment tests knowledge of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, tool steels, the iron-carbon diagram and the purpose of annealing, normalising, hardening, tempering and surface treatment. Plain carbon steels are classified by carbon content: low-carbon is ductile and weldable; medium-carbon responds to hardening; high-carbon, about 0.6 to 1.0% C, suits cutting tools, springs and dies.
296 words, about 1 min03Bench fitting, hand tools and measurement
Bench fitting, hand tools and measurement covers marking out, sawing, filing, scraping, drilling and tapping by hand, plus the correct use of calipers, micrometers, dial gauges, surface plates and angle standards. Mark from a datum, not from a damaged edge.
301 words, about 2 min04Machine tools: lathe, milling, drilling and grinding
Machine tools covers the lathe, milling machine, drilling machine and grinding machine: their main parts, operations, cutting parameters and safe setups. Lathe: work is rotated and the tool fed.
301 words, about 2 min05Toolmaking: jigs, fixtures, dies and moulds
Toolmaking: jigs, fixtures, dies and moulds tests how work is located, clamped and guided, and how dies and moulds are constructed for repeatable production. A jig locates and clamps the workpiece and also guides the cutting tool, usually a drill.
304 words, about 2 min06Press tools and die making
Press tools and die making covers blanking, piercing, bending, drawing, compound and progressive dies, and the forces and clearances that make a press shop safe and productive. Blanking cuts the workpiece to shape; piercing cuts a hole, and the slug is scrap.
314 words, about 2 min07CAD/CAM and CNC fundamentals
CAD/CAM and CNC fundamentals tests the path from a drawing or model to a controlled machine tool: coordinate systems, G and M codes, tool offsets, interpolation and safe program structure. CAD creates geometry and assemblies; CAM converts geometry into toolpaths, then a postprocessor writes machine-specific code.
291 words, about 1 min08Engineering drawing and reading
Engineering drawing and reading tests the ability to interpret views, lines, dimensions, tolerances, sections and symbols and to convert them into a correct workpiece. Orthographic views show an object from front, top and side.
278 words, about 1 min09Workshop calculation and science
Workshop calculation and science tests numerical fluency needed in the tool room: units, speeds and feeds, tapers, gears, trigonometry, areas, volumes, force and simple material calculations. Keep units consistent.
324 words, about 2 min