old job titles

[scrapper]

I found on a birth certificate that the father was a DRILLER  now apart from the obvious that he must have drilled holes  but in what? or am I
mistaken . this was in 1918  and he lived in a large city.   I looked up old jobs but this is all I  could find .........Drillman: worked in the agriculture industry, operating a seed drill.

[veeblevort]

Maybe drilling for water, drilling for oil, or drilling cast iron which was a specialised job because cast iron is prone to shattering when drilled, apparently.

vv.

[stanmapstone]

In "A Dictionary of Occupational Terms" there are 81 different categories of Driller 
From Driller Air (Pneumatic) to Driller (Wood Working Machinery)
Stan

[youngtug]

cast iron is prone to shattering when drilled, apparently.

vv.

Funny, I never noticed that when I was working in engineering

[Meezer]

My dad worked in engineering from the 1950's to 1990's and for part of that time was a driller - drilling holes in castings that were parts of machinery for the canning industry. He also worked as a miller in engineering - I suppose just the term miller could cause confusion on a certificate too unless it was elaborated on!

[scrapper]

thanks ,so it could be a number of different jobs

[youngtug]

Can you find him on a census, it may say what his place of work was.