Based on the Red Seal Machinist exam blueprint: safety, benchwork, saws, drill presses, lathes, milling, grinding and CNC
Practice on the go and jump straight back to where you left off.
About the certification
In Ontario, General Machinist is trade code 429A, a non-compulsory trade administered by Skilled Trades Ontario. The apprenticeship is 8,000 hours: 7,280 on the job and 720 in school. Across Canada it is the Red Seal trade Machinist, so passing the Certificate of Qualification exam also earns the interprovincial Red Seal endorsement.
The Red Seal exam has 135 multiple-choice questions in 8 blocks: common occupational skills (13 questions), benchwork (11), power saws (8), drill presses (9), conventional lathes (28), conventional milling machines (28), precision grinding machines (11) and computer numerical control (CNC) machines (27). Lathes and milling machines together make up about 41% of the exam. The pass mark is 70%.
ExamHub's free 429A practice quiz has 200 original questions weighted to the real exam blocks, with an explanation and a source for every answer. Facts come from the Red Seal standard, free public-domain machine-shop manuals, Ontario's Industrial Establishments regulation (Reg. 851) and the LinuxCNC G-code reference.
What's covered
Categories follow the 8 Red Seal exam blocks, weighted like the real exam.
Try a few
Five sample questions from the question bank, with the answer and explanation.
Why: Reg. 851 s. 30 limits the work-rest clearance to 3 mm, requires it to sit above the centre line of the wheel, and forbids adjusting it while the wheel is moving. A larger gap lets work wedge between rest and wheel.
Why: Lost motion in the screw makes readings taken while reversing inaccurate. Take up the backlash by turning past, then approach the setting in the forward direction.
Why: IPM = 0.003 x 4 x 800 = 9.6 in./min. Leaving out the number of teeth gives 2.4, which would starve the cutter of load.
Why: Circumference = π × 8 = 25.13 in, and 25.13 × 2,400 / 12 is about 5,027 fpm. Leaving out π gives 1,600; using the radius gives 2,513.
Why: G91 selects incremental distance mode, so axis numbers are increments from the current position: 1.0 + 2.5 = 3.5. Under G90 the same block would go to the absolute position X2.5. Codes per standard RS274/NGC as documented by LinuxCNC; controls such as Fanuc vary slightly.
FAQ
The Red Seal Machinist exam has 135 multiple-choice questions. ExamHub's bank has 200 questions, and Test Mode draws a 135-question timed simulation.
The pass mark is 70%. The Red Seal exam page does not state a time limit, and ExamHub's Test Mode allows up to 4 hours.
8 blocks: common occupational skills (13 questions), benchwork (11), power saws (8), drill presses (9), conventional lathes (28), conventional milling machines (28), precision grinding machines (11) and CNC machines (27). Lathe and milling set-up and operation carry the most questions.
No. General Machinist (429A) is a non-compulsory trade in Ontario. Skilled Trades Ontario issues the Certificate of Qualification when the exam is passed, and the trade is part of the Red Seal program.
No. These are original practice questions written from the Red Seal standard and free public sources. They are not copies of exam questions.