Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

Set up, operate, or tend woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, and wood nailing machines. May operate CNC equipment.

Median Annual Wage: $27,450

Education: High school diploma or equivalent (73%); Less than high school diploma (21%); Post-secondary certificate (5%)

Projected Growth: Average (8% to 14%)

Related Job Titles: Machine Operator; Cabinet Maker; Router Operator; Computer Numerical Control Operator (CNC Operator); Sander; Lathe Operator; Knot Saw Operator; Sander Operator; Molder Operator; Boring Machine Operator

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing.

More Production Careers

  • Examine finished workpieces for smoothness, shape, angle, depth-of-cut, or conformity to specifications and verify dimensions, visually and using hands, rules, calipers, templates, or gauges.
  • Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.
  • Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.
  • Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.
  • Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.
  • Examine raw woodstock for defects and to ensure conformity to size and other specification standards.
  • Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.
  • Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.
  • Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.
  • Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.
  • Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.
  • Push or hold workpieces against, under, or through cutting, boring, or shaping mechanisms.
  • Secure woodstock against a guide or in a holding device, place woodstock on a conveyor, or dump woodstock in a hopper to feed woodstock into machines.
  • Remove and replace worn parts, bits, belts, sandpaper, or shaping tools.
  • Inspect and mark completed workpieces and stack them on pallets, in boxes, or on conveyors so that they can be moved to the next workstation.
  • Inspect pulleys, drive belts, guards, or fences on machines to ensure that machines will operate safely.
  • Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.
  • Clean or maintain products, machines, or work areas.
  • Trim wood parts according to specifications, using planes, chisels, or wood files or sanders.
  • Grease or oil woodworking machines.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing.

  • Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
  • Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
  • Quality Control Analysis - Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Equipment Maintenance - Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Troubleshooting - Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
  • Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing.

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