Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders

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Code: 51-7042.00

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

JobTitles : Machine Operator, Sander Operator, Computer Numerical Control Operator (CNC Operator), Machinist, Knot Saw Operator, Lathe Operator, Molder Operator, Boring Machine Operator, Cabinet Maker, Custom Shop Worker

Tasks:
  • Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.
  • Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.
  • Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.
  • Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.
  • Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.
  • Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.
  • Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.
  • 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.
  • Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.
  • 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.