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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 computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment.
Also Known As:
Boring Machine Operator
Cabinet Maker
Knot Saw Operator
Lathe Operator
Machine Operator
Molder Operator
Router Operator
Sander
Sander Operator
Wages
Annual wages for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
59,300
-2% Change From 2023
Explore Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.
- Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.
- 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.
- Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.
- 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.
- Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.
- Clean or maintain products, machines, or work areas.
- Inspect pulleys, drive belts, guards, or fences on machines to ensure that machines will operate safely.
- Start machines and move levers to engage hydraulic lifts that press woodstocks into desired forms and disengage lifts after appropriate drying times.
- 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.
- Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.
- 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.
- Grease or oil woodworking machines.
- Trim wood parts according to specifications, using planes, chisels, or wood files or sanders.
- Operate gluing machines to glue pieces of wood together, or to press and affix wood veneer to wood surfaces.
- Remove and replace worn parts, bits, belts, sandpaper, or shaping tools.
- Control hoists to remove parts or products from work stations.
- 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.
- Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.
- Set up, program, or control computer-aided design (CAD) or computer numerical control (CNC) machines.
- Clean or maintain products, machines, or work areas.
- Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.
- Unclamp workpieces and remove them from machines.
- Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.
- Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.
- Examine raw woodstock for defects and to ensure conformity to size and other specification standards.
- 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.
- Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.
- Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.
- Clean or maintain products, machines, or work areas.
- Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")