Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Overview

Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic has a national median salary of $50,620 per year, with -11.3% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Set up, operate, or tend lathe and turning machines to turn, bore, thread, form, or face metal or plastic materials, such as wire, rod, or bar stock.

Work Values

• Support
• Achievement
• Independence

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Adjust machine controls and change tool settings to keep dimensions within specified tolerances.
• Move controls to set cutting speeds and depths and feed rates, and to position tools in relation to workpieces.
• Study blueprints, layouts or charts, and job orders for information on specifications and tooling instructions, and to determine material requirements and operational sequences.
• Inspect sample workpieces to verify conformance with specifications, using instruments such as gauges, micrometers, and dial indicators.
• Replace worn tools, and sharpen dull cutting tools and dies, using bench grinders or cutter-grinding machines.

Work Activities

• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Working with Computers
• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment
• Training and Teaching Others
• Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment
• Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates

Detailed Work Activities

• Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
• Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
• Providing documentation, detailed instructions, drawings, or specifications to tell others about how devices, parts, equipment, or structures are to be fabricated, constructed, assembled, modified, maintained, or used.
• Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a high school diploma or equivalent.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic:

Video Resources