Etchers and Engravers
Engrave or etch metal, wood, rubber, or other materials. Includes such workers as etcher-circuit processors, pantograph engravers, and silk screen etchers.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Etchers and Engravers. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $32,210 | $15.49 |
| 25th | $37,400 | $17.98 |
| 50th · Median | $43,310 | $20.82 |
| 75th | $53,050 | $25.51 |
| 90th | $63,360 | $30.46 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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Compare an entered wage with the published thresholds for United States. Your entry stays on this page.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (48)
Typical tasks
- Inspect etched work for depth of etching, uniformity, and defects, using calibrated microscopes, gauges, fingers, or magnifying lenses.
- Examine sketches, diagrams, samples, blueprints, or photographs to decide how designs are to be etched, cut, or engraved onto workpieces.
- Clean and polish engraved areas.
- Prepare workpieces for etching or engraving by cutting, sanding, cleaning, polishing, or treating them with wax, acid resist, lime, etching powder, or light-sensitive enamel.
- Engrave and print patterns, designs, etchings, trademarks, or lettering onto flat or curved surfaces of a wide variety of metal, glass, plastic, or paper items, using hand tools or hand-held power tools.
- Prepare etching chemicals according to formulas, diluting acid with water to obtain solutions of specified concentration.
Expand more tasks (20)
- Use computer software to design patterns for engraving.
- Expose workpieces to acid to develop etch patterns such as designs, lettering, or figures.
- Adjust depths and sizes of cuts by adjusting heights of worktables, or by adjusting machine-arm gauges.
- Measure and compute dimensions of lettering, designs, or patterns to be engraved.
- Neutralize workpieces to remove acid, wax, or enamel, using water, solvents, brushes, or specialized machines.
- Examine engraving for quality of cut, burrs, rough spots, and irregular or incomplete engraving.
- Transfer image to workpiece, using contact printer, pantograph stylus, silkscreen printing device, or stamp pad.
- Set reduction scales to attain specified sizes of reproduction on workpieces, and set pantograph controls for required heights, depths, and widths of cuts.
- Print proofs or examine designs to verify accuracy of engraving, and rework engraving as required.
- Position and clamp workpieces, plates, or rollers in holding fixtures.
- Remove wax or tape from etched glassware by using a stylus or knife, or by immersing ware in hot water.
- Guide stylus over template, causing cutting tool to duplicate design or letters on workpiece.
- Start machines and lower cutting tools to beginning points on patterns.
- Determine machine settings, and move bars or levers to reproduce designs on rollers or plates.
- Remove completed workpieces and place them in trays.
- Insert cutting tools or bits into machines and secure them with wrenches.
- Sandblast exposed areas of glass to cut designs in surfaces, using spray guns.
- Sketch, trace, or scribe layout lines and designs on workpieces, plates, dies, or rollers, using compasses, scribers, gravers, or pencils.
- Fill etched characters with opaque paste to improve readability.
- Brush or wipe acid over engraving to darken or highlight inscriptions.
Skills used in this work
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Expand more skills (29)
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
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