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.
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 Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing. 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 | $32,110 | $15.44 |
| 25th | $37,100 | $17.84 |
| 50th · Median | $43,380 | $20.86 |
| 75th | $48,720 | $23.42 |
| 90th | $56,830 | $27.32 |
“≥” 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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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
- Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.
- 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.
- Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.
- Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.
- Examine raw woodstock for defects and to ensure conformity to size and other specification standards.
- Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.
Expand more tasks (19)
- Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.
- Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.
- 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.
- Push or hold workpieces against, under, or through cutting, boring, or shaping mechanisms.
- Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.
- Remove and replace worn parts, bits, belts, sandpaper, or shaping tools.
- 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.
- 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.
- Clean or maintain products, machines, or work areas.
- Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.
- Trim wood parts according to specifications, using planes, chisels, or wood files or sanders.
- Grease or oil woodworking machines.
- Unclamp workpieces and remove them from machines.
- Start machines and move levers to engage hydraulic lifts that press woodstocks into desired forms and disengage lifts after appropriate drying times.
- Operate gluing machines to glue pieces of wood together, or to press and affix wood veneer to wood surfaces.
- Set up, program, or control computer-aided design (CAD) or computer numerical control (CNC) machines.
- Control hoists to remove parts or products from work stations.
Skills used in this work
- Operations 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.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Expand more skills (29)
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- 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.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- 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.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
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