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Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Set up, operate, or tend milling or planing machines to mill, plane, shape, groove, or profile metal or plastic work pieces.

Related: Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, & Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic Lathe & Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic Tool Grinders, Filers, & Sharpeners Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders

Industries: Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Replace worn tools, using hand tools, and sharpen dull tools, using bench grinders.
Select and install cutting tools and other accessories according to specifications, using hand tools or power tools.
Make templates or cutting tools.
Turn valves or pull levers to start and regulate the flow of coolant or lubricant to work areas.
Select cutting speeds, feed rates, and depths of cuts, applying knowledge of metal properties and shop mathematics.
Record production output.
Compute dimensions, tolerances, and angles of workpieces or machines according to specifications and knowledge of metal properties and shop mathematics.
Select and install cutting tools and other accessories according to specifications, using hand tools or power tools.
Observe milling or planing machine operation, and adjust controls to ensure conformance with specified tolerances.
Replace worn tools, using hand tools, and sharpen dull tools, using bench grinders.
Replace worn tools, using hand tools, and sharpen dull tools, using bench grinders.
Select cutting speeds, feed rates, and depths of cuts, applying knowledge of metal properties and shop mathematics.
Verify alignment of workpieces on machines, using measuring instruments such as rules, gauges, or calipers.
Study blueprints, layouts, sketches, or work orders to assess workpiece specifications and to determine tooling instructions, tools and materials needed, and sequences of operations.
Remove workpieces from machines, and check to ensure that they conform to specifications, using measuring instruments such as microscopes, gauges, calipers, and micrometers.
Position and secure workpieces on machines, using holding devices, measuring instruments, hand tools, and hoists.
Mount attachments and tools, such as pantographs, engravers, or routers, to perform other operations, such as drilling or boring.
Move cutters or material manually or by turning handwheels, or engage automatic feeding mechanisms to mill workpieces to specifications.
Move controls to set cutting specifications, to position cutting tools and workpieces in relation to each other, and to start machines.
Study blueprints, layouts, sketches, or work orders to assess workpiece specifications and to determine tooling instructions, tools and materials needed, and sequences of operations.

Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

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.
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.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
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.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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.
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.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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.
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.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
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.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
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.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
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.
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.
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.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
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.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
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.
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.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

83240/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

40.02/hr

Currently Employed

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Cautiousness

Adjustable wrenches
Allen wrench
Bench grinder
Bench scales
Calipers
Chucks
Collets
Comparators
Compasses
Coordinate measuring machines CMM
Deburring tool
Desktop computers
Dial indicator or dial gauge
Drill press or radial drill
End mills
Forklifts
Grease guns
Grinders
Hand lapper
Height gauges
Hoists
Hole gauge
Horizontal boring machine
Metal polishing machine
Micrometers
Milling vise
Pin gauge
Planer style milling machine
Radius gauge
Rulers
Safety glasses
Sawing and cut-off machine
Screwdrivers
Setting jig
Spanner wrenches
Tinners snips
Tool holders
Tool template sets
Track cranes
Turret lathe
Turret milling machine
Unit cooler
Universal milling machine
Vertical machining center
Wire brushes

Analytical or scientific software
Computer aided design CAD and computer aided manufacturing CAM system
Computer aided design CAD software
Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
Enterprise application integration software
Industrial control software
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Statewide occupation search

Statewide occupation search

Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES