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Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Cut, shape, and assemble wooden articles or set up and operate a variety of woodworking machines, such as power saws, jointers, and mortisers to surface, cut, or shape lumber or to fabricate parts for wood products.

Related: Carpenters Furniture Finishers Model Makers, Wood Structural Metal Fabricators & Fitters Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders

Industries: Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Measure and mark dimensions of parts on paper or lumber stock prior to cutting, following blueprints, to ensure a tight fit and quality product.
Dip, brush, or spray assembled articles with protective or decorative finishes, such as stain, varnish, paint, or lacquer.
Design furniture, using computer-aided drawing programs.
Cut timber to the right size, and shape and trim parts of joints to ensure a snug fit, using hand tools, such as planes, chisels, or wood files.
Apply Masonite, formica, or vinyl surfacing materials.
Draw up detailed specifications and discuss projects with customers.
Cut timber to the right size, and shape and trim parts of joints to ensure a snug fit, using hand tools, such as planes, chisels, or wood files.
Verify dimensions or check the quality or fit of pieces to ensure adherence to specifications.
Install hardware, such as hinges, handles, catches, or drawer pulls, using hand tools.
Produce or assemble components of articles, such as store fixtures, office equipment, cabinets, or high-grade furniture.
Match materials for color, grain, or texture, giving attention to knots or other features of the wood.
Reinforce joints with nails or other fasteners to prepare articles for finishing.
Repair or alter wooden furniture, cabinetry, fixtures, paneling, or other pieces.
Program computers to operate machinery.
Trim, sand, or scrape surfaces or joints to prepare articles for finishing.
Estimate the amounts, types, or costs of needed materials.
Set up or operate machines, including power saws, jointers, mortisers, tenoners, molders, or shapers, to cut, mold, or shape woodstock or wood substitutes.
Attach parts or subassemblies together to form completed units, using glue, dowels, nails, screws, or clamps.
Bore holes for insertion of screws or dowels, by hand or using boring machines.
Establish the specifications of articles to be constructed or repaired, or plan the methods or operations for shaping or assembling parts, based on blueprints, drawings, diagrams, or oral or written instructions.
Establish the specifications of articles to be constructed or repaired, or plan the methods or operations for shaping or assembling parts, based on blueprints, drawings, diagrams, or oral or written instructions.
Perform final touch-ups with sandpaper or steel wool.
Design furniture, using computer-aided drawing programs.
Estimate the amounts, types, or costs of needed materials.

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

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

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

46920/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

22.56/hr

Currently Employed

2,570

Yearly Projected Openings

230

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

Dependability
Attention to Detail
Cooperation
Stress Tolerance
Adaptability/Flexibility
Concern for Others

Adjustable wrenches
Augers
Automatic lathe or chucking machine
Awls
Banders
Bandsaw wheel
Bastard cut file
Belt sander
Bench dog
Bench vises
Bevels
Biscuit jointers
Blade sharpener
Boring machines
C clamps
Calipers
Cheesegrater file
Claw hammer
Cold press
Compasses
Cutting machines
Drill press or radial drill
Drilling machines
Ear plugs
Goggles
Grinding machines
Grinding wheels
Hand clamps
Hand or push drill
Hold down clamps
Levels
Locking pliers
Mallets
Metal markers or holders
Micrometers
Mill saw file
Milling machines
Miter saw
Moisture meters
Paint application system
Paint brushes
Paint rollers
Paint sprayers
Personal computers
Planes
Plumb bobs
Pneumatic nail drivers
Positioning jig
Power drills
Power grinders
Power nail guns
Power planes
Power routers
Power sanders
Power saws
Power screwguns
Power trimmers
Punches or nail sets or drifts
Putty knives
Razor knives
Rulers
Safety glasses
Sanding blocks
Sanding machines
Sawing machines
Saws
Screwdrivers
Scribers
Scroll saw
Shears
Squares
Staple guns
T squares
Tape measures
Templates
Tracer or duplicating or contouring lathe
Utility knives
Viscosimeters
Wood chisels

Computer aided design CAD software
Electronic mail software
Facilities management software
Operating system software
Project management software
Spreadsheet software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters

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