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Etchers and Engravers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Engrave or etch metal, wood, rubber, or other materials. Includes such workers as etcher-circuit processors, pantograph engravers, and silk screen etchers.

Related: Grinding & Polishing Workers, Hand Jewelers & Precious Stone & Metal Workers Molders, Shapers, & Casters Painting, Coating, & Decorating Workers Patternmakers, Metal & Plastic

Industries: Manufacturing Retail

Summary
Details

Remove wax or tape from etched glassware by using a stylus or knife, or by immersing ware in hot water.
Print proofs or examine designs to verify accuracy of engraving, and rework engraving as required.
Neutralize workpieces to remove acid, wax, or enamel, using water, solvents, brushes, or specialized machines.
Examine sketches, diagrams, samples, blueprints, or photographs to decide how designs are to be etched, cut, or engraved onto workpieces.
Remove wax or tape from etched glassware by using a stylus or knife, or by immersing ware in hot water.
Expose workpieces to acid to develop etch patterns such as designs, lettering, or figures.
Determine machine settings, and move bars or levers to reproduce designs on rollers or plates.
Transfer image to workpiece, using contact printer, pantograph stylus, silkscreen printing device, or stamp pad.
Start machines and lower cutting tools to beginning points on patterns.
Adjust depths and sizes of cuts by adjusting heights of worktables, or by adjusting machine-arm gauges.
Position and clamp workpieces, plates, or rollers in holding fixtures.
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.
Clean and polish engraved areas.
Examine engraving for quality of cut, burrs, rough spots, and irregular or incomplete engraving.
Start machines and lower cutting tools to beginning points on patterns.
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.
Inspect etched work for depth of etching, uniformity, and defects, using calibrated microscopes, gauges, fingers, or magnifying lenses.
Guide stylus over template, causing cutting tool to duplicate design or letters on workpiece.
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.
Measure and compute dimensions of lettering, designs, or patterns to be engraved.
Sandblast exposed areas of glass to cut designs in surfaces, using spray guns.
Prepare etching chemicals according to formulas, diluting acid with water to obtain solutions of specified concentration.
Use computer software to design patterns for engraving.
Fill etched characters with opaque paste to improve readability.
Brush or wipe acid over engraving to darken or highlight inscriptions.
Sketch, trace, or scribe layout lines and designs on workpieces, plates, dies, or rollers, using compasses, scribers, gravers, or pencils.
Remove completed workpieces and place them in trays.
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.
Insert cutting tools or bits into machines and secure them with wrenches.
Measure and compute dimensions of lettering, designs, or patterns to be engraved.
Set reduction scales to attain specified sizes of reproduction on workpieces, and set pantograph controls for required heights, depths, and widths of cuts.

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

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

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

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

57520/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

27.65/hr

Currently Employed

290

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
Independence
Dependability
Achievement/Effort
Persistence
Cooperation

Adjustable wrenches
Applicator brushes
Arbors
Bench grinder
Bench vises
Binocular light compound microscopes
Burnisher
Coating machines
Cold chisels
Compasses
Cross and straight pein hammer
Drill press or radial drill
Engravers
Grinding or polishing machines
Horizontal turning center
Ink or stamp pads
Magnifiers
Magnifying lamp
Metal engraving machine
Paint systems ovens
Personal computers
Power routers
Precision file
Printed circuit board making system
Rulers
Safety glasses
Scribers
Semiconductor process systems
Shears
Shot blasting machine
Silk screen printing machines
Ultraviolet UV lamps
Utility knives
Work benches

Computer aided design CAD and computer aided manufacturing CAM system
Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Operating system software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Etchers and Engravers

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