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.
Woodworking machine operators work with different machines to manufacture fireboard stock, logs, plywood, particleboard, solid laminate, and similar timber products. They mainly operate on computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment.
Their daily tasks include securing timber into place and setting saws to produce specified sizes of planks, and boards, verifying dimensions, and accuracy of the cuts, making adjustments to the devices and detecting the faults in the machines.
Woodworking machine setters must have good knowledge of raw materials, machines, tools, their uses, and maintenance with skills and abilities such as operation monitoring, critical thinking, coordination with other workers, quality control analysis, and a good vision of the machine working. In addition, one must have technical knowledge in the following platforms CAD Software, Graphics and Photo Imaging Software, Video creation and editing software, etc.
To be successful in this field, an experience with proper certification is very important. However, to pursue your career as Woodworking Machine Operators, one has to complete a High-School Diploma or equivalent, followed by some previous work experience. Some of the career profiles under this category are - Boring Machine Operator, Molder Operator, Timber and Wood Process Workers, Lathe Operator etc.
Qualifications
Every career requires an element of study and academic qualification, and there can be several study routes and pathways you can take. In following any academic pathway you will study subjects that contribute to the specialised knowledge required to achieve your career goals. These qualifications provide a future employer with the evidence that you have the desired knowledge, understanding and experience of their industry, so it’s important to consider the various types of qualifications available to you and to understand how they can boost your career and create opportunities for you.
- ITI Course Machinist
- NSQF Level 3 CNC Operator - Vertical Machining Centre
- NSQF Level 4 Machining Technician Level 4
Tasks
- Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.
- 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.
- Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.
- Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.
- Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.
- Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.
- 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.
- Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.
- 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.
Progression Routes
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