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Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Tasks


Core Tasks Include:

  • Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
  • Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.
  • Read work orders or production schedules to determine specifications, such as materials to be used, locations of cutting lines, or dimensions and tolerances.
  • Load workpieces, plastic material, or chemical solutions into machines.
  • Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.
  • Start machines, monitor their operations, and record operational data.
  • Test and adjust machine speeds or actions, according to product specifications, using gauges and hand tools.
  • Install, align, and lock specified punches, dies, cutting blades, or other fixtures in rams or beds of machines, using gauges, templates, feelers, shims, and hand tools.
  • Clean and lubricate machines.

Supplemental Tasks Include:

  • Position, align, and secure workpieces against fixtures or stops on machine beds or on dies.
  • Scribe reference lines on workpieces as guides for cutting operations, according to blueprints, templates, sample parts, or specifications.
  • Set blade tensions, heights, and angles to perform prescribed cuts, using wrenches.
  • Adjust ram strokes of presses to specified lengths, using hand tools.
  • Place workpieces on cutting tables, manually or using hoists, cranes, or sledges.
  • Position guides, stops, holding blocks, or other fixtures to secure and direct workpieces, using hand tools and measuring devices.
  • Thread ends of metal coils from reels through slitters and secure ends on recoilers.
  • Turn valves to start flow of coolant against cutting areas or to start airflow that blows cuttings away from kerfs.
  • Set stops on machine beds, change dies, and adjust components, such as rams or power presses, when making multiple or successive passes.
  • Lubricate workpieces with oil.
  • Replace defective blades or wheels, using hand tools.
  • Mark identifying data on workpieces.
  • Turn controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations.
  • Plan sequences of operations, applying knowledge of physical properties of workpiece materials.
  • Hand-form, cut, or finish workpieces, using tools such as table saws, hand sledges, or anvils.
  • Grind out burrs or sharp edges, using portable grinders, speed lathes, or polishing jacks.
  • Sharpen dulled blades, using bench grinders, abrasive wheels, or lathes.
  • Remove housings, feed tubes, tool holders, or other accessories to replace worn or broken parts, such as springs or bushings.
  • Hone cutters with oilstones to remove nicks.
  • Select, clean, and install spacers, rubber sleeves, or cutters on arbors.
  • Preheat workpieces, using heating furnaces or hand torches.


The data sources for the information displayed here include: O*NET™ 16.0.