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.
- Position, align, and secure workpieces against fixtures or stops on machine beds or on dies.
- Adjust ram strokes of presses to specified lengths, using hand tools.
- Position guides, stops, holding blocks, or other fixtures to secure and direct workpieces, using hand tools and measuring devices.
- 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.
- Mark identifying data on workpieces.
- Plan sequences of operations, applying knowledge of physical properties of workpiece materials.
- Clean work area.
- Operate forklifts to deliver materials.
Supplemental Tasks Include:
- 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.
- Place workpieces on cutting tables, manually or using hoists, cranes, or sledges.
- 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.
- Replace defective blades or wheels, using hand tools.
- Turn controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations.
- 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™. (Using onet291)
