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How to become Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in 2024

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is Also Know as

In different settings, Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is titled as

  • Die Setter
  • Fabrication Operator
  • Machine Operator
  • Machine Setter
  • Press Operator
  • Punch Press Operator
  • Saw Operator
  • Set-Up Operator
  • Slitter Operator

Education and Training of Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Education Required for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Degrees Related to Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Training Required for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic in different industries are

What Do Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic do?

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Clean work area.
  • Operate forklifts to deliver materials.

Qualities of Good Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

  • Abrasive wheels
  • Adjustable hand wrenches
  • Allen wrenches
  • Anvils
  • Bench grinders
  • Bench lathes
  • Blanking presses
  • C clamps
  • Claw hammers
  • Cleaning scrapers
  • Combination squares
  • Computer terminals
  • Computerized numerical control CNC turret punching machines
  • Core cutters
  • Crimping machines
  • Cutting machines
  • Dial calipers
  • Die cutting presses
  • Digital micrometers
  • Feeler gauges
  • Forklifts
  • Forming presses
  • Gauge blocks
  • Gear-cutting machines
  • Grease guns
  • Hand nibblers
  • Hand torches
  • Handsaws
  • Handtrucks
  • Heating furnaces
  • Hobbing presses
  • Hoisting equipment
  • Honing stones
  • Hydraulic presses
  • Labeling machines
  • Layout scales
  • Layout templates
  • Lift trucks
  • Locking hand pliers
  • Metal chisels
  • Metal cutting dies
  • Metal scribers
  • Multi-axis computerized numerical control CNC machines
  • Multiple punch presses
  • Notching machines
  • Overhead cranes
  • Pallet jacks
  • Personal computers
  • Portable grinders
  • Power guillotine cutters
  • Power press brakes
  • Power saws
  • Power shears
  • Precision files
  • Precision rulers
  • Protective ear muffs
  • Protractors
  • Punch presses
  • Safety gloves
  • Sawing machines
  • Shear presses
  • Shearing machines
  • Sheet metal hand tongs
  • Shims
  • Sledgehammers
  • Slitting machines
  • Speed lathes
  • Steam cleaning equipment
  • Straight screwdrivers
  • Straightedges
  • Table saws
  • Thermal cutting machines
  • Toggle presses
  • Transit levels
  • Tube benders
  • Turret presses
  • Utility knives
  • Vernier calipers
  • Wire brushes

Technology Skills required for Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Automated inventory software
  • Computerized numerical control CNC software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft Word
  • Operational databases
  • SAP software
  • Striker Systems SS-Punch