Career
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing
Run machines that shape wood.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.
- 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.
- Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.
- Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.
- Examine raw woodstock for defects and to ensure conformity to size and other specification standards.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Quality Control Analysis, Monitoring.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $43,380 a year and 5,300 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Woodworking, GeneralCIP 48.0701
- Cabinetmaking and MillworkCIP 48.0703
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood$42,770 · -1.0%
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$46,570 · -0.9%
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$46,550 · -10.8%
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$52,800 · -13.2%
- Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$50,620 · -11.3%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.