About This Career

Grinds, sands, or polishes, using hand tools or hand-held power tools, a variety of metal, wood, stone, clay, plastic, or glass objects. Includes chippers, buffers, and finishers.

This career is part of the Manufacturing cluster Production pathway.

A person in this career:

• Grinds, sands, cleans, or polishes objects or parts to correct defects or to prepare surfaces for further finishing, using hand tools and power tools.
• Verifies quality of finished workpieces by inspecting them, comparing them to templates, measuring their dimensions, or testing them in working machinery.
• Moves controls to adjust, start, or stop equipment during grinding and polishing processes.
• Removes completed workpieces from equipment or work tables, using hand tools, and places workpieces in containers.
• Measures and marks equipment, objects, or parts to ensure grinding and polishing standards are met.
• Transfers equipment, objects, or parts to specified work areas, using moving devices.
• Trims, scrapes, or deburrs objects or parts, using chisels, scrapers, and other hand tools and equipment.
• Repairs and maintains equipment, objects, or parts, using hand tools.
• Files grooved, contoured, and irregular surfaces of metal objects, such as metalworking dies and machine parts, to conform to templates, other parts, layouts, or blueprint specifications.
• Marks defects, such as knotholes, cracks, and splits, for repair.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 10 lbs., sometimes up to 20 lbs. You might do a lot of walking or standing, or you might sit but use your arms and legs to control machines, equipment or tools.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects

Work Hours and Travel

• Rotating shift work