Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
Set up, operate, or tend wood sawing machines. May operate computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment. Includes lead sawyers.
- Median pay
- $42,770
- Doing it now
- 41,200
- By 2035
- Down 1%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
4,500 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Adjust saw blades, using wrenches and rulers, or by turning handwheels or pressing pedals, levers, or panel buttons.
- Inspect and measure workpieces to mark for cuts and to verify the accuracy of cuts, using rulers, squares, or caliper rules.
- Set up, operate, or tend saws or machines that cut or trim wood to specified dimensions, such as circular saws, band saws, multiple-blade sawing machines, scroll saws, ripsaws, or crozer machines.
- Inspect stock for imperfections or to estimate grades or qualities of stock or workpieces.
- Mount and bolt sawing blades or attachments to machine shafts.
- Monitor sawing machines, adjusting speed and tension and clearing jams to ensure proper operation.
- Guide workpieces against saws, saw over workpieces by hand, or operate automatic feeding devices to guide cuts.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- WoodworkingSee 5 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $42,770 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.