Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners
Perform precision smoothing, sharpening, polishing, or grinding of metal objects.
- Median pay
- $50,060
- Doing it now
- 5,800
- By 2035
- Down 6.8%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
500 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Dress grinding wheels, according to specifications.
- Monitor machine operations to determine whether adjustments are necessary, stopping machines when problems occur.
- Inspect, feel, and measure workpieces to ensure that surfaces and dimensions meet specifications.
- Set up and operate grinding or polishing machines to grind metal workpieces, such as dies, parts, and tools.
- Remove finished workpieces from machines and place them in boxes or on racks, setting aside pieces that are defective.
- File or finish surfaces of workpieces, using prescribed hand tools.
- Select and mount grinding wheels on machines, according to specifications, using hand tools and applying knowledge of abrasives and grinding procedures.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Precision Metal WorkingSee 4 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
- Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers$53,750
- Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$46,330
- Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$47,180
- Sheet Metal Workers$61,800
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$46,550
- Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$47,720
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 $50,060 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.