Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood

About the job

Set up, operate, or tend wood sawing machines. May operate CNC equipment. Includes lead sawyers.

What you'll do

• Cut grooves, bevels, or miters, saw curved or irregular designs, and sever or shape metals, according to specifications or work orders.
• Dispose of waste material after completing work assignments.
• Examine blueprints, drawings, work orders, or patterns to determine equipment set-up or selection details, procedures to be used, or dimensions of final products.
• Measure and mark stock for cuts.
• Operate panelboards of saw or conveyor systems to move stock through processes or to cut stock to specified dimensions.
• Position and clamp stock on tables, conveyors, or carriages, using hoists, guides, stops, dogs, wedges, or wrenches.
• Pull tables back against stops and depress pedals to advance cutterheads that shape stock ends.
• Select saw blades, types or grades of stock, or cutting procedures to be used, according to work orders or supervisors’ instructions.
• Unclamp and remove finished workpieces from tables.
• Unload and roll logs from trucks to sawmill decks or to carriages or move logs in ponds, using pike poles.

Things you need to know

• Production and Processing – Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Mechanical – Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Public Safety and Security – Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Mathematics – Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Education and Training – Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Abilities you'll need to have

• Operation Monitoring – Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Operation and Control – Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
• Troubleshooting – Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
• Critical Thinking – Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring – Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Quality Control Analysis – Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
• Equipment Maintenance – Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.