Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
Set up, operate, or tend woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, and wood nailing machines. May operate computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment.
61,420 people do this job in the US. $43,380 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 6%
- 0%
- 94%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 6%. Today's estimate: 7%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 42 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Set up, program, or control computer-aided design (CAD) or computer numerical control (CNC) machines.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min8 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect and mark completed workpieces and stack them on pallets, in boxes, or on conveyors so that they can be moved to the next workstation.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min4 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min4 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min4 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| 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.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood8% now, 8% by 2028
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders7% now, 7% by 2028
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic18% now, 18% by 2028
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic18% now, 18% by 2028
- Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic30% now, 38% by 2028
- Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic7% now, 7% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).