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Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing vs Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing and Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$40,440
$45,190
Employment · BLS OEWS
63,350
70,110
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
42nd pct
32nd pct

At a glance

Dimension Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Median pay $40,440 $45,190
Employment 63,350 70,110
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-1.8%) Declining (-12.0%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 6,400 5,500
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Moderate · 42nd pct Low · 32nd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 38th pct · 22% of tasks 26th pct · 18% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Operations Monitoring, Reaction Time, Near Vision, Operation and Control, Manual Dexterity, Control Precision, Oral Comprehension, Quality Control Analysis, Problem Sensitivity, Multilimb Coordination, Static Strength, Trunk Strength, Monitoring, Perceptual Speed, Visualization, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Finger Dexterity, Far Vision, Auditory Attention, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Troubleshooting, Oral Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Category Flexibility, Flexibility of Closure, Rate Control, Production and Processing, Mathematics, Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making.

Specific to Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

  • Mechanical
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Dynamic Strength
  • Extent Flexibility
  • Speech Recognition
  • Equipment Selection
  • Repairing

Specific to Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Written Comprehension
  • Depth Perception
  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Coordination
  • Complex Problem Solving

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Operating system software , Computer aided design CAD software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Industrial control software , Inventory management software .

Specific to Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

Specific to Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing or Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing vs Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/woodworking-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-except-sawing-vs-grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing vs Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/woodworking-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-except-sawing-vs-grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-woodworking-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-except-sawing-vs-grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic,
  title  = {Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing vs Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/woodworking-machine-setters-operators-and-tenders-except-sawing-vs-grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setters-operators-and-tenders-metal-and-plastic}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.