Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

What the job really is

Set up, operate, or tend machines to roll steel or plastic forming bends, beads, knurls, rolls, or plate, or to flatten, temper, or reduce gauge of material.

At a glance

• Sector: Production
• O*NET-SOC code: 51-4023
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Monitor machine cycles and mill operation to detect jamming and to ensure that products conform to specifications.
• Adjust and correct machine set-ups to reduce thicknesses, reshape products, and eliminate product defects.
• Start operation of rolling and milling machines to flatten, temper, form, and reduce sheet metal sections and to produce steel strips.
• Examine, inspect, and measure raw materials and finished products to verify conformance to specifications.
• Read rolling orders, blueprints, and mill schedules to determine setup specifications, work sequences, product dimensions, and installation procedures.
• Manipulate controls and observe dial indicators to monitor, adjust, and regulate speeds of machine mechanisms.
• Set distance points between rolls, guides, meters, and stops, according to specifications.
• Calculate draft space and roll speed for each mill stand to plan rolling sequences and specified dimensions and tempers.
• Install equipment such as guides, guards, gears, cooling equipment, and rolls, using hand tools.
• Position, align, and secure arbors, spindles, coils, mandrels, dies, and slitting knives.
• Fill oil cups, adjust valves, and observe gauges to control flow of metal coolants and lubricants onto workpieces.
• Activate shears and grinders to trim workpieces.

Tools and technology

Chain hoists, Cluster rolling mills, Crop shears, Diameter gauges, Digital calipers, Digital radius gauges, Digital strain gauges, Displacement transducers, Electric overhead traveling EOT cranes, Email software, Finishing mills, Fluid pressure transducers

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
• Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
• Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
• Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.