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Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

Typical education: High school diplomaLower pressure

What they do

Perform precision smoothing, sharpening, polishing, or grinding of metal objects.

Kinds of work

  • Realistic: Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals, often outdoors.
  • Conventional: Organizing information, following clear procedures and working with data and details.

Lower pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $50,060 Median per year · $24.07/hr Most earn $35,350–$77,170

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Inspect, feel, and measure workpieces to ensure that surfaces and dimensions meet specifications.
  • Turn valves to direct flow of coolant against cutting wheels and workpieces during grinding.
  • Attach workpieces to grinding machines and form specified sections and repair cracks, using welding or brazing equipment.
  • Inspect dies to detect defects, assess wear, and verify specifications, using micrometers, steel gauge pins, and loupes.
  • Monitor machine operations to determine whether adjustments are necessary, stopping machines when problems occur.
  • Fit parts together in pre-assembly to ensure that dimensions are accurate.

Job outlook

United States
7% fewer jobs by 2035, declining · about 500 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • Sawmills and wood preservation23.3%
  • Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment (except automotive and electronic) repair and maintenance11.3%
  • Fabricated metal product manufacturing8.8%
  • Aerospace product and parts manufacturing8.6%
  • Animal slaughtering and processing5.3%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 6 months to 1 year

Some people start through an apprenticeship: paid training on the job, often with classes. Search apprenticeships on Apprenticeship.gov (opens in a new tab) ↗

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: High school diplomaExperience before this job: 6 months to 1 year

This is an entry-level job. Many people start with a high school diploma and reach it after about 6 months to 1 year of hands-on experience, often learned on the job.

  1. High school diploma

    4 years

    Build a base in math, shop, and blueprint or drawing reading, which you'll use to read part specs and measure work accurately.

  2. Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand

    6 months to 1 year

    Learn to smooth, sharpen, and polish metal parts by hand, check them with gauges, and follow shop safety rules. This hands-on time builds the precision skills the tool grinder role needs.

  3. Tool Grinder, Filer, or Sharpener

    Ongoing

    Work on precision smoothing, sharpening, and grinding of metal tools and objects, often to tight measurements set by a supervisor or print.

Where it can lead

  1. Tool and Die Maker

    2-4 years in the trade of experience first

    Move from finishing parts to building and repairing the tools and molds that make them, which usually takes an apprenticeship or formal certificate in addition to shop experience.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take shop, drafting, or metals classesHands-on work with tools and reading technical drawings give you a head start on the skills used in precision grinding.
  • Take math through algebra and geometryMeasuring tolerances and checking dimensions relies on comfort with numbers, fractions, and geometry.
  • Join a career-technical or robotics clubBuilding and fixing things in a team teaches you careful work habits and shows employers you can handle precision tasks.
  • Get a starter job or volunteer at a workshopAny job in a garage, makerspace, or shop helps you learn to use tools safely and follow instructions.

In college

  • Take a machining or manufacturing technology courseCommunity college or technical courses in machining, metrology (precise measuring), or manufacturing teach you the hands-on and measuring skills employers look for.
  • Work a part-time job in a shop or manufacturing plantExperience on a shop floor shows you how production works and gives you a reference for future job applications.
  • Look into a manufacturing or machining certificateShort certificates in machine shop or precision measurement can make you a stronger candidate for entry-level grinding and finishing jobs.
  • Join a student engineering or skills clubTeams that build or machine parts teach teamwork and let you practice precision work under guidance.

Tips for getting started

  • Ask your shop teachers or a local machine shop about part-time or summer work sweeping, deburring, or helping grinders. Showing up reliably matters as much as skill at this stage.
  • Get comfortable reading measurements, fractions, and decimals now. Precision work depends on accurate numbers.
  • Ask employers whether they offer on-the-job training or apprenticeships, since many grinding and finishing skills are learned in the shop rather than in a classroom.

Related jobs that often lead here

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

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