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Date: 10/25/2026

Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

Set up, operate, or tend machines that cut or slice materials, such as glass, stone, cork, rubber, tobacco, food, paper, or insulating material.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Start pumps to circulate water and abrasives onto blades or cables during cutting.
    • Sharpen cutting blades, knives, or saws, using files, bench grinders, or honing stones.
    • Feed stock into cutting machines, onto conveyors, or under cutting blades, by threading, guiding, pushing, or turning handwheels.
    • Turn cranks or press buttons to activate winches that move cars under sawing cables or saw frames.
    • Operate cranes, or signal crane operators to position or remove stone from cars or saw beds.
    • Set up, operate, or tend machines that cut or slice materials, such as glass, stone, cork, rubber, tobacco, food, paper, or insulating material.
    • Start pumps to circulate water and abrasives onto blades or cables during cutting.
    • Wash stones, using water hoses.
    • Examine, measure, and weigh materials or products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring devices, such as rulers, micrometers, or scales.
    • Remove defective or substandard materials from machines, and readjust machine components so that products meet standards.
    • Start machines to verify setups, and make any necessary adjustments.
    • Mark cutting lines or identifying information on stock, using marking pencils, rulers, or scribes.
    • Direct workers on cutting teams.
    • Tighten pulleys or add abrasives to maintain cutting speeds.
    • Cut stock manually to prepare for machine cutting, using tools such as knives, cleavers, handsaws, or hammers and chisels.
    • Sharpen cutting blades, knives, or saws, using files, bench grinders, or honing stones.
    • Clean and lubricate cutting machines, conveyors, blades, saws, or knives, using steam hoses, scrapers, brushes, or oil cans.
    • Operate cranes, or signal crane operators to position or remove stone from cars or saw beds.
    • Adjust machine controls to alter position, alignment, speed, or pressure.
    • Type instructions on computer keyboards, push buttons to activate computer programs, or manually set cutting guides, clamps, and knives.
    • Remove defective or substandard materials from machines, and readjust machine components so that products meet standards.
    • Maintain production records, such as quantities, types, and dimensions of materials produced.
    • Start machines to verify setups, and make any necessary adjustments.
    • Position stock along cutting lines, or against stops on beds of scoring or cutting machines.
    • Select and install machine components, such as cutting blades, rollers, and templates, according to specifications, using hand tools.
    • Change or replace saw blades, cables, cutter heads, and grinding wheels, using hand tools.
    • Select and install machine components, such as cutting blades, rollers, and templates, according to specifications, using hand tools.
    • Position width gauge blocks between blades, and level blades and insert wedges into frames to secure blades to frames.
    • Mark cutting lines or identifying information on stock, using marking pencils, rulers, or scribes.
    • Operate cranes, or signal crane operators to position or remove stone from cars or saw beds.
    • Start pumps to circulate water and abrasives onto blades or cables during cutting.
    • Position width gauge blocks between blades, and level blades and insert wedges into frames to secure blades to frames.
    • Wash stones, using water hoses.
    • Operate cranes, or signal crane operators to position or remove stone from cars or saw beds.
    • Examine, measure, and weigh materials or products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring devices, such as rulers, micrometers, or scales.
    • Remove completed materials or products from cutting or slicing machines, and stack or store them for additional processing.
    • Remove completed materials or products from cutting or slicing machines, and stack or store them for additional processing.
    • Stack and sort cut material for packaging, further processing, or shipping, according to types and sizes of material.
    • Stack and sort cut material for packaging, further processing, or shipping, according to types and sizes of material.
    • Type instructions on computer keyboards, push buttons to activate computer programs, or manually set cutting guides, clamps, and knives.
    • Press buttons, pull levers, or depress pedals to start and operate cutting and slicing machines.
    • Review work orders, blueprints, specifications, or job samples to determine components, settings, and adjustments for cutting and slicing machines.
    • Monitor operation of cutting or slicing machines to detect malfunctions or to determine whether supplies need replenishment.
    • Clean and lubricate cutting machines, conveyors, blades, saws, or knives, using steam hoses, scrapers, brushes, or oil cans.
    • Wash stones, using water hoses.
    • Move stock or scrap to and from machines manually, or by using carts, handtrucks, or lift trucks.
    • Change or replace saw blades, cables, cutter heads, and grinding wheels, using hand tools.

    Skills

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    4
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    Knowledge

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • 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.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • 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.

    Career Video

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    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 48400/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 23.27/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 3,020
    • Yearly Projected Openings 320

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Cautiousness
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability

    Tools

    • Automatic lathe or chucking machine
    • Belt conveyors
    • Bench grinder
    • Bench scales
    • Boring machines
    • Calipers
    • Carts
    • Cleaning brushes
    • Cleaning scrapers
    • Cold chisels
    • Commercial use food slicers
    • Drill press or radial drill
    • Forklifts
    • Hammers
    • Hand trucks or accessories
    • Hydraulic shears
    • Jib crane
    • Laser cutting machine
    • Metal shearing machine
    • Micrometers
    • Milling machines
    • Oil can
    • Oil gun
    • Pallet trucks
    • Paper cutting machines or accessories
    • Personal computer
    • Plasma cutting machine
    • Power saws
    • Precision file
    • Rulers
    • Saws
    • Screwdrivers
    • Scribers
    • Sharpening stones or tools or kits
    • Special hoses
    • Squares
    • Tape measures
    • Track cranes
    • Trim press
    • Utility knives

    Technology

    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

    • Apprenticeships are available for this occupation. These programs can help you get hands-on experience and build your skills.
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