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Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners in California

Considering working as a Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners in California? Below are the key facts. Perform precision smoothing, sharpening, polishing, or grinding of metal objects.

What do Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners Make in California?

For tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners working in California, wages run about $50,060 per year (or roughly $24.07/hour).Earnings range from $36,400 at the 10th percentile to $75,360 at the 90th percentile.

Wage Statistic	Annual	Hourly
10th percentile	$36,400	$17.50
25th percentile	$40,040	$19.25
Median (50th)	$50,060	$24.07
75th percentile	$59,590	$28.65
90th percentile	$75,360	$36.23

Location quotient — how concentrated this career is in California compared to the national average — is 0.95.

National Wage Comparison

Nationally, tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners earn a median of $55,632 per year ($26.75/hour), below the California median.

Employment Outlook

National employment for 285,618 tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners across the United States. In California alone, about 640 people work in this role. That’s higher than the typical state, which employs around 110 tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners.

Top California Metros for Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

The largest metro-area employers of tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners in California.

Metro Area	Number Employed	Annual Median Salary
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	270	$50,060
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	40	$48,660
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	40	$53,020
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	40	$52,660

Top States for Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners Employment

The table below shows the states where the most tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners work.

State	Number Employed
California	640
Washington	490
Oregon	410
Texas	400
Michigan	390
Pennsylvania	330
Ohio	260
Alabama	260
Wisconsin	180
New York	170
Arkansas	170
North Carolina	170
Georgia	160
Virginia	120
Connecticut	110
South Carolina	110
Florida	80
Indiana	70
Maine	70
Tennessee	70

Highest-Paying States for Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

Where tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners earn the most: tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners.

State	Annual Median Salary
Washington	$72,390
Idaho	$65,500
New Jersey	$64,510
Oregon	$59,850
Nebraska	$58,240
Georgia	$57,740
Ohio	$56,470
Massachusetts	$54,760
Kentucky	$53,780
Kansas	$52,390

Skills

Top tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners skills, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Important knowledge areas for this occupation, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Abilities

The abilities that matter most for tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Daily Tasks

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners typically:

• Monitor machine operations to determine whether adjustments are necessary, stopping machines when problems occur.
• Inspect, feel, and measure workpieces to ensure that surfaces and dimensions meet specifications.
• Study blueprints or layouts of metal workpieces to determine grinding procedures, and to plan machine setups and operational sequences.
• Select and mount grinding wheels on machines, according to specifications, using hand tools and applying knowledge of abrasives and grinding procedures.
• Compute numbers, widths, and angles of cutting tools, micrometers, scales, and gauges, and adjust tools to produce specified cuts.
• Turn valves to direct flow of coolant against cutting wheels and workpieces during grinding.
• Set up and operate grinding or polishing machines to grind metal workpieces, such as dies, parts, and tools.
• Dress grinding wheels, according to specifications.
• File or finish surfaces of workpieces, using prescribed hand tools.
• Perform basic maintenance, such as cleaning and lubricating machine parts.
• Remove finished workpieces from machines and place them in boxes or on racks, setting aside pieces that are defective.
• Remove and replace worn or broken machine parts, using hand tools.

Work Activities

• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Getting Information
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment
• Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People
• Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information

Tools & Technology

Software and systems commonly involved: Hot technologies: Dassault Systemes SolidWorks

What Major Will Prepare You For This Career?

Programs that train for this career include:

• Precision Metal Working

Related Careers

Careers similar to tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners include:

• Industrial Machinery Mechanics
• Maintenance Workers, Machinery
• Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

Also Known As

Card Grinder, Computer Numerical Control Grinding Technician (CNC Grinding Technician), Crankshaft Grinder, Cutter Grind Tool Technician, Cutter Grinder, Cutting Tool Sharpener, Cylinder Grinder, Deburrer, Die Barber, Die Fitter, Die Grinder, Die Polisher, Die Reamer, Die Sharpener, Die Trimmer.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/oes/
• O*NET Online — https://www.onetonline.org/
• BLS Employment Projections — https://www.bls.gov/emp/
• O*NET-SOC code: 51-4194.00