Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic resume
What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called die setter, forging die setter, forging machine setters operators and tenders metal and plastic and upsetter.
$49,030
Median pay a year
8,930
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
A Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Operating metal or plastic forming equipment
Mounting attachments or tools
Removing parts from equipment
Studying blueprints or instructions
Conducting test runs of equipment
Measuring product dimensions
Selecting production equipment
Setting fixtures
Maneuvering workpieces
Trimming excess material from workpieces
Operating grinding equipment
Operating cutting equipment
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic
Summary
Forging machine setter and operator working with metal and plastic parts by setting up and tending machines, shaping materials, and ensuring product standards through measurement and inspection
Experience
Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Read work orders or blueprints to know how to set up machines
Set up, operated, or tended presses and forging machines for metal work
Positioned and moved metal wires or workpieces through dies to shape them
Measured and inspected parts to make sure they met product standards
Started machines to make sample pieces and checked for problems
Installed and adjusted dies and tools using cranes and hand tools
Trimmed and compressed finished forgings to meet size requirements
Skills
Hands-On Work
Operating metal or plastic forming equipment, Mounting attachments or tools, Removing parts from equipment, Setting fixtures, Maneuvering workpieces, Trimming excess material from workpieces
Core Skills
Studying blueprints or instructions, Driver's license
Checking & Planning
Conducting test runs of equipment, Measuring product dimensions, Selecting production equipment
Education
High School Diploma Your school, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
Nothing to write from scratch
What to put on a Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic resume
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Read work orders and blueprintsMoved metal wires through diesMeasured and inspected machined partsOperated presses and forging machinesStarted machines to make samplesRemoved dies when production finished
becomes
On your resume
Read work orders and blueprints to determine specifications and tolerances for production.
Measured and inspected machined parts to ensure compliance with product standards.
These are written the way a resume line reads. Rung asks which ones are actually yours, keeps your own words, and never claims work you did not do.
Then it asks for one more thing
The line that could show more, and the fact that lands it.
Make it stronger
A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
Show what improved once the specifications were clear.
The line
Read work orders and blueprints to determine specifications and tolerances, resulting in fewer errors in production processes
Show what improved once the specifications were clear.
Pick one that fits
Fewer errors in production processesSmoother workflow on the shop floorBetter quality in finished products
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Add how often you performed inspections.
The line
Measured and inspected machined parts to ensure compliance with product standards.
Add how often you performed inspections.
Pick one that fits
Every batch producedMost of the shiftsRegularly throughout the day
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Set up, operate, or tend forging machines to taper, shape, or form metal or plastic parts.
What it pays
How much does a Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$42,440
Median
$49,030
75th percentile
$60,130
About 8,930 people do this work in the United States.
What it pays in each state
State
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
AL
$43,790
$46,970
$64,400
AR
$36,270
$38,120
$46,790
AZ
$47,510
$48,730
$58,520
CA
$45,850
$59,250
$78,240
CO
$47,010
$57,970
$62,480
CT
$39,440
$45,120
$46,240
FL
$27,710
$40,480
$41,910
GA
$43,610
$46,490
$60,130
IA
$46,120
$47,010
$49,040
IL
$46,110
$49,750
$59,570
IN
$48,960
$53,550
$57,910
KS
$46,140
$51,120
$56,390
KY
$34,850
$36,110
$44,720
MA
$44,360
$51,770
$71,860
MD
$49,920
$49,920
$52,480
MI
$47,230
$61,620
$64,030
MO
$45,860
$55,210
$55,620
MS
$37,490
$39,550
$39,550
NE
$60,460
$60,460
$64,980
NJ
$35,630
$35,630
$39,210
NV
$42,670
$45,040
$56,460
NY
$46,670
$56,350
$63,590
OH
$49,130
$56,870
$60,660
OK
$50,300
$61,720
$62,150
OR
$52,180
$69,210
$83,590
PA
$45,260
$50,280
$63,490
SC
$47,980
$49,610
$52,960
TN
$39,090
$43,810
$46,990
TX
$28,010
$37,390
$46,320
VA
$48,130
$54,230
$55,740
WI
$53,340
$60,310
$60,500
WV
$34,880
$37,390
$46,700
Other names
Other names for this job
die setter, forging die setter, forging machine setters operators and tenders metal and plastic, upsetter, air table operator, anvil seating press operator, automatic casting forging machine operator, blacksmith, board hammer operator, bolt machine operator, buckshot swage operator, bulldozer operator.
More names for this work
bulldozer press operator, cage maker, charging manipulator, cold header operator, die forger, die holder, die machine operator, drop count associate, drop forge hand, drop forge operator, drop forger, drop hammer set up operator, drophammer operator, dropper, expander, expander machine operator, fastener technologist, forge hand, forge operator, forge press operator, forge tender, forger, forgesmith, forging machine hand, forging machine operator, forging operator, forging press operator, forging roll operator, gang punch operator, hammer driver, hammer operator, hammer runner, hammersmith, header machine operator, header operator, header set up operator, header setup operator, heat reader, heat set operator, heavy forger, heavy forging machine operator, hydraulic operator, injection molding operator, insert molding operator, keel press operator, knuckler, lever operator, lever tender.
What you can already claim
Starting a Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic resume with no experience
Below are the tasks a Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic
Already yours: Operating metal or plastic forming equipment, Mounting attachments or tools, Studying blueprints or instructions
4 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
Median pay
$49,030 a year
What you have not done yet. Measuring product dimensions, Selecting production equipment, Setting fixtures
Great news! Your skills can open up even more doors.
The tasks for Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic also qualify you for the jobs below. Creating a resume for one of these could help you land even more interviews.
Choose a job below that you would like to target next:
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmer
Already yours: Studying blueprints or instructions, Conducting test runs of equipment
2 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
Median pay
$68,120 a year
What you have not done yet. Programming equipment, Determining equipment settings, Entering specifications into equipment
This page is about the occupation Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.