Profession tumbling machine operator

Tumbling machine operators set up and operate tumbling machines, often wet or drie tumbling barrels, designed to remove excess material and burrs of heavy metal workpieces and precious metals and to improve surface appearance, by rotating the metal pieces in a barrel together with grit and potentially water, allowing for the friction between the pieces mutually and with the grit to cause a rounding, smooth effect.

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Personality Type

  • Realistic / Conventional

Knowledge

  • Types of metal

    Qualities, specifications, applications and reactions to different fabricating processes of various types of metal, such as steel, aluminium, brass, copper and others.

  • Tumbling machine parts

    Various parts of a tumbling machine, such as a deburr tub, tumbling barrel, tumbling compound and steel media ceramic polishing pins, their qualities and applications. 

  • Quality standards

    The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.

  • Quality and cycle time optimisation

    The most optimal rotation or cycle time and over-all quality of a tool or a machine's processes.

Skills

  • Remove processed workpiece

    Remove individual workpieces after processing, from the manufacturing machine or the machine tool. In case of a conveyor belt this involves quick, continuous movement.

  • Monitor moving workpiece in a machine

    Monitor the processing of a workpiece in motion, such as a piece of metal or wood moved linearly over a static manufacturing machine.

  • Smooth burred surfaces

    Inspect and smooth burred surfaces of steel and metal parts.

  • Remove inadequate workpieces

    Evaluate which deficient processed workpieces do not meet the set-up standard and should be removed and sort the waste according to regulations.

  • Monitor automated machines

    Continuously check up on the automated machine's set-up and execution or make regular control rounds. If necessary, record and interpret data on the operating conditions of installations and equipment in order to identify abnormalities.

  • Wear appropriate protective gear

    Wear relevant and necessary protective gear, such as protective goggles or other eye protection, hard hats, safety gloves.

  • Supply machine

    Ensure the machine is fed the necessary and adequate materials and control the placement or automatic feed and retrieval of work pieces in the machines or machine tools on the production line.

  • Ensure equipment availability

    Ensure that the necessary equipment is provided, ready and available for use before start of procedures.

  • Spot metal imperfections

    Observe and identify various kinds of imperfections in metal workpieces or finished products. Recognise the best fitted manner of fixing the problem, which could be caused by corrosion, rust, fractures, leaks, and other signs of wear.

  • Tend tumbling machine

    Tend a machine designed to smoothen metal or stone surfaces by having the different pieces rub against each other inside a tumbling barrel, monitor and operate it according to regulations.

  • Perform test run

    Perform tests putting a system, machine, tool or other equipment through a series of actions under actual operating conditions in order to assess its reliability and suitability to realise its tasks, and adjust settings accordingly.

  • Troubleshoot

    Identify operating problems, decide what to do about it and report accordingly.

Optional knowledge and skills

dry tumbling provide advice to technicians metal smoothing technologies measure flatness of a surface ferrous metal processing inspect quality of products characteristics of precious metals manufacturing of cutlery manufacturing of metal assembly products types of metal manufacturing processes wet tumbling precious metal processing record production data for quality control processes performed by tumbling perform machine maintenance keep records of work progress

Common job titles

  • Production machine operator
  • Deburr operator
  • Metal cutting & finishing opr
  • Ink assembler / package operator
  • Lead finish operator
  • Cnc machine operator - blaine - 2nd shift
  • Wheelabrator operator
  • Production extruder operator
  • Deburring operator
  • Abrasive-grit blaster (aerospace)