Description
Use hand-held routers and router tables to cut, shape, and profile edges and cutouts in wood, plastic, and composites per work orders and templates, setting bits, guides, and depths to produce accurate parts with smooth finishes.
- • Manage dust extraction; clean work areas and tools.
- • Read work orders, blueprints, or templates to determine dimensions, profiles, locations, and quantities to route.
- • Select, install, and secure router bits, collets, bearings, and accessories for required operations.
- • Set cutting depth, speed, fences, edge guides, and stops to control widths and depths of cuts.
- • Mark layout lines or position templates and jigs to locate cutouts and profiles and maximize yield.
- • Clamp or fixture workpieces on benches or router tables for safe, repeatable routing.
- • Route edges, slots, rabbets, dadoes, and cutouts using hand-held routers or router tables.
- • Follow templates to produce openings for hardware, vents, and fittings.
- • Trim laminate, veneer, or solid-surface edges flush with substrates.
- • Inspect parts and mark or discard pieces with tear-out, burns, chips, or unacceptable shapes or finishes.
- • Deburr, sand, or polish routed edges for a smooth finish.
- • Separate, label, and bundle parts by job, size, or type.
- • Mark parts with identification numbers, sizes, grades, or job codes.
- • Count and stack finished components; load onto carts, racks, or conveyors.
- • Maintain routers; replace, sharpen, and balance bits; clean collets, bases, and guards.
- • Check measurements with rules, squares, calipers, and templates to meet tolerances.
- • Stage, mount, or position panels and blanks on worktables before routing.
- • Transport materials and parts to work or storage areas using carts.
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Advanced Manufacturing
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
