Description
Engrave or etch metal, wood, rubber, or other materials. Includes such workers as etcher-circuit processors, pantograph engravers, and silk screen etchers.
- • Use computer software to design patterns for engraving.
- • Adjust depths and sizes of cuts by adjusting heights of worktables, or by adjusting machine-arm gauges.
- • Engrave and print patterns, designs, etchings, trademarks, or lettering onto flat or curved surfaces of a wide variety of metal, glass, plastic, or paper items, using hand tools or hand-held power tools.
- • Position and clamp workpieces, plates, or rollers in holding fixtures.
- • Determine machine settings, and move bars or levers to reproduce designs on rollers or plates.
- • Examine engraving for quality of cut, burrs, rough spots, and irregular or incomplete engraving.
- • Measure and compute dimensions of lettering, designs, or patterns to be engraved.
- • Start machines and lower cutting tools to beginning points on patterns.
- • Clean and polish engraved areas.
- • Examine sketches, diagrams, samples, blueprints, or photographs to decide how designs are to be etched, cut, or engraved onto workpieces.
- • Prepare etching chemicals according to formulas, diluting acid with water to obtain solutions of specified concentration.
- • Sandblast exposed areas of glass to cut designs in surfaces, using spray guns.
- • Set reduction scales to attain specified sizes of reproduction on workpieces, and set pantograph controls for required heights, depths, and widths of cuts.
- • Neutralize workpieces to remove acid, wax, or enamel, using water, solvents, brushes, or specialized machines.
- • Inspect etched work for depth of etching, uniformity, and defects, using calibrated microscopes, gauges, fingers, or magnifying lenses.
- • Prepare workpieces for etching or engraving by cutting, sanding, cleaning, polishing, or treating them with wax, acid resist, lime, etching powder, or light-sensitive enamel.
- • Insert cutting tools or bits into machines and secure them with wrenches.
- • Print proofs or examine designs to verify accuracy of engraving, and rework engraving as required.
- • Transfer image to workpiece, using contact printer, pantograph stylus, silkscreen printing device, or stamp pad.
- • Sketch, trace, or scribe layout lines and designs on workpieces, plates, dies, or rollers, using compasses, scribers, gravers, or pencils.
- • Guide stylus over template, causing cutting tool to duplicate design or letters on workpiece.
- • Remove completed workpieces and place them in trays.
- • Remove wax or tape from etched glassware by using a stylus or knife, or by immersing ware in hot water.
- • Fill etched characters with opaque paste to improve readability.
- • Brush or wipe acid over engraving to darken or highlight inscriptions.
- • Expose workpieces to acid to develop etch patterns such as designs, lettering, or figures.
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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
