tool grinder
Tool grinder perform precision grinding processes on metal objects and tools. They grind, sharpen or smoothen metal surfaces using the appropriate tools and instruments. Tool grinders follow tooling instructions and assure the processed workpiece meets the necessary specifications.
tool grinder tool grinder perform precision grinding processes on metal objects and tools. They grind, sharpen or smoothen metal surfaces using the appropriate tools and instruments. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include cutting technologies, quality standards, inspect quality of products, remove inadequate workpieces, manipulate metal.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £31,500 a year for Metal working machine operatives (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £27,304 to £39,688 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 8120). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Craft and related trades workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only tool grinder, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 7. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Mechanical
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Production and Processing
- Education and Training
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Engineering and Technology
What you'd actually do
- 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.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does tool grinder do?
Tool grinder perform precision grinding processes on metal objects and tools. They grind, sharpen or smoothen metal surfaces using the appropriate tools and instruments. Tool grinders follow tooling instructions and assure the processed workpiece meets the necessary specifications.
What skills does tool grinder need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include cutting technologies, quality standards, inspect quality of products, remove inadequate workpieces, manipulate metal, remove processed workpiece. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace tool grinder?
Our AI-durability model gives tool grinder a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.