Career
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Heat-treat metal and plastic to make it stronger.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Read production schedules and work orders to determine processing sequences, furnace temperatures, and heat cycle requirements for objects to be heat-treated.
- Record times that parts are removed from furnaces to document that objects have attained specified temperatures for specified times.
- Adjust controls to maintain temperatures and heating times, using thermal instruments and charts, dials and gauges of furnaces, and color of stock in furnaces to make setting determinations.
- Start conveyors and open furnace doors to load stock, or signal crane operators to uncover soaking pits and lower ingots into them.
- Set up and operate or tend machines, such as furnaces, baths, flame-hardening machines, and electronic induction machines, that harden, anneal, and heat-treat metal.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Read production schedules and work orders to determine processing sequences, furnace temperatures, and heat cycle requirements for objects to be heat-treated.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Active Listening, Quality Control Analysis.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $48,750 a year and 1,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Machine Tool Technology/MachinistCIP 48.0501
- Machine Shop Technology/AssistantCIP 48.0503
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders$54,430 · -2.9%
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders$48,040 · +2.6%
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$44,350 · -3.4%
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$51,610 · -5.7%
- Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders$47,920 · -8.9%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.