A professional who tends equipment that separates down from feathers and separates feathers according to quality. Respnsibilities include:

• Dumps sacks of feathers of mixed grade into separator by hand.
• Turns wheels to adjust height of separator walls.
• Starts blower system to circulate feathers up and over separator walls, heavier or lower grades of which pass over first or lowest walls while lighter or premium grades pass over higher walls.
• Turns off blowers to allow feathers to settle to floor of bins and sweeps them into sacks.
• May add chemicals to separator during process to sterilize feathers.
• When operating machine to remove pin feathers or quills from down, may be designated pin-feather-machine operator; quill-picking-machine operator.