A professional who sets up and operates one or more automatic machines to shear, form, and punch nut blanks from hot or cold metal bar or coiled stock. Respnsibilities include:

• Installs punching and shearing dies in machine, using wrenches, rule, hammer, and gauges.
• Threads end of coiled stock from feeder reel through straightening rolls and against stop in machine, or aligns bar stock between dies by hand or using tongs for hot bar stock.
• Starts machine and observes feeding operation, or feeds bar stock against dies.
• Measures nut blanks with gauges and adjusts dies to maintain specified dimensions.
• May regulate electric induction or gas furnace to heat stock.
• May set up machine for production-machine tender.