A professional who tends machine to grind and polish slate products, such as flooring, mantels, and coping, to specified thickness and cut grooves in bottom surface of slate to increase adhesion to mortar bed. Responsibilities include:

• Selects spacers (width guides) according to distance between grooves and positions saw blades and spacers on machine arbor, using wrench.
• Turns handwheels to move grinding wheels and blades into grinding and sawing position according to thickness specified for stone and depth of grooves.
• Places slate strip on conveyor, moves conveyor guides against stone, and tightens guides in position, using wrench.
• Turns valve to spray water (coolant) on grinding wheels and sawing blades.
• Starts machine and places slate strips on conveyor that feeds strips between grinding wheels and saw blades of machine.
• Removes stone from conveyor and places stone on pallet.