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Sheet Metal Worker

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AVG. SALARY

$55,250

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EDUCATION

High school (GED) +

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JOB OUTLOOK

Stable

What They Do

Sheet Metal Workers Career Video

About This Career

Fabricates, assembles, installs, and repairs sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.

This career is part of the Architecture and Construction cluster Construction pathway.

A person in this career:

  • Converts blueprints into shop drawings to be followed in the construction or assembly of sheet metal products.
  • Determines project requirements, such as scope, assembly sequences, or required methods or materials, using blueprints, drawings, or written or verbal instructions.
  • Lays out, measures, and marks dimensions and reference lines on material, such as roofing panels, using calculators, scribes, dividers, squares, or rulers.
  • Fastens seams or joints together with welds, bolts, cement, rivets, solder, caulks, metal drive clips, or bonds to assemble components into products or to repair sheet metal items.
  • Trims, files, grinds, deburrs, buffs, or smooths surfaces, seams, or joints of assembled parts, using hand tools or portable power tools.
  • Fabricates ducts for high efficiency heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to maximize efficiency of systems.
  • Selects gauges or types of sheet metal or nonmetallic material, according to product specifications.
  • Finishes parts, using hacksaws or hand, rotary, or squaring shears.
  • Shapes metal material over anvils, blocks, or other forms, using hand tools.
  • Fabricates or alters parts at construction sites, using shears, hammers, punches, or drills.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

  • You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
  • Work in this occupation involves bending or twisting your body more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupation requires climbing things such as ladders, scaffold, and poles more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
  • Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
  • Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
  • Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
  • Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves walking or running more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

  • Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
  • Judging how far away an object is, or which of several objects is closer or farther away
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
  • Seeing clearly at a distance
  • Seeing clearly up close
  • Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
  • Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

  • Regular working hours and limited travel

Specialty and Similar Careers

Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:

  • Field Installer
  • HVAC Sheet Metal Installer (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Sheet Metal Installer)
  • Sheet Metal Fabricator
  • Sheet Metal Installer
  • Sheet Metal Layout Mechanic
  • Sheet Metal Mechanic