Sheetmetal Worker
What the work is
Marks out, shapes, forms and joins sheetmetal and other materials to make products and components.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Studies blueprints, drawings and specifications to determine job, material and equipment requirements
- Selects metal stock such as stainless steel, galvanised iron, mild steel, aluminium and copper, and checks sizes, gauges and other dimensions of metal stock against specifications
- Marks out metal stock with reference points and lines, using templates, gauges and other measuring instruments
- Cuts metal stock along guidelines using hand and power shears, computerised laser and plasma cutters, guillotines and drills
- Shapes and forms cut metal stock into products using folding and bending machines, rollers, presses and hammers
- Fits and assembles components into final products by welding, riveting, soldering, brazing and otherwise joining
- Finishes products by polishing, filing, sanding and cleaning assembled products
- May specialise in fabrication, or on-site assembly and installation of sheetmetal products
- May produce aircraft sheetmetal components
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a mobile farrier's ute and a small workshop beside a horse stable in a fictional country district. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A horse that was limping walks out sound after a good trim and shoe
- A forge fire running right and a hot piece of metal taking the shape you wanted
- Owners who learn something about their horse's feet because you took time to show them
Hard days
- A nervous horse, a long drive between jobs and a back that aches by afternoon
- An owner who wants a quick fix for a hoof problem that needs time
- Weather and distance that mess up the whole day's bookings
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 331936, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.