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Overview
Woodturners shape wood on a lathe, removing excess material while the workpiece rotates and using turning tools to reach the required form and finish.
In job descriptions, look for lathes, wood types, turning tools, cross-slide positioning, tear-out prevention, raw material inspection, product quality, finishes and machine safety.
Explore this occupation
Open in Job ExplorerWhat the work can involve
Woodturning is centered on the lathe, the wood blank and the chosen profile. The work can include setting the piece, controlling rotation, using turning tools and checking the surface before finishing.
Skills and specializations
Useful depth comes from lathe parts, wood cuts, tool choice, tear-out prevention and safe machine work. Some roles add CNC wood machining, sanding, wood finishes or furniture and goods production.
Salary context
Pay context depends on manual or automated turning, tolerance demands, product value, finish responsibility and whether the role includes machine setup, maintenance or contract-specific production.
Career paths
Development may move from routine turning to complex profiles, CNC operation, finishing, quality inspection, small-batch production or training others on safe lathe handling.
Good to know
Check whether adverts name the products, lathe type, materials, finish standard and setup responsibility. That helps separate woodturning from general carpentry or broad woodworking-machine operation.
Editorial note
This guide is editorial career context, not official labour-market statistics or role-specific pay data.
Map overview
Click the map to search for woodturner jobs.
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O*NET relationships
See occupations connected to this ESCO occupation in the official O*NET–ESCO mapping. The relationship type comes from the source and is not a ranking or recommendation.
O*NET relationships: 2
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
51-4034.00
Close relationship
The occupations are closely related, but the official mapping does not treat them as exact equivalents.
Open in O*NETWoodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
51-7042.00
O*NET occupation is broader
The O*NET occupation covers a broader field of work than this ESCO occupation.
Open in O*NETSource and method
These relationships come from the official European Commission O*NET–ESCO crosswalk.
Relationship direction: O*NET occupation to ESCO occupation.
Several O*NET occupations can point to the same ESCO occupation, and one O*NET occupation can point to several ESCO occupations.
AltoTrail preserves the source relationship type. The order is technical and does not show which occupation is best, most relevant or recommended.
AltoTrail validates and presents the source relationships without adding ranking or recommendation semantics.
Alternative labels
wood turning lathe operator
wood lathe specialist
wood lathe operator
wood lathe turner
wood lather
multi-spindle wood machinist
bodger
wood turner
wood machinist
CNC wood machinist
woodworking machinist
wood lather turner
wood turning lathe operative
lather of wood
wood turning machinist
wood turning lathe setter
wood lathe technician
wood turning lathe tender
Occupation group
Woodworking-machine tool setters and operators (7523)
Source facts
| ESCO URI | http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/ac160654-0d3e-49aa-b798-1861ce9d78b6 |
|---|---|
| ESCO code | 7523.6 |
| ISCO group | 7523 |
| Concept type | Occupation |