Bench hand vs lead fabricator

The differences between bench hands and lead fabricators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lead fabricator has an average salary of $44,415, which is higher than the $36,500 average annual salary of a bench hand.

The top three skills for a bench hand include hand tools, grinders and cranes. The most important skills for a lead fabricator are customer service, lean manufacturing, and safety procedures.

Bench hand vs lead fabricator overview

	Bench Hand	Lead Fabricator
Yearly salary	$36,500	$44,415
Hourly rate	$17.55	$21.35
Growth rate	-5%	-1%
Number of jobs	5,097	3,209
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 46%	High School Diploma, 28%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	-	-

Bench hand vs lead fabricator salary

Bench hands and lead fabricators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Bench Hand	Lead Fabricator
Average salary	$36,500	$44,415
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $50,000	Between $27,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between bench hand and lead fabricator education

There are a few differences between a bench hand and a lead fabricator in terms of educational background:

	Bench Hand	Lead Fabricator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 46%	High School Diploma, 28%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Bench hand vs lead fabricator demographics

Here are the differences between bench hands' and lead fabricators' demographics:

	Bench Hand	Lead Fabricator
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 90.9% Female, 9.1%	Male, 92.8% Female, 7.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 8.8% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 58.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between bench hand and lead fabricator duties and responsibilities

Bench hand example responsibilities.

Operate various machines including; hones, lathes and surface grinders.
Execute bench, machine and hand tool work in shaping, fitting and assembling forging dies, jigs and fixtures.
Perform all machining operations necessary to build production machinery and tooling to manufacture a wide selection of aerospace fasteners.
Unload trucks using forklift and overhead crane.
Perform in-house calibration on rulers, calipers, digital indicators and leak tester following the approved calibration procedure.

Lead fabricator example responsibilities.

Weld TIG & GMAW stainless certify.
Quoted jobs, weld TIG, MIG, aluminum and steel.
Fabricate jigs and fixtures for accurate production of parts.
Follow all safety policies and ensure PPE are used.
Develop jigs, dies, fixtures, gauges and other tooling to meet specifications set out by customers.
Glass glazing/commercial aluminum window panel fabrication

Bench hand vs lead fabricator skills

Common bench hand skills

Hand Tools, 48%
Grinders, 19%
Cranes, 14%
Drill Presses, 10%
Manual Lathes, 6%
Visual Inspections, 2%

Common lead fabricator skills

Customer Service, 11%
Lean Manufacturing, 7%
Safety Procedures, 7%
Sigma, 6%
CNC Plasma, 4%
Shop Equipment, 4%