Contract mechanical designer vs tool designer

The differences between contract mechanical designers and tool designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a contract mechanical designer and a tool designer. Additionally, a contract mechanical designer has an average salary of $69,294, which is higher than the $64,763 average annual salary of a tool designer.

The top three skills for a contract mechanical designer include R, BOM and auto cad. The most important skills for a tool designer are jigs, assembly fixtures, and aerospace.

Contract mechanical designer vs tool designer overview

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Tool Designer
Yearly salary	$69,294	$64,763
Hourly rate	$33.31	$31.14
Growth rate	2%	1%
Number of jobs	72,152	51,666
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 49%	Associate Degree, 48%
Average age	41	54
Years of experience	6	6

Contract mechanical designer vs tool designer salary

Contract mechanical designers and tool designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Tool Designer
Average salary	$69,294	$64,763
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $91,000	Between $47,000 And $87,000
Highest paying City	-	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Entegris
Best paying industry	-	Automotive

Differences between contract mechanical designer and tool designer education

There are a few differences between a contract mechanical designer and a tool designer in terms of educational background:

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Tool Designer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 49%	Associate Degree, 48%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Carnegie Mellon University	-

Contract mechanical designer vs tool designer demographics

Here are the differences between contract mechanical designers' and tool designers' demographics:

	Contract Mechanical Designer	Tool Designer
Average age	41	54
Gender ratio	Male, 92.6% Female, 7.4%	Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 2.5% Unknown, 2.8% Hispanic or Latino, 6.6% Asian, 2.7% White, 84.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	5%	3%

Differences between contract mechanical designer and tool designer duties and responsibilities

Contract mechanical designer example responsibilities.

Work with JPL / NASA packaging and fabrication engineering leads (on-site).
Correspond with various vendors to select proper HVAC equipment.
Develop detail drawings, mechanize animations, bill of materials, ECO, and ECR's.
Generate ECO to update part specification in accordance with manufacturing requirements.
Create designs and documentation to facilitate manufacture of products including drawings, BOM and material specifications.
Design and automate electro-mechanical machinery to customer specifications.

Tool designer example responsibilities.

Manage customer contacts, lead, design, sketch and model Saab environmental test fixtures using Unigraphics V18.
Tune and correct extrusion tools to achieve dimensional tolerances, finish and function of products to internal and external customer specifications.
Used drill press, surface grinders, vertical mills, lathes, & NC control mills.
Train on Unigraphics version NX 7.5 Mold layout and design for plastic injection molds to make automotive lighting components.
Design automated production assembly jigs and fixtures for medical devices.
Design transfer, progressive, and blank dies for niche market OEM's.

Contract mechanical designer vs tool designer skills

Common contract mechanical designer skills

R, 9%
BOM, 8%
Auto CAD, 7%
Mechanical Design, 6%
Layout Drawings, 6%
Product Development, 5%

Common tool designer skills

Jigs, 10%
Assembly Fixtures, 8%
Aerospace, 6%
CNC, 5%
NX, 5%
GD, 4%

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Contract Mechanical Designer
Contract Mechanical Designer vs Tool Designer

Updated January 8, 2025

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