Die designer vs tool designer

The differences between die designers and tool designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a die designer, becoming a tool designer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a die designer has an average salary of $74,294, which is higher than the $64,763 average annual salary of a tool designer.

The top three skills for a die designer include CNC, stamping dies and NX. The most important skills for a tool designer are jigs, assembly fixtures, and aerospace.

Die designer vs tool designer overview

	Die Designer	Tool Designer
Yearly salary	$74,294	$64,763
Hourly rate	$35.72	$31.14
Growth rate	-3%	1%
Number of jobs	45,135	51,666
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 57%	Associate Degree, 48%
Average age	45	54
Years of experience	4	6

Die designer vs tool designer salary

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

	Die Designer	Tool Designer
Average salary	$74,294	$64,763
Salary range	Between $50,000 And $110,000	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 die designer and tool designer education

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

	Die Designer	Tool Designer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 57%	Associate Degree, 48%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Northwestern University	-

Die designer vs tool designer demographics

Here are the differences between die designers' and tool designers' demographics:

	Die Designer	Tool Designer
Average age	45	54
Gender ratio	Male, 92.3% Female, 7.7%	Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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	6%	3%

Differences between die designer and tool designer duties and responsibilities

Die designer example responsibilities.

Sketch design ideas, create technical packets and manage the product development process from concept to creation.
Complete 3D graphics with SOLIDWORKS and draw the orthographic views of fixture with AUTOCAD.
Design fixtures in Solidworks which properly secure parts to be weld using ABB robots for mass production.
Develop test solutions to assist manufactures to quickly and accurately analyze, troubleshoot and identify root cause failure analysis.
Design and hand make men's and women's leather footwear, handbags, and jewelry collections.
Used creative concepting to generate relative imagery for print and embroidery purposes.

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.

Die designer vs tool designer skills

Common die designer skills

CNC, 17%
Stamping Dies, 13%
NX, 11%
Autocad, 10%
Pro-E, 7%
CATIA, 6%

Common tool designer skills

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