Fixture maker vs tool designer

The differences between fixture makers 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 fixture maker and a tool designer. Additionally, a tool designer has an average salary of $64,763, which is higher than the $41,672 average annual salary of a fixture maker.

The top three skills for a fixture maker include hand tools, grinders and store fixtures. The most important skills for a tool designer are jigs, assembly fixtures, and aerospace.

Fixture maker vs tool designer overview

	Fixture Maker	Tool Designer
Yearly salary	$41,672	$64,763
Hourly rate	$20.03	$31.14
Growth rate	1%	1%
Number of jobs	7,111	51,666
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 53%	Associate Degree, 48%
Average age	54	54
Years of experience	6	6

Fixture maker vs tool designer salary

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

	Fixture Maker	Tool Designer
Average salary	$41,672	$64,763
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $57,000	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 fixture maker and tool designer education

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

	Fixture Maker	Tool Designer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 53%	Associate Degree, 48%
Most common major	Mechanical Engineering	Drafting And Design
Most common college	-	-

Fixture maker vs tool designer demographics

Here are the differences between fixture makers' and tool designers' demographics:

	Fixture Maker	Tool Designer
Average age	54	54
Gender ratio	Male, 100.0% Female, 0.0%	Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 1.8% Unknown, 2.6% Hispanic or Latino, 4.7% Asian, 2.6% White, 87.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	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	3%	3%

Differences between fixture maker and tool designer duties and responsibilities

Fixture maker example responsibilities.

Fabricate precision jig fixtures enabling production to produce numerous parts from jigs using sheet metal carpentry and various other skills.
Perform all machining operations necessary to build production machinery and tooling to manufacture a wide selection of aerospace fasteners.
Machine high tolerance checking fixture details on Bridgeport and automatic wet grinder.
Perform all machining operations necessary to build production machinery and tooling to manufacture a wide selection of aerospace fasteners.

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.

Fixture maker vs tool designer skills

Common fixture maker skills

Hand Tools, 53%
Grinders, 33%
Store Fixtures, 7%
Jigs, 4%
Prototype, 4%

Common tool designer skills

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