How To Become A Surface Grinder: What It Is and Career Path

What is a surface grinder and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a surface grinder. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.39 an hour? That's $40,330 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 3,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSurface GrinderUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,330

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.04%

Asian 7.77%

Black or African American 8.77%

Hispanic or Latino 14.00%

Unknown 4.44%

White 63.98%

Gender

female 7.25%

male 92.75%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a surface grinder

Explore surface grinder education requirements

Most common surface grinder degrees

High School Diploma

41.4 %

Associate

21.7 %

Diploma

14.5 %

Start to develop specific surface grinder skills

Skills	Percentages
Grinders	16.44%
Micrometers	11.77%
Manual Lathes	10.43%
Calipers	9.50%
CNC Machines	8.18%

Complete relevant surface grinder training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New surface grinders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a surface grinder based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real surface grinder resumes.

Research surface grinder duties and responsibilities

Operate various grinding machines using calipers and micrometers.
sharpen and/or modify form tools, drills, tap, reamers, recess tools, and make step drills
Set up and run tracers on the lathe.
Operate 30 ton cab cranes.

Prepare your surface grinder resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your surface grinder resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a surface grinder resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable surface grinder resume templates

Build a professional surface grinder resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your surface grinder resume.