A professional who sets up and operates hydraulic press equipped with heated platens to bond metal aircraft and space vehicle parts and assemblies. Respnsibilities include:

• Reads blueprints and shop orders to determine areas of parts to be joined, amount of bonding agent to apply, and temperature and pressure required.
• Examines parts or assemblies for surface defects and positions parts on machine bed, using jigs or fixtures.
• Applies adhesives to surfaces to be bonded.
• Installs thermocouple leads to machine, using handtools.
• Starts machine and adjusts controls to regulate pressure, heat, and curing time.
• May assemble parts prior to aligning them in machine.
• May operate autoclaves and ovens to cure and bond parts and assemblies.