Will “Chopper Gun Operator” be Replaced By Robots? 🤔

Job Description

Laminate layers of fiberglass on molds to form boat decks and hulls, bodies for golf carts, automobiles, or other products.

Job Details

• The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 51-2091.00
• The Mean Annual Wage in the U.S. is $ 33,020.00
• The Mean Hourly Wage is $ 15.00
• Currently, there are 19,400 people on this job

☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators”.

Also Known As…

• Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators
• Roller
• Laminator
• Hull Line Crew Member
• Gel-Coater
• Fiberglasser
• Fiberglass Laminator
• Fiberglass Finisher
• Chopper Gun Operator
• Boat Carpenter
• Boat Builder
• Winding Operator
• Ski Maker
• Pre-Fabricator
• Lamination Technician
• Lamination Operator
• Lamination Builder
• Laborer
• Golf Cart Maker
• Golf Cart Assembler
• Foam Tank Laminator
• Fiberglass Ski Maker
• Fiberglass Roller
• Fiberglass Machine Operator
• Fiberglass Luggage Molder
• Fiberglass Grinder
• Fiberglass Fabricator
• Fiberglass Container Winding Operator
• Fiberglass Boat Maker
• Fiberglass Boat Finisher
• Fiberglass Boat Builder
• Composite Technician
• Composite Mechanic
• Composite Bond Technician
• Boat Assembler

Tasks for “Chopper Gun Operator”

• Cure materials by letting them set at room temperature, placing them under heat lamps, or baking them in ovens.
• Inspect, clean, and assemble molds before beginning work.
• Pat or press layers of saturated mat or cloth into place on molds, using brushes or hands, and smooth out wrinkles and air bubbles with hands or squeegees.
• Select precut fiberglass mats, cloth, and wood-bracing materials as required by projects being assembled.
• Repair or modify damaged or defective glass-fiber parts, checking thicknesses, densities, and contours to ensure a close fit after repair.
• Apply layers of plastic resin to mold surfaces prior to placement of fiberglass mats, repeating layers until products have the desired thicknesses and plastics have jelled.
• Trim cured materials by sawing them with diamond-impregnated cutoff wheels.
• Trim excess materials from molds, using hand shears or trimming knives.
• Check all dies, templates, and cutout patterns to be used in the manufacturing process to ensure that they conform to dimensional data, photographs, blueprints, samples, or customer specifications.
• Mix catalysts into resins, and saturate cloth and mats with mixtures, using brushes.
• Release air bubbles and smooth seams, using rollers.
• Spray chopped fiberglass, resins, and catalysts onto prepared molds or dies using pneumatic spray guns with chopper attachments.
• Mask off mold areas not to be laminated, using cellophane, wax paper, masking tape, or special sprays containing mold-release substances.
• Apply lacquers and waxes to mold surfaces to facilitate assembly and removal of laminated parts.
• Bond wood reinforcing strips to decks and cabin structures of watercraft, using resin-saturated fiberglass.
• Check completed products for conformance to specifications and for defects by measuring with rulers or micrometers, by checking them visually, or by tapping them to detect bubbles or dead spots.

Related Technology & Tools

• Heat lamps
• Rulers
• Pressure-fed roller applicators
• High-volume low-pressure HVLP spray guns
• Power drivers
• Vacuum pumps
• Paint application brushes
• Micrometers
• Personal computers
• Power sanders
• Power grinders
• Ladders
• Cutoff saws
• Rotating mandrels
• Power drills
• Hand shears
• Paint application rollers
• Fiber reinforced polymer FRP rollers
• Chopper guns
• Curing ovens
• Respirators
• Squeegees
• Vacuum bags
• Scaffolding
• Pneumatic spray guns
• Trimming knives
• Paint spray guns

• Spreadsheet software
• Data entry software
• Word processing software