Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 39,900 people employed as millwrights in the United States. The median annual salary is $60,330. Entry level employees earn approximately $37,860 per year and senior employees earn approximately $81,190 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Dismantle machinery and equipment for shipment to installation site, performing installation and maintenance work as part of team.
• Weld, repair, and fabricate equipment or machinery.
• Dismantle machines, using hammers, wrenches, crowbars, and other hand tools.
• Fabricate and dismantle parts, equipment, and machines, using a cutting torch or other cutting equipment.
• Bolt parts, such as side and deck plates, jaw plates, and journals, to basic assembly unit.
• Construct foundation for machines, using hand tools and building materials such as wood, cement, and steel.
• Install robot and modify its program, using teach pendant.
• Troubleshoot equipment, electrical components, hydraulics, or other mechanical systems.
• Connect power unit to machines or steam piping to equipment, and test unit to evaluate its mechanical operation.
• Operate engine lathe to grind, file, and turn machine parts to dimensional specifications.
• Insert shims, adjust tension on nuts and bolts, or position parts, using hand tools and measuring instruments, to set specified clearances between moving and stationary parts.
• Level bedplate and establish centerline, using straightedge, levels, and transit.
• Align machines or equipment, using hoists, jacks, hand tools, squares, rules, micrometers, lasers, or plumb bobs.
• Assemble and install equipment, using hand tools and power tools.
• Signal crane operator to lower basic assembly units to bedplate, and align unit to centerline.
• Conduct preventative maintenance and repair, and lubricate machines and equipment.
• Replace defective parts of machine, or adjust clearances and alignment of moving parts.
• Attach moving parts and subassemblies to basic assembly unit, using hand tools and power tools.
• Move machinery and equipment, using hoists, dollies, rollers, and trucks.
• Assemble machines, and bolt, weld, rivet, or otherwise fasten them to foundation or other structures, using hand tools and power tools.
• Lay out mounting holes, using measuring instruments, and drill holes with power drill.
• Position steel beams to support bedplates of machines and equipment, using blueprints and schematic drawings to determine work procedures.
• Shrink-fit bushings, sleeves, rings, liners, gears, and wheels to specified items, using portable gas heating equipment.

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