Our shop (was) hiring!

Jo the Machinist

Jo the Machinist

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This position has been filled. Thank you.


Help wanted:

We're a small machine shop looking to hire an experienced knifemaker to help with our knife production. Primary responsibilities include operating machinery, finishing, sharpening, assembly, and packaging. Secondary responsibilities include other machining and production operations, helping with machine maintenance, cleaning shop, loading materials etc. An ideal candidate would be skilled at hand grinding and sharpening, and have experience in either a high-end production assembly manufacturing environment or in a machine shop. CNC or manual machining experience is not necessary, but would be a plus.

The right candidate will be very competent at blade grinding and have a fine eye for detail and quality workmanship and a willingness to learn. You'll have some flexibility in your schedule and hours and in the jobs you want to do and how you want to do them. If you want to learn machining and get hands on experience with CNC you'll get that opportunity.

We offer a laid back and safety oriented work environment where an honest, skilled, quality and detail focused individual with a good work ethic and a little OCD is going to be happy. Also, Mooresville is a great small town with a fantastic school system.

There are a lot of skilled knifemakers who give up at the trade because it's difficult to earn a living making knives, so they move on to less rewarding labor where their knife making skill is wasted. We're looking to hire and we can use that skill. So, rather than hire a machinist and try to teach them to make knives, we'd like to hire a knifemaker and teach them how to operate in a machine shop.

Please send a resume and your compensation expectations to us at carothersknives (at) gmail dought com and put "job opening" in the subject line.
 
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Heck of an opportunity.
I can't knifemaker real good and I am too far away or I'd be all over it. ; )
 
Opportunity of a Lifetime for the right person....may your quest come to fruition my friends. :)
 
Are you paying in dollars or in CPK knives? Might get more applicants with the latter. :D

Seriously . . . good luck! I bet you will find a pool of eager and qualified applicants.
 
This is a very good thing, a very much needed thing - for maker, buyer and prospective employee.
 
Jo, you will have a better chance to land a nuclear physicist from this usual crew in here than an able knifemaker :D

But in any case, best of luck Ma'am.
 
Jo the Machinist said:

*disclosure: We're pretty easy to get along with, but Jo does listen to really awful country music tripe, Nathan tells offensive jokes and may be an actual psychopath, and one of the dogs will try to lick you. This is a smoke free environment (mostly) but the amount of alcohol use is pretty appalling.
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lol!!
 
Have an Associates in Machining. .. been known to grind a blade but you lost me at safety conscious. I forge and grind wewring shorts and Crocs.
 
Karl B. Andersen said:
If I was anywhere near, and even in the need of that job, the disclosure would be enough to make me not apply.
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Yes, you're right, that bit of humor is probably inappropriate.

However it does convey something. This is a relaxed environment. We have burgers and beer for lunch most Fridays (BBQ & beer today though). And if we have to work late or work on a weekend, there will be beer. And occasional crude humor. It is not a formal environment, and I think it's important to convey that. Some people want that and some people don't. And I think it's helpful for someone considering applying to have an insight in our culture, but your point is well taken because I think it might give the impression that we're hacks.

Jo and I have degrees and have worked professionally in industry before starting this venture. Our small shop is incorporated (not a sole proprietorship or LLC) and serves high tech industries such as high speed printing and fiberoptics cable production. We have a seat of Pro/ENGINEER and three vertical machining centers.

I have over 20 years experience in manufacturing. I've been a certified ISO quality auditor, design engineer, production manager and engineering consultant. I have my name on six patents, I've been responsible for millions of dollars of production and there are many product designs currently in production that I designed and developed. So although we're just a small home based business, we've been around a while and we're not complete hacks.

Karl, I really do appreciate your insight here because it made me realize that folks might get the wrong idea about us. We don't take ourselves too seriously and we intentionally try to avoid an unnecessarily uptight work environment, but we are a serious organization, despite the attempt at humor and the cup holders on the milling machines.
 
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Hey there Karl,

Take it from me, they are fine people with a line of products of quality AT LEAST equal to ABS quality, with respect to fit and finish - period. I'm surprised your initial comments were so pointed.

Best regards,

Bob Betzner
 
So, rather than hire a machinist and try to teach them to make knives, we'd like to hire a knifemaker and teach them how to operate in a machine shop.
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I am not sure I completely understand this rationale, but I am sure there is sound reasoning behind it. I myself have an extensive machining background (18yrs)and am a licensed Tool & Die Maker as well as a licensed Machinist. I started in the trade straight out of high school and got an apprenticeship at a tool & cutter grind shop where we made custom tooling as well as sharpened cutting tools. I have worked with almost every type of tool steel, carbon steel, high speed steel,alloy steel etc. as well as many types of mild steel, stainless, aluminum, titanium,and magnesium etc. I've learned a lot about heat treating and the properties of said steels and their heat treats and the purpose for them.

Because of my quest for knowledge and my A.D.D., I tended to change jobs/shops every 3 years or so. I've worked on parts for everything, from airplane landing gears to the most basic mundane square block, I've made parts for satellites that I would imagine are still orbiting our planet to this day. I tried to steer clear of large union shops and worked mostly in smaller custom jobbing shops but I've ran everything from a small tool room lathe to one that was so large it could take most of your shift to make 2 cuts on a piece. I've ran little bridgeport mills to huge boring mills that had their own elevator. I've also worked with extremely tight tolerances that only someone who has been in the field could truly understand. I've ran jig grinder's with working tolerances in the 10ths of a 10th, where the temperature of the environment alone can put you in and out of spec if your not careful.

I could go on, but I've probably already lost some readers and I don't want to sound like I am bragging myself up or get too far off the point which would be that... I am sure that someone with a strong machining background could easily be trained to make knives, I am not so sure that someone who makes knives though could become a great machinist? I am in NO way trying to undermine any knife maker or their abilities it's just that I've always held the belief that experience can't be bought and it takes a multitude of experiences in machining to become truly good at the craft. I have held a personal theory that about 1 in 10 people are actually good at what they do, whether you are a machinist or a doctor or whatever? and about 1 in a 100 are truly exceptional. Now with all that being said in all my years of experience I have never made a knife, but I can't imagine the process being something I could not accomplish with some training/guidance from the right individual.

With all due respect I am not trying to tarnish this thread or question your rationale I am just trying to understand it. I've moved on from machining and had my own flooring business for the last 10 years and am currently in the process of changing careers again and am now working with my wife and business partner at our automotive repair facility. Carpal tunnel and my ageing body where as much a factor in this most recent career change as was our need to employ someone else to handle our growing business. If you were local to me I would most certainly be interested in the great opportunity you currently offer but alas I am not. I am however intrigued as to what makes you believe it is easier to train a knife maker to become a machinist than it is to do the opposite?


I certainly wish you the best of luck in your search for employees and I hope it happens sooner than later, as I have gained a great admiration for Carothers Performance Knives and their products and look forward to expanding my personal collection of them.
I hope I haven't insulted anyone or derailed this post in anyway and I also hope that I haven't come across as some sort of douche, as my literary skills have always been my downfall and I sometimes find it difficult to convey my thoughts properly in written text.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Yes, you're right, that bit of humor is probably inappropriate.

However it does convey something. This is a relaxed environment. We have burgers and beer for lunch most Fridays (BBQ & beer today though). And if we have to work late or work on a weekend, there will be beer. And occasional crude humor. It is not a formal environment, and I think it's important to convey that. Some people want that and some people don't. And I think it's helpful for someone considering applying to have an insight in our culture, but your point is well taken because I think it might give the impression that we're hacks.
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Haaa..This to me would be one the most attractive draws.......and the fact this is North Carolina....Mountains in the west and beaches in the east :thumbup:

I lived in Charlotte for a while, Chapel Hill for a while....but ended up moving to Atlanta for the central nature of Transportation hub and the business area I cover. I miss NC and unfortunately have no skills that qualify me for this opportunity. My only mentioned qualifications would be for a love of beer, Burgers, "Carolina Q" and off color humor.

I have a nephew(civil engineer) who recently moved to Concord, and married a local school teacher. They are very social and may know someone, so I've passed along your ad. At their wedding in July, my wife and I slipped away one afternoon to partake of Speedy's BBQ in Lexington.........Mmmmm good Q!!

Sorry if I derailed a bit, but just wanted to vouch for your beautiful part of the country.

Regards,
George
 
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