Title: Mold Maker
Location: Chattanooga, TN
A well-established manufacturing organization is seeking an experienced **Mold Maker/Machinist **to join its tooling and maintenance team. This individual will be responsible for building, repairing, modifying, and maintaining precision tooling used in high-volume manufacturing operations. The ideal candidate has strong machining skills, experience working with production molds, and the ability to troubleshoot tooling issues to minimize downtime and support efficient production.
Responsibilities
- Build, repair, and modify tooling, molds, fixtures, and related components to support manufacturing operations.
- Operate conventional machining equipment including mills, lathes, grinders, drill presses, band saws, and EDM equipment to fabricate precision components.
- Interpret engineering drawings, blueprints, and technical specifications to manufacture or repair tooling within required tolerances.
- Perform preventative maintenance on molds and tooling to maximize performance and extend service life.
- Diagnose tooling failures and complete repairs to reduce production downtime.
- Troubleshoot mold-related issues while tooling is installed in production equipment and recommend corrective actions.
- Repair and maintain hot runner systems and other mold components as needed.
- Build tooling accessories including electrodes, fixtures, and work-holding devices to improve manufacturing efficiency.
- Support prototype tooling modifications and engineering changes.
- Verify finished components using precision measuring equipment such as calipers, micrometers, indicators, and gauges.
- Complete maintenance records, work orders, inspection documentation, and tooling history accurately.
- Participate in tooling reviews and collaborate with engineering on design improvements to increase reliability and manufacturability.
- Maintain a clean, organized, and safe work area while following established safety procedures.
- Assist with additional tooling and machining projects as assigned.
Qualifications
- Experience building, repairing, and maintaining production tooling or molds in a manufacturing environment.
- Strong knowledge of manual machining processes including milling, turning, grinding, drilling, and EDM machining.
- Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, and technical documentation.
- Experience using precision inspection equipment to verify dimensional accuracy.
- Hands-on troubleshooting experience with production tooling and mold-related issues.
- Understanding of preventative maintenance practices for tooling and molds.
- Welding experience is a plus.
- Experience with CAD software such as SolidWorks or similar is preferred.
- Strong mechanical aptitude with excellent problem-solving skills.
You should be proficient in:
- CNC Tooling
- Precision Measurement & Hand Metrology
- Manual Machining Skills
- Injection Molding Experience
- manual lathe
- manual mill
- Tool and die
- surface grinder
Machines & technologies you'll use:
- Surface Grinder
- Manual Grinder
- Manual Vertical Mill
