Tool Maker

Responsibilities:

• Troubleshoot, repair, and perform preventative maintenance on plastic molds, hot runner systems, and related tooling.
• Disassemble, inspect, diagnose, and reassemble molds to resolve quality, performance, and dimensional issues.
• Modify, refurbish, or replace mold components including cavities, cores, slides, lifters, and hot runner components.
• Perform precision machining and bench work, including milling, turning, grinding, EDM, polishing, and fitting.
• Use toolroom equipment such as manual mills, CNC mills, lathes, surface grinders, and hand tools for mold repair and improvement.
• Diagnose root causes of defects such as flash, short shots, warpage, dimensional variation, and cosmetic issues.
• Support mold tryouts, sampling, and new product launches.
• Collaborate with Production and internal tooling teams to minimize downtime and optimize mold performance.
• Maintain accurate documentation of maintenance activities, tooling changes, and component replacements.
• Identify opportunities to improve mold life, reliability, cycle times, and scrap reduction.
• Utilize inspection equipment to verify dimensions, tolerances, and component fit.

Qualifications:

• High school diploma or GED required; completion of a state‑indentured tool & die apprenticeship (Journeyman card) preferred.
• 3–7+ years of experience in tool making, mold repair, or tool & die within plastics manufacturing.
• Strong experience with injection molding tooling; blow molding experience a plus.
• Proficiency operating manual mills, lathes, grinders, and EDM equipment.
• Ability to read and interpret blueprints, tooling drawings, and CAD prints.
• Solid understanding of mold components, fits, tolerances, and precision measurement tools.
• Experience troubleshooting molds and tooling in a production environment.
• Familiarity with hot runner systems and mold heating/cooling systems preferred.
• Basic understanding of injection molding processes, equipment, and materials.