Hi all,

ScrapFab is a custom fabrication company that specializes in custom metal designs and fabrication. We are seeking a fabricator and welder for semi-regular part time and occasional full time work. We use MIG and we typically fabricate handrail here in Denver. We also do a lot of festival and art installations. We’ve even constructed a six lane waterslide in LegoLand, California.

As of November our company ScrapFab is just under two years old. We started in a single car garage fabricating costumes for a 420 rally. One year (on the day) after going into business, my business partner and I were building a waterslide at LegoLand. We are (I think for only a short while longer) a small company; we have two trucks, two welders and a two car garage- it gets the job done… In these first seven months of our second year, we’ve already seen a 240% growth in profit from our first year.. The fabrication industry in-and-around Denver is booming and work has been coming in faster than we can complete it.

You can check out our website at www.scrapfab.com.

I'm mainly looking for someone to help with the larger projects. We are a three person company, having two partners and one ( typically unavailable lol) employee. My partner is making some life advances and will be leaving the company in about three months. In the meanwhile we would like to find a suitable, experienced person to help with making estimates, creating CAD illustrations, designing jigs, welding and grinding. You should have experience welding. Any TIG or stick experience is a super plus but, unfortunately, structural credentials and any degrees or certifications will likely over-qualify you for this position… we don’t do much structural work and can’t afford to pay for those types of credentials.

Below I’ll describe some suggested abilities and experience levels that would make a difference in how much you get paid (the sky is the limit, for the right person… I do hope to find someone who wants share all the responsibilities and go in as partner)

—Suggested (but not required) Experience—

~(really, don’t answer these questions)~

___But Xtra credit, if you do___

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-Ability to measure using a tape measure. (This might actually be required)

This is important! If you know what line 3/32nd on the tape is, and if you know what the sum of 31 5/8 and 3 3/4 is, then you should be proud to consider yourself able and experienced!!

-Ability to use math to define complex shapes and dimensions:

1) Okay- We’re designing a rail that is 8’ wide. Code states that all balusters (i.e.- the short pillars or columns, typically decorative in design, which are in series and support the rail) must not be spaced more than 4” apart..

-To quote this Job, we will need to figure out how many balusters should be placed in the railing,

and how far apart they will be spaced.

-The information required to solve that:

*Balusters are square tube and are .5” wide.

*railing is 8’ long and we want the balusters spaced equally from one side to the other with 4” gap between them.

A) How many balusters will we need?

B) How far from the outside wall will the balusters on each end be placed?

2) This time, we’re building handrail for a porch which has stairs leading to front door. The stairwell starts at ground level and ends at the base of the front door; the client wants the handrail to be 34” tall; they want the angle of the handrail to be parallel to the incline angle of the stairwell.

-First, we must determine the length of pipe/tubing to use for the handrail material (i.e.-the handrail is the top length of material which starts at the beginning of the first step and ends flush with the face of the wall which the door is measured from.)

-The information required:

*the perpendicular distance, across ground level, from the face of the front door to the beginning

of the stairwell is 6’

* The vertical distance from the ground to the surface of the last step (where the stairwell will end and meet the door sweep) is 44” tall.

*The first step is 5” above ground level. (this is where the handrail begins)

A) What angle do the stairs rise at?

B) What length of tube/pipe will we use for the handrail? (Hint: first step is 5” above ground level)

C) How tall will the railing be, from ground level, once it reaches the face of the front door?

These questions are everyday problems which require careful attention. I like to compute these numbers myself and I really appreciate anyone else who can because we can double check each other… I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again (probably soon) and it helps to have a second set of eyes on these things.

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If you can’t answer those above questions, or even if you fall short in other areas like welding experience; or maybe you have a lack of project management or shop experience… You’re totally STILL ELIGBLE for this position!!

The amount of experience that you have will determine your pay. I currently have a 17 year old apprentice and I pay him 10$/hr (even though Im sometimes pretty sure he should be paying ME.. lol). He asks a lot of questions and typically we accomplish tasks at about the same speed that I would, alone… However, with my partner of 2 years leaving the company I really want to find someone who knows their way around things… who can look at a photo, observe that state of the shop, and jump right into a project without *too much* (there will always and should always be questions) need for detailed instruction.

For example:

A- You have no experience welding and little experience around metal. You need assistance calculating baluster spacing but you know how to read a tape measure and mark and cut accurately- probably 14/hr.

B- If you have no experience welding. You can use a tape measure and you have some experience with grinding/metalworking - probably 15/hr

C- No welding or grinding experience but you find math easy and are interested in learning about welding/grinding - probably 16/hr

D- You have welding experience and are good at math. You can observe a shop and know just how to help- probably 17/hr

E- You’ve got experience welding, you’re good at math and you have CAD background. You can observe a shop and know just how to help- probably 20/hr with strong growth potential within the company

F- You can do all of this with one eye closed for 22 hours straight even after drinking a 6-pack… You enjoy this work and thrive off getting it done. All you need is a photo, some dimensions and a couple more hours; you’re dependable, honest and trustworthy.. You’re not lying when you say you’ll ‘have it done yesterday’- your salary could extend to 50/50 profit sharing.

Its really easiest for me to break down salary this way; everyone has strong points and each strong point usually comes with an opposite weak point… I’m only 28 years old and have no college background… I don’t expect you to be able to blow everyones socks off! However, what is important for us is a *good attitude,* willingness to learn and a personal interest in growing your own skillset in a way that is both fun and profitable. I want people who I work with to feel as though they can come by and work on their own project anytime. Everyone is building a thing they are proud of! If we are lucky enough, we can help each other build the things that we can both be proud of!

Our workload varies and, as such, so does the cash flow. For this reason, I can only promise part-time employment. Another possibility could be paying a set rate per piece, if whatever project we were working on permitted (i.e.- Having 30 pieces and getting paid 50$ to weld each piece)

However, there are times where, for months, our workload can be tremendously large. For the past three weeks ScrapFab has had three efficient employees working full-time and, even still, both my partner and myself worked about 120 hours each week. Despite my partner and I both worked about 350 hours each over three weeks, expenses such as employee payroll, purchasing new/replacement tools, renewing shop supplies plus rent and other overhead, - my partner and myself actually walked with under 1900$ each… These occurrences are rare (we both injured our left hand at the same time and had to hire people for two weeks) but the workload on a 50/50 partnership level can sometimes make you feel as though there is no time to see friends or visit family and, at the end, its lucky to have anything to show for it… Again these circumstances are rare, but they do happen. There do also exist jobs that bring enough profit to afford a house (in a cheap place lol).

To be clear, this position is not requiring availability for 120 hours per week! You should just know that those types of weeks exist; sometimes free travel is included. If you find that you enjoy working this job, defining your own role and building your own skillset by creating beautiful things, we can make sure your salary reflects that.However, because the -buy-a-house- size gigs are infrequent, scheduling time for the weekly/hourly job-type-thing is very difficult. We can predict work but cannot promise it will come on time to get your rent paid… The workload increases and decreases.. Winter months are slow and I expect to need an employee for about 10 hours per week and partner for about 25 hours per week. Currently we have a job for 70' of custom fence for a residential lot and also some tables need to be fabricated for AMF bowling alleys. I expect the gate to be about three weeks in itself. Within the same time we have 22 tables to make... We're busy now and likely will be for the remainder of the month, at least.

If fabrication is your strong suit and you want a career that is dynamic in this way, then you should approach this as an opportunity to make those connections and get your foot in the door that is self-employment. Through working together you’ll learn (if you don’t know already) how to make just about anything… I used to live in LA and that's where a lot of our professional connections come from; as a career I made the ‘thing in the photo’ for various directors and studios.

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This position could work great for you if:

-You enjoy the “gig” life; where work comes and goes, nothing is repetitive and you are in control of when you want to work and what you want to build/design.

-You have a secondary source of income to budget your needs (I want to be able to assure that we’ll have enough work for you to pay rent, although sometimes that's difficult as no one knows when the next person is going to need something fabricated.

-you work best at the 11th hour (most people want things done yesterday)

-You want to build a portfolio of your own or use these skills to better yourself or you one day aspire to be self-employed.

-You know how to abide |-*The Deadline*-|

-your an honest person that wants to learn and grow.

-You dislike having a “boss.” Even though you appreciate critical input and guidance, you really just enjoy performing tasks your way because you know it's the right way to achieve the goal of the client.

-You’re an honest person. (Needs to be said twice.)

Anyhow, we are constantly seeking help, mainly on the per-project basis. We are still a new company and our client list is growing; hopefully we’ll find some people who are into building cool things, traveling (when need be) and who want to grow with our company. We are a queer oriented company and take pride in providing employment to woman, minorities and the LGBT community.

Thanks for reading!

Neil Botticelli

www.scrapfab.com

Job Types: Part-time, Temporary, Internship, Contract

Salary: $14.00 to $25.00 /hour

Job Location:

Denver, CO 80204

Required experience: