Manual Lathe Machinist

Why You Should Apply

Own a piece of where you work: If you're a manual turner or manual lathe machinist who wants real job security, a profit share every month, and a genuine stake in the business, this Cardiff role is worth a look.

The numbers speak for themselves: Over the last two years, the team's profit share has averaged £5,600-£6,750 each. On top of that, the tax-free EOT bonus has been around £3,600 a year - worth roughly 20-30% more than the same money taxed.

Real security: 30 years in business. No redundancies, ever. No debt - when they buy a machine, they pay cash.

A four-and-a-bit day week: Monday to Thursday with a Friday finish around 11:30am-12pm. That's most of Friday and every weekend back for family, the workshop at home, or whatever you enjoy.

No overtime, no clock-watching: They don't need it. Because pay is linked to profit, people get the work out and go home - productivity jumped 15% after they became employee-owned.

Generous Annual Leave from Day One: You'll get 24 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays from Day One. Much more than the standard 20 days that most employers offer. They want a team that works hard and is rewarded with quality time off.

What you'll do as the Manual Lathe Machinist

You'll work in a precision engineering workshop alongside CNC mills, CNC lathes and a bank of manual lathes, making bespoke, high-tolerance parts to customer-supplied drawings. Runs are small - typically one-offs up to around 20 of a part - so no two days look the same.

• Turn high-tolerance parts manually: Take a drawing, the material and the tooling, and produce the part - working to fine tolerances (around 0.05mm and tighter).
• Work across materials: Aluminium, stainless steel, brass and some plastics, with the odd specialist ceramic job.
• Read and interpret engineering drawings and use both mechanical and digital measuring equipment to check your work.
• Guide the junior members: At the upper end of the salary, you'll help steer apprentices and more junior turners - sharing the best way to approach a job.
• Grow into CNC if you want to: The focus is manual turning, but if you're interested in CNC down the line, training could be available.

Hours of work

You'll work 39 hours Monday to Thursday plus a Friday morning, with room to flex when you start - some start at 6:30am, others at 8am.

What you'll need to apply for the Manual Lathe Machinist

• Hands-on experience operating manual lathes (e.g. Colchester, Hardinge)
• The ability to take an engineering drawing and manually produce parts to a good, fine tolerance (around 0.05mm)

Experience turning materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, brass or plastics, and confident use of mechanical and digital measuring devices.

Next Steps

Click Apply to find out more

If you click 'Apply', we may contact you via email, phone & text message regarding this job, other jobs (current and future), and related recruitment services. You can OPT OUT at any time; full details are in our Privacy Policy at (url removed) or find the policy in the Sigma website footer. Location & postcode of advert are approximate. If you don't hear from us within 14 days of application, you have not been shortlisted. We use AI to triage applications.