LynchNW Blog

Surrounding yourself with good people is almost always the answer to the question of ‘How do you make that?’, and I’m blessed and grateful to have a bunch of good people working at LNW.  If you have one of our parts as part of your EDC rotation (thank you!), it’s because of these guys and gals.

And as a side note, this is the biggest reason why I appreciate anyone spending their hard-earned cash on one of our parts.  We can only do what we do because of the people who support us, and you supporting us lets our great people do what we do.  Thank you.

The crew, their age, and position, in alphabetical order, by rank, height, shoe size, and weight:

Abby (23) Quality Control

Abby leads Quality Control for all the parts we make.  Each part is inspected numerous times as it goes through production, but the most important part is Final QC - the part that passes that step is the part that will end up in the customer’s hands.  QC can be a taxing job - looking closely at hundreds of parts a day - but thankfully Abby is a hard worker who understands the seriousness of that position.  She also has a great sense of humor and is just really nice to have around the shop.  As anyone who’s ever had a grip of people working together in close proximity will understand, that’s a beautiful gift.

Andrew (17) Operator/Production

Andrew works in tandem with Kaden as a machine operator, and is being trained by Kaden to be our newest machinist.  Andrew jumps around the shop, from the mill to the laser and back to the mill again.  He’s the kind of kid every shop needs, and even better, he’s the kind of kid every shop wants.  He’s capable and competent and does everything well.  

Anakin (21) Laser Lead/Production

Anakin is our crack laser operator, but he can also move around the shop almost anywhere.  When I’m looking for people, I’m less concerned about what they know, and more concerned about if they’re 1.) a nice human being, and 2.) willing to learn.  Anakin has proven that ideology out beautifully.  In addition, one really important ingredient in a healthy shop (in my opinion) is to have people with a good sense of humor, and who don’t take themselves too seriously.  Anakin takes the lead role there.  Without some brevity on the shop floor, the days can get long.

Daisy (22) QC and Fulfillment

Daisy is my oldest daughter.  I’ve moved her around as the shop has evolved and changed, putting her where the current need happens to be, and she’s handled those changes with grace and competence.  Her position right now is to assist Abby in QC and Riley in Fulfillment.  Like everything else she tackles, she does those tasks well.  She and I have moved into the phase of the father/daughter relationship where she’s in charge of her own life now, and has a world outside of our home.   That’s hard for a dad.  But this newest season means that she’s now my friend, as well as my little girl.  That is a very special thing.

Ethan (16) Dealer Fulfillment

Ethan is Thomas’ (see below) son, and he takes care of putting together our dealer orders.  This process was a mess (thanks to me) before Rick, Kaden, and Thomas streamlined our processes and cleaned up how we get those bigger orders out the door.  Once it was fixed, the task of making it work was handed to Ethan.  Now it moves with efficiency, and Ethan is an integral part of that process.  He’s detailed, organized, and a head-down hard worker.

Jack (17) Fulfillment

Jack is my oldest son, and works a couple days a week.  He prepares packaging materials and organizes shipping kit and builds screw packs and readies the bric-a-brac we put in our boxes - basically, whatever is necessary to help Riley get parts out the door.  Jack is just a really smart, really talented kid (Accordionist!  Bike racer!  Writer!), and working for LNW is not where he has set his sights.  He has goals of his own, and I’m really proud of him for that.

Josiah (17) QC/Production/Assembly

Josiah is my son Jack’s buddy, and as any employer knows, that can often be a recipe for calamity.  But his sister, Moriah, was one of my most valuable assets (she’s gone off to the east coast for college, leaving me to fend for myself ;->), so he has a good pedigree.  Josiah helps with QC and assembly, and he’s turned out to be a great character in the shop.  Plus, having a hard worker with the gift of natural mechanical talent is, as you may imagine, a huge blessing to what we do.

Justin (27) QC/R&D/Production/Finishing

Justin is the heart of LNW.  He knows more about what we make than I do, and his passion and joy are felt by everyone here.  He’s one of those guys that brings sunshine with him.  Justin does it all - finishing work on the milled clips, helping with QC, serving customers, laser marking, anodizing, assisting with social media, coming up with ideas for parts and processes, etc, etc, etc…. Plus, Justin is the guy who figured out our Blacksmith finish (which we named after him).

Kaden (20) Shop Boss/Machinist

I don’t know if I can even explain how important Kaden is to LNW.  He is our machinist and the shop boss, and it’s not hyperbole to say that I’m not sure we’d be around without him.  There is literally nothing that happens here that doesn’t have his fingerprints on it - it’s Kaden who makes this place go.  I was recently talking to someone about him and what he means to this place, and I was too choked up up to even finish the thought.  One of the most important moments in the history of LNW was the day he walked in the door. 

Kyle (19) Finishing Lead

Kyle is a musician, writer, and Tumble Room guru.  One of the toughest jobs in the shop is the Tumble Room, where all the parts we make are put through vibratory or rotary tumbler finishing processes.  It’s loud and humid and hot, and Kyle is in there, day after day, without complaint.  I remember hearing a story that Chuck Palahniuk wrote one of books while working as a diesel mechanic, creating the story as he wrenched on trucks.  I like to imagine that Kyle is doing the same thing with his screenplay as he puts another batch of clips into The Rumbler.

Mark (40-something) Operations Assistant

Mark helps Thomas with the back end of the business, tackling programing and tweaks to the website. His presence isn’t seen much at the shop, but it’s felt by everyone who uses the site, and he’s always ready to jump in at a moment’s notice when something breaks.  That is enormous peace of mind for me, and I’m extremely grateful that he shares his immense knowledge of the digital world with us. 

Max (22) R&D/Finishing

Max is our Mad Scientist.  He tackles a lot of things for LNW, but his main duty is R&D -  testing and refining finishes and the way we do them.  Max has come up with quite a few of our finishes - Radiator and Max Black being a couple - and he figured out the processes for our Entropic finish.  The beauty is that Max has very unique (and very good) taste, so it’s rare that he comes to me with something I don’t like.  He’s a kindred Old Soul.

Nate (19) Finishing

Nate puts the finishes (satin, bead blast, Blacksmith) on all of our clips.  That’s another one of the more taxing jobs in the shop, but he hits it hard every day.  When you have someone that works hard and goes about his business without complaint - and does a good job to boot - that’s a huge blessing.  Nate fits that bill.

Rick (60-something) Manufacturing Engineer

There was a time a couple years ago when I was ready to quit.  LNW had grown, moving out of my basement into a ‘real shop’.  Because I’d learned how to do everything on my own, my abilities eventually ran up against my limitations.  Production numbers had reached a point where I couldn’t keep up, and I had exhausted my capabilities for scaling up.  How do you make all the parts you need to make and get packages out the door in a timely manner?  I had no idea.  Customers and dealers were mad, and I couldn’t fix it.  I’d found the end of my rope.  In the middle of that season, I was introduced to Rick, a Manufacturing Engineer and Lean Expert, by a mutual acquaintance.  We met, but the idea of bringing in a ‘consultant’ was more than my mind could wrap around.  I decided not to hire him.  But a few days later, I felt a strong prompting from the Good Lord to bring him on.  He changed the way we did everything.  He shared his brilliance with us, and for that I will always be grateful.  Without Rick and Kaden working together and revamping the shop and it’s processes, I don’t believe LNW would have made it.  And even better, he’s become a good friend.

Riley (19) Fulfillment Lead/Customer Service

If you’ve bought something from us, Riley is the one who got it into your hands.  She manages the fulfillment part of LNW, packaging and shipping out nearly all orders that leave the shop.  It doesn’t do her any favors that I have a tendency to make our packaging more complicated than it probably should be, which adds to her workload.  But she handles it all with grace and poise.  Plus she’s got a great laugh and a 100-watt smile.  When she’s out of the shop, we feel it.

Taden (21) Operator/Production/Do-It-All

T is Riley’s brother, and our Water-jet guy.  He is the definition of ‘Jack of All Trades’ - machine operator, certified welder, crack fabricator, expert figure-outer.  I think True Genius - the authentic thing - is rare.  That said, I sincerely believe that Taden possesses legitimate genius in the realm of the mechanical.  I have yet to throw a project at him that he hasn’t figured out.  His mind just makes sense of the angles and processes and patterns, and he connects all those dots.  It’s ridiculous how good he is at building things and making stuff work.  On top of that, and best of all, he’s just a kind, gentle, and amazing guy.  I'm proud he wants to work here.

Thomas (40-something) Sales and Operations

If Justin is the heart of LNW, Thomas is the brains.  There are two sides to what we do - the shop (the ‘front end’, where we make the stuff), and the business (the ‘back end’, where we sell the stuff).  Kaden runs the front end.  Thomas not only runs the back end, but he pretty much single-handedly built the back end.  The website, social media, shipping and sales software, dealer relationships, product ordering - most of those things were created by him, and all of it goes through his competent hands.  More importantly, he is a good and kind man.  Thomas is also the face of LNW for customers that come in the door to pick up an order or just take a look around the shop.  I’m here too, but he’s the one you’ll want to show you around.

Casey (weather beaten) Not Sure

My role has morphed over the years.  I started out designing and making the stuff.  Then as we added production help, I moved from making the stuff to packaging the stuff.  Then as we added fulfillment help, I moved from packaging the stuff back to making the stuff.  Now I work mostly on design and customer service, with a couple hours each day on the shop floor helping with production (or just getting in the way, depending on who you ask).

If you are ever in Spokane, please stop by and say hi.  We all carry knives, but we don’t bite.