Toolmaker, Toolmaker, Make Me a Tool!

Allow me to admit up front that I am partial – I am the child of a Tool & Die Maker. Therefore, I have a healthy respect for the profession encoded in my DNA. Working for Ephrata Precision and with our Tool & Die Department has given me a new perspective on my father’s profession. The more I learn about Tool & Die Makers, the more I stand in awe of their accomplishments. There is this entire underworld - a hidden world - manufactured and serviced by Tool & Die Makers. Their work has slipped into the everyday, mundane aspects of life. Our watches, our cars, our sinks, our food – it is all made possible by the Toolmaker and his profession. The more I peel back the layers of my life and identify how much of it comes from a shop like Ephrata, the more I realize the vital role we play in this mysterious and hidden underworld. 

So how did Ephrata Precision Parts enter into the Tool & Die underworld? The story starts in 1962 when Bob Bensing and Joe Anthony formed Ephrata Tool. The company is remembered as one of the more innovative tool & die institutions in our area. Servicing companies like Amp, Graco, Mack Trucks, Slaymaker, and Sharpoint, Ephrata Tool earned its reputation by churning out precise and complex tools. In a calculated move, it was also one of the first companies in the county to purchase a Wire EDM machine. Even today, people in the industry recognize and remember the name of Ephrata Tool.

After 33 years in business, Ephrata Tool was purchased and incorporated into Ephrata Precision Parts. Until that point, Ephrata was exclusively a machine and polyurethane shop. The acquisition brought an established tool & die department to the company. Today, Ephrata Precision’s Tool & Die Dept. has over 160 years of combined experience in designing, building, and repairing various dies. We’ve worked on punch, progressive, transfer, and forming dies – just to name a few. We either work from a drawing provided by our customer, or our tool designer will work with the customer to prepare prints for the manufacture of the die. Then the Tool & Die Maker will evaluate the drawings, draft a plan of manufacture, identify the best materials, and then machine each component of the tool or die. Once every component is completed, the toolmaker will assemble the die. Our toolmakers will begin with a print and finish with a fully assembled, working product. In contrast, regular machinists only make runs of individual component parts on the machines on which they have been trained. Tool & Die Makers require training on a multitude of machines including—but not limited to—mills, lathes, Wire EDMs, Grinders, Honing machines, cylindrical grinders, etc. The skill set displayed by the Tool & Die Maker in executing his job is legendary. 

Tool & Die Makers report high levels of satisfaction with their job. They get to manufacture and assemble a piece of machinery that actually produces a finished part. Job security is also rated highly – as long as there are metal parts that need to be made, a Tool & Die Maker will be employed in manufacturing the tool to make them. Every time a new cell phone enters the market, a Tool & Die Maker earns his wand. 

Spend some time examining the items in your life that you normally don’t notice. Chances are there is a Toolmaker out there somewhere making a tool to make your life a little easier.