Why Precision Tools?

Without precision manufacturing, the world’s economies would grind to a halt – literally. During the pandemic there was a debate whether a type of business could be considered “essential”. And quite frankly I had never thought much about it. I have been working within precision manufacturing for over two decades. I had been working doing Precision Grinding for most of those years. Coincidentally right before the pandemic hit, I had just read two books by Simon Sinek “Start with Why” and “Find Your Why”.

We had a meeting at the beginning of the pandemic where I work about the state where we operate imposing a “lock down”. Only business considered essential were allowed to open. We receive several letters from some of our biggest customers (some were defense contractors of subcontractors. Some were involved in food processing, logistics, delivery services etc.) We stayed opened. Some people were let go. Things were slow for a while. People were getting sick. But the question in my mind remained “What makes precision manufacturing essential?” And/or “How essential is precision manufacturing?”.

The truth is, without precision manufacturing, your car would not run. Without precision manufacturing, your cell phone that you are carrying in you pocket would not exists. Space exploration could never happen. Next-day delivery? No way. Electric cars? Motorcycles? Washing machines? High-volume continuous manufacturing? Mining equipment? Construction Equipment? Military vehicles? Fighter jets? Fire trucks? Aircraft carriers? Electric motors? Passenger planes? Cruise Ships? Power Tools? Precision machines that make all these possible?

Most items we currently used have either parts that had to be manufactured and measured to very precise tolerances or the parts that were used to make other parts had to be made and measured to very precise tolerances.

For example. You can measure a room with a tape measure. With a tape measure you can measure things down to a fraction of an inch. If you are planning to buy a sofa, measurements can be 125” plus or minus 1/4” (.25”). The sofa will fit. Now to make that measuring tape that was mass-produced, molds had to be made. Injection molding machines were used to make the case and thumb lock. Other machines were used to produce the metal and shape for the scale, hook, belt loop, etc.

The average smart phone is built using 300+ components. Each part must be manufactured separately. Different materials are used. Different machines are used to manufacture these components. And everything must be precisely measured. Either the component itself or the tool that was used to form, cut, or machine the component.

Another thing I started doing at the beginning of the pandemic was to buy used equipment to fix it, clean it, etc. and then sell it. For example, one day I saw an old bench center someone was selling on Craigslist. It was covered with rust. I bought it for $125. I proposed to my son that if we reconditioned the bench center, we could sell it and use some of the profits to buy the 3D Printer he had been asking for. And we did. We took the bench center completely apart. Clean all the parts. Remove whatever paint that was still on it. Sanded it. Primed it. Painted it. Greased it. Etc.

We put some time and a little bit of money into it, and we sold it on eBay.

I love machines. I have always like taking things apart. I like to know what’s inside. How things work. How things are made. Etc.

I also took a course on Metallurgy at my local community college as well as some Industrial Manufacturing Technology Courses. Did you know that most of the steel we use today is not mined. Most of the steel we use today is recycled. The number one source of recycled scrap metal is old cars. The second biggest source of recycled scrap metal is demolition of old structures.

And that is where the idea of Recycling Precision Tools came from. Not only we get to work and learn about tools, machines, etc. but we also get to help the environment in the process. Our main goal here is to get Precision Tools back to work. Precision Tools play a very important role in precision manufacturing. It’s only good if you can measure it.