Cut to the Bone

摘要

Oak View Tooling Inc. started out I making metalcutting tools but soot grew to make another type of cutting tool-the kind that cuts bone. Matthew Dahms, Oak View's owner, began in the machining industry as an apprentice at a tool and die shop in Indiana. After about 12 years, he went to work at a major medical parts maker in Warsaw, Ind. He started out grinding standard rotary cutting tools and then became the company's tool technician. Finally, he got involved in the design process for an orthopedic surgical tool. Orthopedic cutting tools, such as drills and reamers, are used to ready a shoulder, knee or hip bone for replacement. After about 6 years, Dahms decided to strike out on his own. He started Oak View Tooling in Columbia City, Ind., first as a shop for regrinding endmills, then later producing a line of endmills for medical parts makers. Dahms eventually found his way to making orthopedic cutting tools again. He doesn't just make them, though; he redesigns them. Typically, a customer hands Dahms a prototype and asks him to improve the design.