Re-Tool-Kit for Detroit

The Re:Tool-Kit for Detroit

project began with the question, “what can get made in Detroit?” The objective of the research has been to gather insights about the skills and services available in the city today by conducting interviews with people who make things, resulting in this handbook for good communication practices between designers and fabricators. Our goal to better understand how fabrication in Detroit is evolving, and to facilitate collaboration between the design and fabrication communities has informed this effort, which begins with this book, and continues into the future with an on-line version at www.retoolkitdetroit.org.

This project is made possible by a grant from Alan and Cynthia Berkshire at Taubman College at the University of Michigan. The principal investigators are Heidi Beebe, Seth Ellis, John Marshall, and Julia McMorrough.

EDSELFORDFWY

The Re-Tool-Kit for Detroit set out to assess what is being made in Detroit, today. In the summer of 2012, we conducted 50 interviews with Detroit area fabricators. What we captured was a fleeting moment. Old shops are evolving or closing while new shops are opening, and new types of makers are moving in. Although every attempt has been made to ensure that the information in this book is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of printing, it is subject to change. The way things are made and the tools that are used do not amount to a static data set; shops can expand, shrink or move.

This book is a record of that fleeting moment, and while it cannot accommodate changing input, an accompanying website (retoolkitdetroit.org) has been established to move forward with an expanded database of shops, and the ability to track an evolving landscape.

RESEARCH TEAM

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

Project Management and Research Coordination: Heidi Beebe, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Project Direction: John Marshall, Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design Graphic Design: Julia McMorrough, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Digital Analysis: Seth Ellis, Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Historian: Michael P. McCulloch Project Assistant: Erika Lindsay Graphics Assistant: Pooja Dalal

Student Researchers: Melissa Ablin Casey Carter Hannah Hunt Moeller William Martin

UROP Students: Anna Buzolits Mariah Gardziola

Except as noted, all illustrations and photographs are those of the Re:Tool-Kit team

copyright © 2013 by Heidi Beebe, Seth Ellis, John Marshall and Julia McMorrough ‘Made in Detroit’ essays copyright © 2013 by Michael P. McCulloch All rights reserved

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

SPECIAL THANKS

Donors

Alan and Cynthia Berkshire

University of Michigan

Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Monica Ponce de Leon, Dean

John McMorrough, Chair, Architecture Program

Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design

Gunalan Nadarajan, Dean

To all the makers and fabricators who graciously offered their time and insights to this project, we offer sincere gratitude. In addition to those in this book, thanks go to the following:

Michael Coleman, College for Creative Studies

Mariana Nakashima, University of Detroit Mercy

Robert Hutchinson, University of Detroit Mercy

Albert Young, Michigan Hot Glass Workshop

Andre Sandifer, Ali Sandifer

Andrew Zago, Zago Architecture

Andy Kem of Kem3D

Anthony Reale, AReale Detroit

Bill Massie, Cranbrook Academy of Art Architect in Residence

Cathlyn Newell, Alibi Studio

Cezanne Charles, ArtServe Michigan

Cheryl Baxter, Cranbrook Academy of Art M.Arch

Chris Gordon, Wilson Student Team Project Center, UMich College of Engineering

Chris Palmer, Cranbrook Academy of Art MFA

Dana Nelson at All Hands Active

Dale Grover, Maker Works

Doug Skidmore, Beebe Skidmore Architects

Francesco Reale AReale Detroit

Gail Hohner, Multidisciplinary Design Team, UMich College of Engineering

Jason Burton, Tech Shop Dearborn

Jodi Burton, Tech Shop Dearborn

Jeff Baxter, Borrough Furnace

Jeff Sturges, Mt. Elliot Makerspace

Malik Goodwin, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation

Maria Nicanor, BMW Guggenheim Lab

Matt Clayson, DC3 Detroit Creative Corridor Center

Michael Lee, Wilson Student Team Project Center, UMich College of Engineering

Scott Berels, Tech Shop Dearborn

Thea Augustina Eck, Maker Works

Tom Root, Maker Works

Will Brick, Tech Shop Dearborn

CONTENTS

Introductions

What Can You Get Made in Detroit? - Heidi Beebe Post-Industrial Futures - John Marshall

Made in Detroit: Ten Stories From the Early Twentieth Century - Michael P. McCulloch Pictures Unite - Julia McMorrough Google Narratives - Seth Ellis

Symbol Guide

“Research Through Making” at Pewabic Pottery Precision and Interchangeability Maps of Shops

Casting, Rolling and Smelting: Diversity in Metalwork The Automobile as Art

Directory of Shops

Craftwork and Commerce: Symbolic Ornament at the Guardian Building Craft Multiculturalism

Timeline Morris in Detroit: Selling and Exhibiting Craftworks Kiln Sharing at Flint Faience Case Studies

Re:Tooling for War Production A New Spirit to Lead Us: Art and the End of War and Consumerism Bibliography

“Made in Detroit” essays by Michael P. McCulloch]

What Can You Get Made in Detroit?

Heidi Beebe

Making is the identity of Detroit. Even before the rise of the automotive industry, Detroit was already a city that made many things. The phrase “You can get ANYTHING made in Detroit” is still heard often, even today in the face of an eroded population, rampant outsourcing and the decline of the American automotive industry. The Re: Tool-Kit for Detroit research project questions the veracity of this claim. What is really being made today? Who is making it? Where are they making it? And how is the landscape of making evolving at this moment in response to urban, economic, and technological changes?

Research for this project centered around 50 hour-long interviews with Detroit area fabricators, conducted in their workshops during the summer of 2012 by a team of five University of Michigan graduate students. Participants were drawn from a working database of 400 fabrication shops collected via internet directories, driving around the city, and recommendations from local fabricators and other Detroiters who make things and get things made. Interviewers were asked 35 questions along 8 themes: 1) what is made 2) what tools and skills are required, 3) how does the business work - number of employees, batch size, scale and finish of products, and customer base, 4) when did the shop start and how has it changed over time, 5) does the shop “collaborate,” 6) is the shop capable of making something different than they make today, 7) how does one find the right fabricator for a job in Detroit, and 8) how does being in Detroit affect the work.

The team interviewed shops that had been in business for over a century –started in a garage before the invention of the automobile and then passed on from grandfather to son to daughter. Several shops interviewed are newly established by craft-based entrepreneurs who moved here to participate in the city’s revival through making. Some shops use state-of-the art tools and specialize in prototypes and low volume production or high-tech work for aerospace and defense. Other shops had not purchased a new machine

in 43 years. Many were working at less than 20% capacity. Data gathered assesses the state of making in Detroit at this fleeting moment. Within the sixmonth span of our research, one shop caught on fire and another relocated outside of city limits. The interviews provide insights into the people that make things here, and the great impacts -- both positive and negative -- that the city of Detroit has had upon their work and business.

Although the Re:Tool-Kit was in part motivated by skepticism about the notion that one could still get anything made in Detroit, it was also driven by curiosity and a desire to better understand both the city of Detroit and the world of fabrication. Fabrication networks, and the city itself, are somewhat illegible to outsiders. Façades are closed to the street. Entrances are through the back door. Buildings are spread far apart on wide and fast moving streets. Many shops are completely barricaded by security fencing. It is possible to see where buildings are missing or in a state of disrepair, but its much harder to see any clue as to what is going on inside these buildings, not to mention what is being made there. As in most American cities, fabrication businesses concentrate along transportation corridors in light industrial areas populated with durable workshop buildings, often windowless. The invisibility of making and fabrication may not be unique to Detroit, but it might be argued that the culture of fabrication has added to the illegibility of Detroit. In the heyday of the automotive industry, many small-scale fabricators produced specialized products in large batches for recurring clients. Business was, and still is, conducted within well-established networks.

From the outset, the Re:Tool-Kit assumed that despite the state of the economy, there is a wealth of knowledge, know-how and human capacity in Detroit. If the existing fabrication capacity and making network can be rendered visible to a larger audience, a new generation of designer/makers, and a developing movement toward craft-based entrepreneurialism, making could become not only the identity of Detroit, but also its future.

To complement the ethnographic, interview-based study, and in an effort to encourage new forays, collaborations, and relationships by making fabrication shops and products findable, the Re:Tool-Kit is creating two primary products—an online map and this book. The map is web-based, interactive and open to new information. The tool-kit is a book that can be downloaded or printed on demand. It is designed to demystify fabrication for non-fabricators and contains stories, histories, a map, and a directory that explain what is made in the 50 shops we interviewed, how they make it, what tools and materials they use, and other interesting observations about their trades and the city. It is intended to both inspire design students about what is possible in Detroit and encourage the uninitiated to engage with Detroit’s current fabrication capacity.

Post-Industrial Futures

John Marshall

Detroit is known around the world for three things: automobiles, great music and (unfortunately) industrial collapse. Both of the former are connected to the American Dream, the latter is as yet unresolved and will likely determine the future of the richest society on earth. Within this only one thing is certain - that the future will be discontinuous with the past.

The impact of technological developments on manufacturing is changing the way products are designed, produced, and distributed. Many of these developments are founded on the integration of disruptive technologies and means of distribution via the Internet - just ask Kodak, Blockbuster, Yellow Pages or any former ‘record label’ (the term itself is outmoded). Networked technologies can connect ideas, designs and people to revolutionize the process of production and innovation. Supply-chain manufacturers and individual makers may now operate in the same market space and can cooperate, or compete. Consumers are no longer merely passive but can actively participate and drive the product development processes of big business. The cost of tools is decreasing almost as fast as their capabilities are increasing. As the use of digital technologies has become more widespread, new companies and indeed new business models have been established to meet the manufacturing needs of diverse industries.

The crumbling auto plants of Detroit are stark signifiers of the changes that have taken place over recent decades. However, throughout the making of Re:Tool Kit for Detroit we have discovered that it is still possible to get (almost) anything made in Detroit, today. There may be fewer people working in manufacturing but the industrial heart of Detroit is still beating. The military and biotech industries are more sought-after as clients than the ‘Big-3’ automakers - past transgressions and future insecurities play a part in this. Industrial manufacturing historically compelled a separation of design and production which resulted in producing large numbers of standardized prod-

ucts displaying minimum variation. More recently, digital technologies have afforded alternatives to this model. Through adopting these technologies, the processes of design and production have been brought closer together. This is the model of production used by a new generation of hipster-makers that are electing to stay on in the city or move there after college. Organized in collectives, these multi-disciplinarians eschew traditional entry-level job descriptions and are repurposing the industrial fabric of the city to their own ends.

Perhaps the greatest threat to Detroit’s post-industrial revival is its residents’ instinctive autoimmune response to non-natives, outsiders and transplants. The culture in Detroit is based on word-of-mouth and an insistence on personal endorsement. The worst an outsider can do is express missionary zeal to “help” Detroit. Inevitably, there will be cultural opportunism and some of those that come will make the mistake of thinking that the city represents a tabula rasa. Detroiters can, and should be more tolerant of this - the future might depend on it. The most positive change would be to embrace ‘Detroitbased’ initiatives, even by non-natives.

Both Glasgow and Manchester in the UK are examples of cities that learned this lesson to great effect. Between the 1960’s - 1980’s both UK cities experienced more than 30% population loss. This was mainly from manufacturing decline and by the 1980’s both experienced threats from the increasing globalization of key traditional industries (steel-based and textile-based, respectively). Both cities have engaged in culture-led urban regeneration to achieve more sustainable development (for example: Glasgow European City of Culture, 1990; Glasgow City of Architecture and Design, 1999; Commonwealth Games, 2002; new regional arts infrastructure (North West Development Agency), 1999; and the relocation of 2,300 BBC jobs to Salford, 2012).

Although it can be argued that the costs of these cultural projects were often borne by those who could least afford it, Glasgow and Manchester have successfully transformed the perception of themselves to culturally-driven, cities capable of attracting and sustaining citizens from around the world without abandoning their heritage or distinctiveness. Detroit can also do this.

Detroit - and by that we mean heavy manufacturing - is not ‘coming back’ anytime soon. The world has moved beyond that model of production. The potential for the present is for Detroiters to remake their city in the image of the values its citizens hold dear. Then Detroit will be known for three things: automobiles, great music and being the world’s first 21st Century city.

Made in Detroit: Ten

Stories from the Early Twentieth Century

Michael P. McCulloch

Black-and-white photographs appear as occasional interlopers in this volume. They are accompanied by makers’ stories from early twentieth century Detroit, and stand in parallel with the Kit’s contemporary investigations. But can one inform the other? What can the culture of making in “Model T Era” Detroit teach us in the de-industrialized present, where production seems to be flourishing at a smaller-scale, with nimbler processes and customizable outcomes? I will suggest two useful outcomes of this dialogue with the past: a new perspective on the past and a provocation for the future.

These stories from the city’s “old” culture of making call our common historical narratives into question. They suggest that readings of boomtown Detroit as a rigid one-industry center, or alternatively, as a birthplace of industrial genius, conceal as much as they reveal. On the contrary, we find that Detroit benefitted greatly from industrial ideas developed elsewhere, such as the drive toward interchangeability that Henry Leland and other mechanics brought from New England. The city was also more diverse and more flexible in its capabilities than is often acknowledged. Detroit produced dozens of products and components from stoves to beer and pharmaceuticals to railcars. In metalwork, Detroit was a place where raw materials could be shaped into a seemingly endless range of forms. The vast majority of mass production workers experienced mind-numbing routinized work after 1914, which must be borne in mind, yet at the same time many artists and craft workers engaged Detroit commerce and industry in creative and critical ways.

These relationships between makers and the industrial/commercial power structure of Fordist Detroit raise questions about the politics of making today. They can provoke thought and action in the present. Ceramicists at

Flint Faience found a symbiosis with the auto industry, sharing kiln-time with a sparkplug-maker. Others worked for the automakers directly, developing a modern aesthetic for the automobile. Craftspeople gave form to the rhetoric of the giant Union Trust Bank at the Guardian building, and also introduced well-made and “ennobling” objects to the homes of middleclass Detroit through the DSAC (Society for Arts and Crafts) showroom. The Society provided a unique countervailing voice in the mass-production city. While automakers pressed their campaigns to Americanize immigrant workers, the society attempted to cultivate a multi-cultural craftwork market as a means of preserving the diverse craft-knowledge of new arrivals. Finally, in the dark days of World War I, in whose violence Detroit industry was deeply implicated, the Society’s president called for art as the basis of a “new spirit,” capable of transcending violence and consumerism.

These stories, while suggesting possible affinities between Detroit’s “cultures of making” past and present, pose questions about the possibilities and politics of our work. How can artists, designers and craftsmen take advantage of seemingly-unrelated people, facilities and processes? How should Detroitbased making engage with commerce and with its publics? In this archetypal “rust-belt” city at the beginning of the twenty-first century, anything “Made in Detroit” sounds like a victory; but as it was in the early twentieth century, it is up to the city’s makers and users to decide what this trademark will stand for.

image left, based on the city’s trademark, c. 1915

Pictures Unite

Julia McMorrough

The subjects of ‘Detroit’ and ‘fabrication’ are sufficiently complicated and nuanced, and as this study has proposed, effectively invisible, at least as perceived by one coming from outside the city, or outside the fraternity of making – or both. These are two communities that are properly wary of interlopers and place high value on commitment and sincere engagement. Such issues were not lost on our efforts, which took a systematic approach to scratching the surface of making in Detroit, one person at a time. From countless hours of an accumulation of personal connections came a valuable collection of data delivered via first-person narrative: descriptions of materials, tools and processes, candid interviews, and illuminating photographs.

Having thus established this data, the challenge became the creation of an effective means for cataloguing and disseminating it in a manner that might be simultaneously useful and engaging, while providing the featured shops a range of possible exposures from very public to very private.

The Re:Tool-Kit has taken shape as a method for distilling and making accessible information that might otherwise become too overwhelming to consider. Drawing inspiration from the ideals of the ISOTYPE (International System Of TYpographic Picture Education) picture language developed in the early days of the 20th century by sociologist Otto Neurath and others, the Re:Tool-Kit book takes the opportunity of having too much complex information to share and determining which ‘invisible’ moments might be brought into sharper focus by a simple, clear and engaging collection of navigational symbols. In extolling the virtues of his own picture language, Neurath famously stated that “words divide, pictures unite.” With that in mind, Re:Tool-Kit has developed a collection of symbols that work to efficiently telegraph pertinent details of a

particular shop or maker, such as the type of production, materials used, and the scale of what is produced. Taken together and within the unique context of any one shop, they form a graphic narrative that, contrary to appearances, is not reductive, but expansively legible and personal.

The Re:Tool-Kit book takes seriously the ways that graphic design can facilitate the compelling dispersal of information, and has set for itself a series of ambitions. Namely, that the book’s content (including historical context, an illustrated shop directory, navigational maps, and in-depth case studies) will provide multiple avenues for engagement by a wide variety of readers. By navigating the interconnections of the book, whether to gain a clearer understanding of the geography of the city, to have a design fabricated, or to uncover a history, readers of all types are invited to make highly personal discoveries about the content of Detroit.

Taken altogether, Re:Tool-Kit offers up a cross-section of generations and human capabilities in Detroit at this moment, operating simultaneously as field guide, travel brochure, and chapter in a Detroit novel. Most significant, however, is not the book as a finite effort that ends once printed, but the structure now in place that can grow (on-line and elsewhere) in its ability to receive and share – in the spirit of connection and the type of useful unity that could allow willing outsiders in, to the benefit of all.

Google Narratives

Seth Ellis

When we asked the people featured in this project how to go about getting something made in Detroit, the most common response was, “ask someone.” Word of mouth, knocking on doors, physical conversations and personal networks: these are the things that make up Detroit’s manufacturing culture, historically and currently. Why, then, try to summarize these social interactions online, where they aren’t taking place? What role can a digital map serve in trying to show this complicated network? Why even try to superimpose a generic virtual structure on such a proudly local, idiosyncratic culture?

Maps have two functions: to locate, and to direct. We think of online maps first and foremost as a tool for the second function, an interface that generates a set of directions towards a simple goal, a phone book with built-in GPS. But when we use maps this way we often remain in ignorance of the places we’re moving through, as we follow contextless instructions towards our end point.

We intend our map to locate some of the people who make up manufacturing culture in Detroit. We want to locate these shops not just in space, but in time; we want to locate them within the web of relationships within Detroit fabricators, engineers, and makers. And we want to locate ourselves relative to all of these people, and to the work they do, and the work that Detroit has done for many years. Collecting information and stories into an online map, a now-familiar interface that travels with us in our computers, isn’t a way of replacing or supplanting the deep physical and social culture that exists in Detroit; that would be antithetical to the nature of a living, productive city. Digital culture has value to the degree to which it supports and informs physi-

cal culture. But the physical culture of Detroit needs to imagine new ways to re-invigorate itself and to grow. The continuing online presence of Re:Tool-Kit, the expanding database of shops, and the map that locates them for future interested users, is a guide that allows us to imagine and shape the future of making in Detroit.

Symbols

To make a picture is a more responsible work than to make a statement, because pictures make a greater effect and have a longer existence.

-Otto Neurath

The symbols described on the following pages were created for telling stories about Detroit, specifically the ways that making is about more than what is made, but about who makes it, how it is made, and to whom it will go.

The topic is a big one, and the symbols act as a friendly guide through the material, in much the same manner that familiar pictograms help us navigate foreign places. The symbols in the Re:Tool-Kit offer distillations of complicated arrangements - easy to recognize and easy to recall, they are the bread crumbs that mark a trail through the book and through the city. Though inherently reductive form, in spirit they aspire to reach out and pull viewers into an evolving story already in progress.

“Research through Making” at Pewabic Pottery

Pewabic Pottery was opened in 1903 by two researchers and makers who were driven to experiment: ceramicist Mary Chase Perry and kiln-maker Horace Caulkins. The later created innovative “Revelation” kilns that were designed to provide a safer, cleaner and more reliable firing for china-making. As architectural tile became a part of their business the partners developed an experimental tunnel kiln. Its internal rollers exploded during the first test, but undeterred, they fixed the problem in their second attempt. Chase Perry researched novel ceramic glazes. With various material compositions and firing temperatures she could create a range of effects such as transparency, glossiness and color. Copper glazes fired in an oxidizing atmosphere could give a range of green hues for example, or provide red hues if subject to a reducing temperature. The height of Perry’s achievement in these pursuits was her signature iridescent glaze. A 1909 columnist described it lyrically, “Through the misty surface from beneath its veil-like texture there was a hint of purpling sky…a star breaking through the cloud…a pinkish glow of sunrise, gone before it was caught and slipping off in a gray monotone.”

©DSAC Archives, College for Creative Studies. Used with permission.

Mary Chase Perry (Stratton), potter, in the original Pewabic Pottery, at the time of the opening exhibition in 1904.

Precision and Interchangeability

What do sewing machines, firearms and Cadillacs have in common? All are composed of precisely-made interchangeable parts, and all were influenced by the life of machinist Henry Leland (1843-1932). Leland built tools at Colt’s Hartford armory and sewing machines for Brown and Sharpe in Providence before moving to Detroit in the late nineteenth century. He developed a more precise grinding lathe which allowed greater precision and interchangeability of parts. Precision meant efficiency. If identical parts could be reliably produced assembly times could be substantially reduced. Hand-fitting and re-grinding could be eliminated, a prerequisite for the kind of mass-production that would emerge in Detroit. Leland went on to establish the Leland and Faulconer Manufacturing Co. in Detroit, providing engines to the automaker Ransom Olds, and ultimately became an automaker in his own right by developing the Cadillac and Lincoln brands.

IN DETROIT: Stories the Early Century

Factory workers assembling engines at Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Co., Detroit, Mich. Ca. 1903.

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection

10

Contractors Steel 48649 Schooner Dr. Belleville, MI 48111

26

Glass Academy LLC Furnace Design, LLC 25331 Trowbridge Dearborn, MI 48124

13

Welk-ko Fabricators, Inc. 11885 Mayfield Livonia, MI 48150

16

Tolerance Tool & Engineering, Ltd. 20541 Glendale St. Detroit, MI 48223

04

L.A. Martin Co., Inc. Screw Machine Products & CNC Milling 14400 Henn Street Deaborn, MI 48126

06

Thiry Machine Company, Inc. 6500 Chase Rd. Dearborn, MI 48126

23

Jim’s Ornamental Iron & Steel Co., Inc. 7555 Greenfield Rd. Detroit, MI 48228

30

Jim’s Awning 7555 Greenfield Rd. Detroit, MI 48228

08

Truchan Tool & Machine 7446 West Fort St. Detroit, MI 49209

25

Vulcanmasters Welding Co., Inc. 374 Fordson St. Detroit, MI 48217

27 New York Designers

8450 McNichols Road West Detroit, MI 48221

FITZGERALD

MARTIN PARK

14 Carlson Metal Products, Inc. 2335 Alger Dr. Troy, MI 48083

Acrylic Specialties & Plastics 32336 Edward St. Madison Heights, MI 48071

37 i3 Detroit 1481 Wordsworth St. Ferndale, MI 48220 34 Origins Concrete Design 515 Woodward Heights, suite A Ferndale, MI 48220 36 Aaron Blendowski 39221 Woodward Ave. Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303

11

Crankshaft Craftsmen 13505 Joseph Campau Street Detroit, MI 48212

17

AK Services

Russell Industrial Center 1604 Clay, suite 137 Detroit, MI 48211

24

Wooden Graphics, LLC

Russell Industrial Center 1600 Clay St. Detroit, MI 48211

26

Arts and Crafts Hardware

Russell Industrial Center

1610 Clay St., suite 221 Detroit, MI 48211

31

Chido Johnson

Russell Industrial Center 1600 Clay Street Detroit, MI 48211

35 Andrew Thompson

Russell Industrial Center 1600 Clay Bldg. 1A West, 3rd floor Detroit, MI 48211

38 Detroitus 13169 Moran St. Detroit, MI 48212

01

Detroit Tube Products 300 S. Junction St. Detroit, MI 48209

19

Richard Bennett & Associates 470 Brainard Street Detroit, MI 48201-1718

39

Detroit Denim

Ponyride Detroit 1401 Vermont St. Detroit, MI 48216

40

The Empowerment Plan

Ponyride Detroit 1401 Vermont St. Detroit, MI 48216

43

Stukenborg Letterpress Studio

Ponyride Detroit 1401 Vermont St. Detroit, MI 48216

45

Detroit Fashion Collective 2431 4th St. Detroit, MI 48201

48

Smith Shop

Ponyride Detroit 1401 Vermont St. Detroit, MI 48216

05

Addison Iron Works, Inc. 3449 East Vernor Highway Detroit, MI 48207 18

C.A.N. Art Handworks, Inc. 2264 Wilkins St. Detroit, MI 48207 29

Dormouse Fabrication 6447 Mack Ave. Detroit, MI 48207 33 Cyberoptix Tie Lab 1440 Gratiot Ave. Suite 2A Detroit, MI 48207

41

OmniCorpDetroit 1501 Division St. Detroit, MI 48207 42

Signal Return Press 1345 Division St. Detroit, MI 48207

07

Do-All Plastic

1265 Terminal St. Detroit, MI 48214

44

The Collective 8325 E. Jefferson Ave. Detroit, MI 48214

EVERNORHWY

MACKAVE EJEFFERSONAVE

McNichols Rd. Detroit, MI 48212

Engineering 6350 E. Davison Detroit, MI 48212

5431 E. Davison St. Detroit, MI 48212

02

National Bronze Manufacturing Company 28070 Hayes Road Roseville, MI 48066

09

Wolverine Bronze Company 28178 Hayes Road Roseville, MI 48066

IN DETROIT:

Stories the Early Century

Casting, Rolling and Smelting: Diversity in Metalwork

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection

Buhl Stamping Co. around 1900. In addition to making tubular lanterns the company claimed to be the “largest makers in the world of factory and rail road milk cans.”

The Automobile as Art

Nearly a decade after Le Corbusier praised the engineering aesthetic of the automobile in Towards an Architecture, Detroit’s Society of Arts and Crafts became the first gallery in America to present the automobile as an art form. Their public exhibition Art in the Automobile Industry (1933) was conceived as a response to public perception that the car was primarily the creation of engineers. Rather, its curator asserted that the designing artist was the author of “the beautifully proportioned motor car of today,” and that ”due credit has not been given to his genius and its effect upon the industry about which Detroit life centers.” The exhibition included “dream” models for future automobiles with clean aerodynamic lines as well as photographs and advertisements from past designs. The evolution of hubcap, radiator, and instrument panel styling was on display with these objects mounted upon black velvet.

original caption: STYLING UP - The artist as well as the engineer makes a contribution to modern merchandising. In New York, the annual show of art in industry is on at the Art Center. In Detroit, the Society of Arts and Crafts offers an exhibit featuring the role of design in the automobile industry. Here is 26 years of Packard development. Right, with arm around the 1907 radiator, is Alvan Macauley, president of Packard; left, behind the 1933 radiator, is Edward Macauley, his son.

from the Early Twentieth Century

MADE IN DETROIT: Stories from the Early Twentieth Century

Local news coverage of the Detroit exhibit Art in the Automobile Industry, 1933.

©DSAC Archives, College for Creative Studies. Used with permission.

Directory of Shops

The pages that follow provide assorted data about each of the shops in the initial interview set. Each shop is identified by type (metal shop, machine shop, letterpress studio, etc.) and a number. The number represents its place in the chronology of these original shops - so number 1 is the oldest and higher numbers are newer. These numbers also identify the shops on the maps and in other areas of the book.

The graphic language that describes each shop is meant to be equally informational and engaging, and acts as a shortcut into the depth of information that could be shared about any one shop.

01

Detroit Tube Products 300 S. Junction A ve. Detr oit, MI 48209

02 National Bronze Manufacturing Co. 28070 Hayes Rd. Roseville, MI 48066

03 Federal Pipe & Supply Co., Inc. 6464 E. McNichols Rd. Detr oit, MI 48212

04

L.A. Martin Co., Inc. Screw Machine Pr oducts & CNC Milling 14400 Henn St. Dearbor n, MI 48126

05

Addison Iron Works, Inc. 3449 E. Vernor Highway Detr oit, MI 48207

06

Thiry Machine Company, Inc. 6500 Chase Rd. Dearbor n, MI 48126

07

Do-All Plastic 1265 Terminal St. Detr oit, MI 48214

Truchan Tool & Machine 7446 W Fort St Detr oit, MI 48209 09 Wolverine Bronze Company 28178 Hayes Road Roseville, MI 48066 10

Contractors Steel 48649 Schooner Dr Belleville, MI 48111 11

Crankshaft Craftsmen 13505 Joseph Campau St. Detr oit, MI 48212 12

Eutectic Engineering 6350 E. Davison Detr oit, MI 48212 13

Welk-ko Fabricators, Inc. 11885 Mayfield Livonia, MI 48150 14

Carlson Metal Products, Inc. 2335 Alger St. Troy, MI 48083

15

Soley Metal Fabricating

20506 Sherwood St. Detr oit, MI 48234

16

Tolerance Tool & Engineering, Ltd. 20541 Glendale St. Detr oit, MI 49223

17 AK Services

Russell Industrial Center 1604 Clay St., suite 137 Detr oit, MI 48211

18 CAN Art Handworks, Inc. 2264 W ilkins St. Detr oit, MI 48207 19

Richard Bennett & Associates 470 Brainar d St. Detr oit, MI 48201 20

Allied Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. 6000 Canif f St. Detr oit, MI 48212 21

J & N Industries 5431 E. Davison St. Detr oit, MI 48212

22

Acrylic Specialties & Plastics 32336 Edwar d Ave, Madison Heights, MI 48071

23

Jim’s Ornamental Iron & Steel Co., Inc. 7555 Gr eenfield Rd. Detr oit, MI 48228

24 Wooden Graphics, LLC

Russell Industrial Center 1610 Clay St. Detr oit, MI 48211

25

Vulcanmasters Welding Company, Inc. 374 For dson St. Detr oit, MI 48217

26

Arts and Crafts Hardware Russell Industrial Center 1604 Clay St., suite 221 Detr oit, MI 48211

27 New York Designers 8450 McNichols Rd. W est Detr oit, MI 48221

28

Glass Academy, LLC Fur nace Design, LLC 25331 Trowbridge St. Dearbor n, MI 48124

Dormouse Fabrication

6447 Mack A ve. Detr oit, MI 48207 30

Jim’s Awning

7555 Gr eenfield Rd. Detr oit, MI 48228 31

Chido Johnson

Russell Industrial Center 1600 Clay St. Detr oit, MI 48211

Cyberoptix Tie Lab

1440 Gratiot AVe., suite 2A Detr oit, MI 48207

Origins Concrete Design

515 Woodward Heights Suite A Ferndale, MI 48220 35 Andrew Thompson

Russell Industrial Center

1600 Clay St., Bldg 1A, W est 3rd Floor Detr oit, MI 48211

36

Aaron Blendowski

39221 W oodward Ave. Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303 37 i3 Detroit

1481 W ordsworth St. Fer ndale, MI 48220

38 Detroitus

13169 Moran St. Detr oit, MI 48212 39 Detroit Denim

Ponyride Detr oit 1401 Vermont St. Detr oit, MI 48216 40

The Empowerment Plan

Ponyride Detr oit 1401 Vermont St. Detr oit, MI 48216 41

OmniCorpDetroit

1501 Division St. Detr oit, MI 48207 42

Signal Return Press

1345 Division St. Detr oit, MI 48207

43

Stukenborg Letterpress

Ponyride Detr oit 1401 Vermont St. Detr oit, MI 48216

44 The Collective

8325 E. Jef ferson Ave. Detr oit, MI 48214

45 Detroit Fashion Collective

2431 4th St. Detr oit, MI 48201

46

Talking Dolls 7 17501 Van Dyke St. Detr oit, MI 48234

47

Chocolate Cake Design Collective 17501 Van Dyke St. Detr oit, MI 48234

48 Smith Shop

Ponyride Detr oit 1401 Vermont St. Detr oit, MI 48216

How to Use This Directory:

indicates whether shop is housed in its own building (or buildings), or is part of a larger collective

SHOP

Shop Name Shop Address Detroit, MI Phone Number web address

TOOLS

Interviewee name e-mail address

FACILITY MATERIALS PROCESSES

combination of symbols gives indication of the product’s nature - such as if it’s a part that must go into a larer whole, or if it needs further finishing, or if it’s completely finished once it leaves the shop

*

The shop was founded by Therese’s grandfather to build metal tubing required to convert ship engines from steam to gasoline. Many of the tools they have in the shop today are the same tools that were built by the shop during WWII. The tools get updated, rebuilt and improved gradually over time.

ESTABLISHED 1911 = 22

Drill presses

Swaging machines

Toolroom equipment: lathes, mills, shapers, grinders

PROCESSES

BATCH SIZE:

Up to 1,000 per month of a unique part

SCALE

Tube bending, forming, shaping Assemblies

Finishing is available (paint, powder coating, e-coat, electroplating, bright annealing)

Swage Punch Weld Crush Expand Drill/punch Flare

All scales and gages (1/2” - 6” outside diameter bending)

car wash systems fire suppression mining

The shop loves the challenge of making new things.

SHOP

National

MATERIALS

SCALE

Bronze (copper and tin-based alloy)

(

PROCESSES

Cutting and shaping of bronze CONNECTION

PART OR WHOLE

The shop began over 100 years ago as a foundry on the lower east side of Detroit. It has re-tooled twice (for both world wars), and has added bearings, bushings, and washers. The foundry was sold in 1990 and moved to Clinton Township in 2002, then moved to current location in 2011.

PRODUCT

ESTABLISHED 1911 = 30

Bronze bearings, washers, and bushings - of which the end use is not always known. Some known uses include refrigerator parts and exercise equipment. Notably, parts for Olympic weightlifting bars product is finished component also sell raw materials to other shops

The shop can make other things - as long as the machine can handle it and there is a demand for it, they’ll do it.

MATERIALS

SHOP

Federal Pipe & Supply Co., Inc. 6464 E. McNichols Rd. Detroit, MI 48212 (313) 366-3000 fax: (313) 366-6466 www.federalpipe.com sales@federalpipe.com

Leon Saperstein

leon@federalpipe.com

TOOLS

FACILITY

The shop was originally located in Detroit for proximity to customers and easy access in all directions - now customer base is here and nearby. Current owner bought the shop in 1985 after being a long-time employee.

Metal Cut to size Braking, Welding, Punching, Notching Pipe and Bold Threading Twisting metal PROCESSES

Work is customer-driven. They don’t do design work, but help and make suggestions.

SHOP

FINISHED PRODUCT

ESTABLISHED 1928 = 20

PROCESSES

Precise machining of hard metals - removing of material to precision.

FACILITY

Paul Martin

pjmartin1965@yahoo.com

L.A. Martin Co., Inc. Screw Machine Products & CNC Milling 14400 Henn Street Deaborn, MI 48126 (313) 581-3577 (313) 581-3444 www.lamartincompany.com

MATERIALS

PART WHOLE

Milling, turning, super finishing, prototyping, repairs. “precise components”

ROUGH FINISHED

all metals

PRODUCT

This is a job shop, meaning they make parts that make parts - in the form of jigs, dies, molds, machine tools, cutting tools, gauges, and other tools used in manufacturing processes.

INTERFACE

Because small batches are often too epensive to have made overseas, they frequently fill such orders.

The shop can machine anything that is machine-able - but no stamper or bender. Because small batches are often too expensive to have made overseas, they frequently fill such orders.

The business was founded by Paul's father, who came to Detroit to work for Ford in Hamtramck, until the Great Depression, when he left. At one point, his father operated

the largest distillery in Michigan. Current shop is not in Detroit, because the city does not give support to small businesses, and security concerns that accompany Detroit would lead to additional operating costs.

TOOLS

CNC Lathes (19)

Automatic screw machines (7) CNC Mills (11) Micrometers

Laser cutter Shop tools of all varieties (see website)

The Addison company has been in business for 80 years, and is in its third location in Detroit. Joe has owned the company since 1998, and was born and grew up here. He prides himself on doing unconventional jobs that many other fabricators turn away.

PRODUCT

Specialty ironwork, welding, and metal fabrication. Notably, windows of downtown skyscaper.

The shop can make other things if a client requests it and the work limits allow it.

Finished parts and wholes. End products include both components that go into products assembled by other shops, and complete projects. Everything is finished in house to 1/8” to 1/4” precision (no grinding).

The shop was started by Dave’s grandfather, who left the family farm in the 1920s to come work for Ford at $5 a day. Originally located at Livernois and Michigan, the shop moved to Dearborn in 1991.

PRODUCT

This is a jobbing machine shop, which services replacement parts and does machine repair for various industries.

notably: blower shaft for air conditioning units

up to 28” dia. and 20’ long

SCALE

Collaboration happens in various ways, for instance, if the shop can’t do all the work for a job, they’ll do just the small part grinding. They also seek out welders if necessary for a job.

There are currently far fewer large production jobs in Detroitmostly small jobs.

35 years ago, much of their business was from steel mills.

Dave has extra stock on hand so he can do a job on demand if needed.

SHOP

Do-All Plastic

1265 Terminal St. Detroit, MI 48214 www.doallplastic.com (313) 824-6565

Gary LaDuke doallplastic@aol.com

<Plastics (synthetic, nylon, polyethylene, polypropalene, vinyl, pvc)

Rubber

End product is often a component, but doesn’t have to be. Products are dimensionally precise. No surface finishing is done after molding process is complete.

(would like to work domestically, but will work for anyone)

Collaboration with mold makers, inventors, and material makers.

The shop has the capacity to do much more than it does currently.

The shop began with the production of a small part made of fabric, that sits between the leaf springs of the back wheel of a car. In 1950, Gary’s grandfather figured out how to make the same part out of plastic.

MATERIALS

SHOP

Truchan

7446 West Fort St. Detroit, MI 49209 (313) 841-4025

Cutting tools Inspection tools

FACILITY

Surface grinding

Turret lathe Lathe tool room TOOLS

Outside Diameter grinding

Collaboration happens with the hydraulics company of Richard’s son. FINISHED PRODUCT PART WHOLE ROUGH FINISHED Industrial compainies Construction companies

*

PROCESSES

Grinding and machining material away from larger pieces of metal.

Richard is from Detroit, and was born two miles away, and has been machining since he was a child.

[all machines are handoperated, which are increasing in value due to demand for them as backup for CNC models that do the same thing]

SCALE

The shop has the capacity to do much more production than currently.

CLIENTS

PRODUCT

ESTABLISHED 1955 = 4

Precision parts that go into bigger parts of machines. Usually secondary or tertiary parts that are custom-designed to the piece.

CONNECTION

Tool makers are a trade - few and far between, although there is still demand for it.

“We are subcontractors”

Timothy E. Griffin tgriffin@wolverinebronze.com

TOOLS

Located in Roseville, just north of Detroit. The company started when the road was dirt and the surrounding area was still countryside. It was a manufacturing center, and still retains the remnants of that time. Shop is centrally located for their client base. It’s a family business. CNC

Create molds and patterns for holding poured metal. Made the largest aluminum casting in North America for the aircraft industry Created a Michigan product that is sold in China PROCESSES

Contractors Steel 48649 Schooner Dr. Belleville, MI 48111 (734) 464-4000 www.contractorssteel.com lisales@contractorssteel.com

FACILITY

Structural roll Rotary shear tee splitter Saws Plate shear Punch press

Shop occupies whole buildings in multiple locations: Livonia, MI Van Buren, MI Grand Rapids, MI Twinsburg, OH East Chicago, IN

* In Belleville (323 companywide)

shipments are made daily from each location with fleet of 85 trucks

Carbon steel: Beams up to 36’, Plates from 3/16” to 16” thick, Sheet from 16 gauge to 11 gauge, Hot Rolled Bars, Cold Rolled Bars, Square & Rectangular Tubing up to 60’, Pipe up to 60’ lengths, Channels/Angles up to 60’ lengths, Coil leveling

Beam cambering machine Drill press MAG drills

-Flame burning -Plasma burning -Hi-Def plasma burning -Laser cutting -Sawing PROCESSES

Pre-fab products can be finished inhouse to either rough or highly refined state. Most often components that will go into assemblies made by other shops.

The shop was started in the back of a lumber yard by the father of the current owner. He traded his car for a truck that could haul steel, and began with 25 tons of material. They stay in the area because that’s where they’re from, but they ship products to New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Canada.

Press brake

TOOLS

Leveling/blanking for roll steel

60” Grinder 25-ton Cranes

Fleet of 85 trucks (next day delivery)

Oxy-fuel burn machine

Laser burning machine

Hi-def plasma burning machine

Plasma/contour beveling machine

Plate roll

PRODUCT

-Beam splitting

-Cambering

-Structural and plate rolling

Anything the customer wants. Pre-fabrication from beam to tube to angle, roll and plate

BATCH SIZE: 1 - 1,000,000 whatever the customer wants

SCALE

8’ dia. cylinders to 80’ long plate - limitations only by the size of the material

The shop never makes the same thing twice, so every job is unique and lots of things are possible.

May have a finishing process done elsewhere and shipped back, or may ship pieces to a fabricator working for the same customer.

13505 Joseph Campau Street Detroit, MI 48212 (313) 336-0140 www.crankshaftcraftsmen.com

Timothy P. Taylor crankcraft@comcast.com

Shop was started by former Chrysler workers - remains in Detroit because it doesn't make sense to move. The rent is cheap, but within their hyper-local environment, hiring is difficult because few in the

PROCESSES

Grinders are built specifically for grinding down crankshafts.

Welders are built specifically for evenly applying continuous layers of new metal along cylindrical surfaces.

neighborhood have the capacity to do the work. The blighted neighborhood and the perceived security issues discourage customers from visiting the shop, and can make working with other shops difficult.

PRODUCT

There is no fabricating from scratch - they repair crankshafts and camshafts, mostly for larger-scale engines in industrial machinery.

CLIENTS

The production of the shop is pretty specific and can't really make other things, although one could use the crankshaft welders to build up the diameter on a generic cylindrical surface.

MATERIALS

SHOP

Eutectic Engineering

6350 E. Davison Detroit, MI 48212 (313) 892-2248 www.eutecticeng.com

Charles Baer cebco123@aol.com

FACILITY

Fe + non-Fe

PROCESSES

Creating tools and the forms used to make the parts. Finishing work for cast parts. Melting alloys, baking ceramics, melting wax.

140 different metal alloys Steel, Aluminum, Bronze, Brass (no Titanium)

PRODUCT

The people who work here are the best, smartest, most conscientious and hard-working employees.

Precision castings (investment castings) - examples: stainless steel replacement knee and golf club heads. Precision casting is suitable for lower volume runs of complex parts that need to withstand high temperatures and corrosive environments. Finished castings (often components of another assembly)

CLIENTS

defense industry

The shop has the capacity to make assemblies again (used to)

Eutectic was founded in 1961, and before the signing of NAFTA they had 120 employees. It's hard for the city of Detroit to be competitive because of safety issues, inconvenience of city services, and the cost of doing business here.

TOOLS

ESTABLISHED

SCALE

has been with WELK-KO for 15-30 years, and they wish to keep the business close to home for the employees. *

Up to 4,000 lbs.

The shop moved from Detroit to Livonia when they outgrew their facility. Livonia made sense, as it is close to family. The average employee Press brake CNC Turret press Powder-coating Welding tools CNC punch press

TOOLS

Maintain

BATCH SIZE: 1 - 1,000 pieces

CNC_

Local businesses in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois

powder coat

FACILITY

The company began in Detroit and was moved to Troy in 1987 by original owner Ed Carlson. John Martin purchased the shop in 2000, after working there for 20 years. Press

TOOLS

SCALE

20506 Sherwood St. Detroit, MI 48234 (313) 893-2170 www.soleymetalfab.com

David E. Soley dave@salessoleymetalfab.com

Brass Stainless steel (304L, 309, 301, 316)

Exotic Metals

Iconel Halstoloy Titanium

Custom stainless steel fabrications. Precision manufacturing and restorations. Notably: fabricated brass ceiling for DIA; current work with Kresge fellow for 2012 Art Prize installation.

Soley Metal has recently worked with artists to fabricate large-scale artworks in Binmingham, Ann Arbor, and Grand Rapids.

*

Overhead costs in Detroit are low. The shop moved to its current location in 1981. In the 1980s Detroit was a lively manufacturing city with shops open all night. The location used to be central to the customer base. Now there are safety concerns and no more walk-in customers.

FACILITY

TOOLS

Heim 120 ton X 144” press brake

Acupress 60 ton X 60”

Niagra 45-ton Minster 4” stroke

Niagra 10 ft. X 3/16” capacity shear

Peck & Stowe shape cutter

Miller Syncrowave 300 & 250 heli-arc

SCALE

From hand-held to large sculptural pieces.

Wiedemann 24-station thick turret 60-ton punch 48” X 120” sheet to 1/4” S/S plate Miller XMT304 multi-process inverter 35KVA spot welder Hand benders

BATCH SIZE: 1-2 at a time

The shop can make something different, and the only restriction they face is space.

SHOP

Tolerance Tool & Engineering, Ltd.

20541 Glendale Ave. Detroit, MI 48223 (313) 592-4011 www.toltool.com

TOOLS

CNC

Dave Bruckman dave.bruckman@toltool.com

The shop has always been in Detroit, and there are some financial incentives for clients through the HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) zone.

SHOP

AK Services

Russell Industrial Center 1604 Clay, suite 137 Detroit, MI 48211 (313) 972-1010 www.akservicesinc.com

MATERIALS

futniture under the Möbel link/Modern Furniture brand name, seen at www.mobellink.com.

SCALE

Alan Kaniarz

akservices@att.net

PROCESSES

FACILITY

Cutting, forming and shaping wood. Also uses CNC to mill furniture (not in-house)

<6,000 sf shop in building with other tenants and shops

TOOLS

Joiner Planer Shapers Clamps

Hand tools

Typical product is modular and has to be able to get out of the building.

BATCH SIZE: one-offs or 3-4 pieces

We like to think that we are part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Slogan: "Better to buy from us than to wish you had."

Alan grew up here, went to Detroit public schools, and now teaches at CCS. Detroit is affordable and the Russell Industrial Center community is like a neighborhood. The shop began in his house and moved to the riverfront, then the Russell Center in 1988. *

PRODUCT

43” thickness sander Sliding table scoring saw Table saw Large horizontal belt sander Spindle sander

Wood-working shop making hand-made products; one-of-a-kind furniture, restoration of antiques, light fixtures, entrance doors, stained glasswork, kitchens and kitchen cabinets. Has recently started a green-thinking and sustainable line of modern

Notably, a desk in the style of the DIA with columns (so large it had to be taken in through the window).

End product is complete (not a component of an assembly) and finished in house. Level of finish is highly refined.

Collaborates with interior decorators and other artists. Alan builds his own designs and also works on commission.

PART WHOLE

FINISHED

FINISHED PRODUCT ROUGH

Shop can definitely make things other than what is currently made.

MATERIALS

Carlos A. Nielbock cnielbock@sbcglobal.net

TOOLS

FACILITY

PROCESSES

Carl was educated to be a Master European Craftsman in Germany. He moved to Detroit in 1984 to pursue his own personal history; his mother is from Germany, and his father from the U.S. Today, he's interested in training others in traditional metalworking technologies, and believes that passing on this kind of craft-based knowledge is a key component to restoring Detroit to its former status. *

-Metal crafting

-Pre-welding metal work (traditional methods of attaching metal used prior to the introduction of welding)

-Restoration of historic architectural elements

Huge

SCALE

-European style pre-welding ironwork -Reproductions of original castings -Forging -Custom design

BATCH SIZE: one - but multiples of similar pieces are possible in certain circumstances

SHOP

Richard Bennett & Associates

470 Brainard Street Detroit, MI 48201-1718 (313) 831-4262 www.richardbennettdesigns.com

FACILITY

MATERIALS

PRODUCT

Custom designed and fabricated wood and metal furniture and sculptures. Product-line furniture notably: doors and masks of African American museum in 1997; public artwork

CLIENTS

architects designers

There is much opportunity now. People just need to take advantage of it.

builders

SCALE

Richard Bennett info@richardbennettdesigns.com

exotic woods semi-precious metals

varies, but can get up to 20’ (which is the largest that can be made in the shop and assembled outside)

museums

Collaborates with architects, artists, designers, and museums.

CONNECTION

Richard was born and raised in Detroit. There is a lot of industrial knowledge and support here, and he appreciates the combination of highly technical work with creativity.

CONNECTION

BATCH SIZE: mostly oneoffs and limited editions

It's important to put energy into direct communication. It's a crucial component of business, and Richard wants to get it right the first time. There is a brotherhood of artisans sticking together in Detroit, and while Detroit has many hidden costs (security, city fines, mortgage fees), the creative work can be cutting edge, wide-ranging, and unique.

Refined, finished products - usually entirely complete when they leave the shop (like furniture), but sometimes as a component (like a kitchen cabinet)

The shop is big, and it is possible to make something different

TOOLS

Dennis was born in Detroit, and the shop is here because of the presence of the automotive and military industries. There used to be a lot of metal forgers in Detroit, but not any longer.

SCALE

MATERIALS

SHOP

J&N Industries

5431 E. Davison St. Detroit, MI 48212 (313) 366-4310

Mike Nedanovski murgo10@sbcglobal.net

FACILITY

COLLABORATION

BATCH SIZE:

1-10 (typically). In the past have made 18002500 pieces.

Steel Aluminum Copper Brass TOOLS

Bridgeport Bandsaw Chopsaw Lathe Grinder

PROCESSES

Tool & Die operations Welding

Finished parts that will often go into assemblies made by other shops.

Speak with engineers who do the design to ensure that the product is correct for the machines they are using, and to ensure quality control.

The shop can make a million different things! There just needs to be the willingness and an order to do so.

SHOP

Acrylic Specialties & Plastics

32336 Edward Ave. Madison Heights, MI 48071 (248) 588-4390 MATERIALS

Ronald Davis rondavis@acryspec.com FACILITY

Custom acrylic fabrication; and converting plastic sheets to usable sizes. Post-fabrication wholesale company, supplying the local sign industry with sheets of plastic and components. Notably, work with the sign industry, awards industry and museum displays.

BATCH SIZE: mostly one of a kind

students from local university who purchase stock municipalities schools local small businesses + Fortune 500 companies

Ron is a Detroit native, and the company began in Ron’s bedroom, then moved to his garage. Detroit shop opened in 1988 and moved to Madison Heights in 1999. Because of the heavy influence of the auto industry in Detroit, there are many complementary businesses in the area. Ron still owns the Detroit storefront, but has boarded it up after repeated break-ins.

TOOLS

Woodworking

CNC Equipment (shared)

Hand sanders and buffers

Heat and bending equipment

Vacuum forming equipment

PROCESSES

-Cutting and buffing acrylic -Fastening acrylic pieces together -Bending acrylic -Vacuum forming

MATERIALS

SHOP

Jim’s Ornamental Iron & Steel Co., Inc.

7535 Greenfield Rd. Detroit, MI 48228 (313) 581-7791 800-581-6694

TOOLS

FACILITY

router, steel bender, flame torch stand (to bend neon glass), metal drill press, twisting iron threader, sewing machine, hand tools, CNC router

The shop is in Detroit because this is where family is.

ironwork, metalwork, fencing

Russell Industrial Center 1610 Clay St., suite 201 Detroit, MI 48211 (313) 319-9625 www.woodengraphicsllc.com

Rob was born and raised in Detroit, and has the shop here because it is centrally located, rent is cheap, and it’s a city built on production and distribution.

ESTABLISHED 1980s = 1

TOOLS

FACILITY SCALE

Router Power hand planer Shaper for trim work Electric jackhammer (for digging sign out of concrete) COLLABORATION

CNC Router Hand tools Circular saw Table saw

PROCESSES

Cutting and shaping wood. Also runs other artists’ jobs (often with CNC machines)

BATCH SIZE: 1- 8 at a time, with always more than one thing going. Runs CNC jobs concurrently with his own work.

The shop definitely has the ability to make something different! With the CNC router, he can help a lot more people realize lots of different projects.

TOOLS

The shop is in Detroit because of a depressed real estate market. Security is a problem here, and you have to stay ahead of the burglars - but there is a perception that “made in Detroit” implies quality.

machines Doazer Sinkwave 1/4” Shear Pipe threader Wire feeder Bridgeport mill Mig/Tig welders PRODUCT

varies - as big as will fit in the buildings or yard Repair

Welding

city, federal

Russell Industrial Center 1610 Clay St., suite 221 Detroit, MI 48211 (586) 772-7279

The shop is in Detroit because rent is good, but feels he could be doing this work anywhere.

TOOLS

Bridgeport mill Spinning machine

Flat plate to round Screw machines modified for square stock Sand casting equipment

FACILITY

SCALE

COLLABORATION

Does not typically collaborate, though they promote Pewabic pottery by making frames for the tiles.

Machine hardware Form metal

BATCH SIZE: 20 - 50 for a limited run

The shop has the capacity to make something different, but "everything we do is fun."

8450 McNichols Road West Detroit, MI 48221 (313) 861-7272

Deanna Lynne Carpenter christophermajors360@yahoo.com

End product is not a component, but it could be a piece of something made by someone else (like a chair), and is then finished to a high level of precision in house.

TOOLS

Owner Christopher Majors began the shop in his mother’s garage in 1990. They have built a reputation over time and are continuing to accumulate more work, more variation, and a larger client base. The shop used to be downtown. Customers come from all over town.

PROCESSES

Upholstery

Webbing (stabilizes the bottom of the chair and gives durability) Button press (all buttons are made inhouse, in variations of size) club

SHOP

Furnace Design, LLC & Glass Academy LLC, 25331 Trowbridge Dearborn, MI 48124 (313) 561-4527 www.furnacedesignstudio.com www.glassacademy.com

Michelle Plucinsky

michelle@furnacedesignstudio.com

FACILITY

MATERIALS

BATCH SIZE:

one to many

TOOLS

Furnace Bench Crimps Shears Tweezers Annealer Glassblowing table

ROUGH FINISHED FINISHED PRODUCT

PART WHOLE

End product can be complete or a component that goes into something else. All items are finished in-house. Shop produces both in-house designs and fulfills custom orders.

Collaboration with students, professionals, hobbyists, and more.

Michelle and her husband (and business partner) were born and raised in metro Detroit. They started the shop in Southwest Detroit and have worked for years in the area, making many contacts. It's affordable to operate in this region - a more expensive cost of living would quickly price them out of business.

PRODUCT

SCALE

CLIENTS

Furnace Design and The Glass Academy are sister businesses and occupy the same space with shared facilities. Glass Academy offers glass-making workshops. Several times a year, they open their expansive 14,000 sf studio to community events. In 2005, they worked with the city of Dearborn to make zoning changes that permitted them to occupy the former tool & die shop.

CONNECTION

TOOLS

*

Jason grew up in Detroit, and stays for benefits such as cheap rent. Detroit is increasingly characterized by many smaller scale fabricators (though not necessarily smaller scale jobs).

WOODWORKING:

Table saw Chop saw Hand tools

SCALE

largest about 24’

WELDING: -Mig/Tig Welders -Rollers -Benders -Bridgeport manual milling machine

-Lathes -Shears -Grinders Torches

PRODUCT

Architectural metals (handrails, guardrails, structural elements), furniture, sheet metal cladding, custom projects.

The shop has the capacity to do custom automotive work, and would like to do more public art such as kinetic and moveable pieces.

SHOP

Jim’s Awning

7555 Greenfield Rd. Detroit, MI 48228 (313) 581-7772 www.jimsawning.com MATERIALS

Charlie Agemy

jims.signs@yahoo.com

FACILITY

TOOLS

Jim’s Awning began as an offshoot of Jim’s Ornamental Iron, when Jim’s nephew began to make awnings using the framing from the iron work. Jim’s was one of the first sign businesses in the area, and many started since began their work at Jim’s. Neon

ESTABLISHED

Bend aluminum for frames Sew awning fabrics PROCESSES

Shape fluorescent tubes (by hand)

SHOP

Chido Johnson Russell Industrial Center 1600 Clay Street Detroit, MI 48211 (313) 610-1240 www.chidox.com Sculpting Mold-making Forming

Chido grew up in Zimbabwe and moved to Detroit in 2002 to teach in the sculpture department at CCS. He connects with the legacy of the Detroit Arts and Crafts movement and embraces the strong cultural tendency toward labor, artifacts, and object creation that exists here. Hand

TOOLS

TOOLS

CNC Milling tools

Horizontal drill press

Traditional woodworking tools (table saw, chopsaw, jointer, drill press, sander, planer, drill, router)

PROCESSES

Mills for woodworking Drill press for cabinets

Context Furniture was founded by Bryce and Kerry Moore. In the beginning, they subcontracted fabrication, but later moved to in-house production to enable them to take on commercial projects. Cost structure makes it easier to navigate in Detroit, and easier to start small-scale here, resulting in a lot of designdriven companies. High

SCALE

MATERIALS

SHOP

1440 Gratiot Ave. Suite 2A Detroit, MI 48207 www.cyberoptix.com

High-resolution,

Bethany Shorb bethany@cyberoptix.com

FACILITY

TOOLS

Silk screens Vacuum Exposure Unit Computer Digital single-lens reflex camera, lights, backdrops

I've always been inspired by the Steve Jobs quote: "Real artists ship." I like to riff on that a bit further: "Detroit artists ship." While Detroit is a great place to produce goods, marketing exclusively here is not yet sustainable. If you can make lightweight, easily shippable work and send your art or craft elsewhere where people have a greater amount of disposable income, you can thrive.

Collaboration on combinations of color and design.

CONNECTION

Bethany began working in Detroit after attending Cranbrook, where she studied photograhy and sculpture. In Detroit, one can worry less about making rent and focus on work. She’s a founding member of Omnicorp. *

TOOLS & PROCESSES

Computer - for designing Vacuum Exposure Unit - for burning patterns onto screens with high resolution and fine lines Screens - transfer designs onto fabric

Photography of products (access to industrial sewing machine and laser cutter at OmniCorp)

from tie-sized to fender-sized

SCALE

The shop does have the capacity to make other things, but business is good currently, and space for working on other things is limited.

BATCH SIZE: one at a time by hand, but also in multiples. Have printed 150,000 ties to date.

Cyberoptix has 150 designs, 3 widths, 2 fabrics, and many colors. It's a top 20 seller on Etsy, having sold over 100,000 ties.

The shop began in Sylvan Lake, relocated to Russell Industrial Center, and operates today out of Ferndale. It shares space with other tenants and has a showroom.

PRODUCT

Residential & Commercial applications: Concrete counter tops; sinks; planters; vanities; fireplace elements; hearths; bartops; tabletops; interior and exterior walls; commissioned artistic designs. up to 100’ long SCALE

BATCH SIZE: 2-3, depending on size

The shop is usually found online or by word of mouth. Also have an installation at IKEA. The shop has the capacity to make a variety of concrete shapes.

SHOP

Andrew Thompson (commonly known as Andy T)

Russell Industrial Center 1600 Clay Bldg. 1A West, 3rd floor Detroit, MI 48211 http://andrewhasartshow.wordpress.com/

MATERIALS

PRODUCT

Sculpture installations and fabrications made to order - including wooden signs and bike racks.

End products are complete (i.e., not components). Finish level varies depending on the project, but can be finished in house to a high level of finish/ precision.

SCALE

Andrew Thompson mcandyt@gmail.com

+ Found objects plaster

varies, though 4’ X 8’ is typical

Works collaboratively with other artists, often assisting with installations in galleries, displays, etc.

CONNECTION

Moved to Detroit for school, and the price is right. Resources can go toward what you need. Has been in Detroit five years and still doesn’t feel like a Detroiter.

PROCESSES

-Multi-purpose wood and metal work

-Sheet cutting -Sewing

-Molds (plaster & rubber)

-Concrete forming

BATCH SIZE:

Varies, but mostly oneoffs. Most made at once was 30 signs for rental houses.

-Digital imagery -Video editing -Drafting (fine art)

FACILITY

TOOLS

FINISHED PRODUCT

Woodworking tools

Welding equipment

Hand tools (for shaping plaster, foam & cocrete)

Sewing machines, sergers, grommet machine

Digital image studio

PART WHOLE

ROUGH FINISHED

CLIENTS

other artists - including assistance with installing work in galleries

The shop is already busy with enough varieties of work - including ceramics, wood, metal, mold-making.

MATERIALS

SHOP

Aaron Blendowski

39221 Woodward Ave. Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303 (248) 645-3347 www.realokdesign.com

“everything"

TOOLS

Aaron Blendowski ablendowski@cranbrook.edu

General workshop toolsCNC fabrication (laser cutter, plasma cutter, router)

Aaron is an independent operator/artist/designer/ creative engineer

PROCESSES

FACILITY

(within a school campus)

Product hacking, prototyping, finished furniture, installations, architecture - anything you can do with your hands, as well as digital fabication

The shop absolutely has the capacity to make something different than what they currently make.

Everything

Aaron was born in Detroit and went to school at CCS and Cranbrook. Aaron is the shop tech at Cranbrook, a professor at Lawrence Technological University, and a founder of Omnicorp Detroit - a collaborative hacker space for all kinds of makers founded in 2010 and located in Eastern Market.

PRODUCT

SCALE

ture.

SHOP

i3 Detroit 1481 Wordsworth St. Ferndale, MI 48220 (248) 556-9995 www.i3detroit.com

Matt Oehrlein matt@i3detroit.com

i3 Detroit is Detroit Metro’s oldest and largest “hacker-space”. Whether you want to learn electronics, welding, or sewing, you can do it here. Detroit is an ideal location for hacker-spaces, as rent is cheap and money stretches much further, enabling more creativity.

TOOLS & PROCESSES

Woodworking: Band saw, table saw, router table, scroll saw, drill press, hand tools, nail guns, planer, miter saw, lathe

PRODUCT

Metal working: Tabletop lathe, drill press, tabletop mill, metal brake, anvil, angle grinders, full-size lathe, Torqcut CNC machine, Bridgeport, planishing hammer

Welding: P&H TIG welder, Lincoln WeldPak 100 MIG welder, Oxy-acetylene torch, Lincoln wire welder, CNC plasma table

In the hacker-space, members have access to create what they wish with the workspace and tools available. The space also serves as a social gathering spot that hosts workshops and evenings ranging from board-game night to radio show broadcasts to Python coding workshops.

varies

MATERIALS

highly varied

Like many members, Matt, the currently elected president, moved to Detroit without knowing anyone, and joined i3 to find a like-minded community. He has a degree in electrical

MAKER SPACE

engineering, and is interested in integrated web interaction. The five original members met in a coffee shop, and eventually founded the maker space that exists today.

Electronics: scopes, function generators, various power supplies, bread boards, soldering and de-soldering stations

Crafting: Cricut cutting machine, Cricut Cuddlebug, Yudu silk screen machine, industrial sewing machine, 37” slumping kiln, basic supplies & tools

Fab Lab: 150 Watt laser cutter, Makerbot, PrintrBot, vinyl cutter, t-shirt press, button-maker, plotter, (coming soon: sheet styrene vacuum former)

BATCH SIZE: custom fabrication

The shop can make things other than what is already made there. There is no predefined set of things made - the idea is to invent and tinker to create anew.

SHOP

Detroitus

13169 Moran St. Detroit, MI 48212 (313) 920-2550 https://www.facebook.com/ doyle.s.huge

MATERIALS

TOOLS

BATCH

FACILITY SCALE Shop Multi-media (including): ultra-light propellers jet engines electronics hydraulics destroyed cars, etc.

Ryan came here by way of New York and California, lured by the opportunity to purchase a house for $2000. His wife also has family nearby in Canada, and it makes sense for economical reasons to be in Detroit.

MATERIALS

SHOP

Detroit Denim

FACILITY

Eric Yelsma

eric@detroitdenim.us

TOOLS

-Sewing machines (sourced used from around the country; each specific to stitch)

-Button-hole machine -Hand-cutting tools -Branding press COLLABORATION

INTERFACE

SHOP

The Empowerment Plan

Ponyride Detroit 1401 Vermont Detroit, MI 48216 www.empowermentplan.org

Veronika Scott veronika@empowermentplan.org

MATERIALS

Non-profit organization makes self-heated, water-resistant coats/sleeping bags for national distribution (among homeless populations)

Being in Detroit makes it easier to get work done because she is not “alone out there” - there is always an expert around the corner, and the network eases the pressure and anxiety.

SCALE

It’s rare to have a sewing floor open to the public, but important to have a transparent approach to business.

Everyone is a collaborator

SHOP

FINDING

Blogs, social media, traditional media, word of mouth.

Detroit is a small community that can be internal and hard to read, a wild west of creativity, but once you're inside, foot in the door, networks are generous.

Detroit offers opportunities for entrepreneurship and engagement. Veronika is from Detroit and went to school at CCS. She has the privilege of being able to look at the abandon-

ment and see what can be in the future as opposed to what was. She is staying because of a commitment to the ladies she works with. It's the only place a 22-year-old can make it happen.

TOOLS

Quilters (3 scrapped to make 1)

Double-needle machines (3)

Single-needle machines (2)

Manual, foot-operated "walkers" (4) Serger (no cutting done on site)

PROCESSES

Single-needle machines attach two fabrics; bar-tacker quickly creates a square and X-pattern for fastening straps; serger strengthens seams in an aesthetic manner.

BATCH SIZE:

One at a timeabout 1000 coats per quarter.

MATERIALS

SHOP

OmniCorpDetroit

1501 Division St. Detroit, MI 48207 (248) 342-2287 www.omnicorpdetroit.com

“anything" - electronics, sound, light, steel, wood, plastic, fabric, plants, food, internet, video...

PART OR WHOLE

PART WHOLE

OmniCorpDetroit was founded for the purpose of collaboration

Aaron Blendowski info@omnicorpdetroit.com

FACILITY

ROUGH FINISHED

varies by project

TOOLS

General workshop toolsincluding laser cutter, drill press, band saw, table saw, mill, welding, cutting torch, paint booth, sand blaster, hand tools.

Everything from small, hand-held products to furniture to architecture to sound and light installations, as well as community and event-based projects.

OmniCorp members are always making, breaking, re-shaping and hacking all sorts of things!

Established in 2009 by members Aaron Blendowski, Bethany Shorb, Jeff Sturges, Brandon Richards, and others, OmniCorpDetroit is an intense group of designers, artists, engineers, musicians, thinkers, do-ers and makers that get together to build new things as well as share and collaborate with the Detroit community.

Anything possible - if it can’t be done in house, one of their members will find a way to get it done somewhere in the city.

OmniCorpDetroit absolutely has the capacity to make something different than what they currently make.

TOOLS

*

A Detroit-based community group saw the potential for letterpress shops in Nashville and Brooklyn, and wondered why Detroit didn’t have one. Eastern Market seemed like an ideal location, where people come for handmade food and other items.

Platten presses (table top)

Vandercook

Triumph self-inking machine Paper cutters

SCALE

COLLABORATION

Business card to poster

Cutting and Inking paper Small-runs

Registration Book binding PROCESSES

Run work shops for organized groups, and take on one promotional project a month for Detroit-based businesses. The work is always collaborative.

Posters

BATCH SIZE: min. 100 per batch (or dependent on number of sheets available)

This shop is a teaching shopsomeone can purchase existing work or learn how to make it on their own. They do commissioned work, but it's typcially for Detroit business.

MATERIALS

SHOP

In Detroit you have to be really good to survive. The culture emphasizes small scales and specialist work. The growth of DIY and small-scale entrepreneur shops points to a brighter future here. If he needs to fix a mechanical piece on his equipment he’ll go to a machine shop. If he can’t handle every aspect of a project in his shop, he’ll recommend another shop that can. The letterpress world is very small and connected.

Stukenborg Letterpress originated in Tennessee, moved to Brooklyn, and then relocated to Detroit when Bryan’s wife was hired for a job here.

1 Etching press 30"X48" (with felt blankets)

3 Drying racks

2 Guillotine Paper Cutters 26"- and 19"-wide (with manual clamp and lever)

318 Fonts and hand-set type (237 lead/81 wood)

Photopolymer plate-maker (A4 size)

Hand-printed ephemera, posters, cards, invitations, business cards, artwork, wedding invitations.

FINISHED PRODUCT

FACILITY PART

ESTABLISHED

Potdevin 2R-9 gluing machine

Corner rounder (w/foot pedal)

Printer’s saw (Hammond Glider) Book-binding tools, gen’l

Sign press 14”X22” (w/4 fonts of vulcanized rubber characters)

CLIENTS

individuals businesses

Alongside the custom printing, I teach one-on-one lessons, group workshops, and also rent hourly presstime to individuals who want to work on their own projects.

Most interactions with clients are collaborations

TOOLS

Sewing machines Computer

The shop is in Detroit because it is a place Barbara was familiar with from childhood. Her mother was a part of the great migration.

PROCESSES

Sewing Computer design work

SCALE

Detroit is a big country town.

Collaborates with Ras (a metal- and leather-worker), and is a small business consultant for social media work.

CONNECTION

Being in Detroit makes you work hard and to have a strong work ethic. There are inspirational people, and the fabrication culture is open, helpful, and willing to give guidance. The culture pushes you to make things better.

Moved here from L.A. 16 years ago because of the smaller town feeling in Detroit, where the makers are raw artists with heartfelt dedication and work of amazing quality.

PRODUCT

TOOLS

Industrial sewing machine

Fabric laser Cutting table

Computers (for CAD) Scissors

Foot walker (sewing machine that pushes material through)

samples to full pieces

Fashion design and business consultation. Adriana works with start-ups to help them scale up production and push toward “real” business.

CONNECTION

CLIENTS

start-ups (referrals)

The Detroit Fashion Collective capitalizes on a local network for skill-sharing networking and collaboration by creating a centralized location with full capacity to take early start up operations to a much larger scale of production, and help them to enter into larger national and international markets. Their long-term goal is to foster the development of a fashion industry in Detroit.

SHOP

Talking Dolls

17501 Van Dyke St. Detroit, MI 48234 (734) 926-8817 (313) 919-2820 www.talkingdollsdetroit.com

www.237amstudios.com (design/build) www.DuBoiscollection.com (furniture/art)

Wes Taylor - westiv@gmail.com Brian DuBoisbriand@237amstudios.com

MATERIALS

TOOLS

Table saw Panel saw Screen print shop Laser cutter Spray booth Joiner/planer

Welder Chop saw Pallet jack Wood shop Metal shop Print shop

In Detroit, you can get good work space for low rent by being ‘off the grid.’ If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you aren’t looking hard enough - the resources are here, and you can

get everything made. Brian grew up in River Rouge, so Detroit is in his blood and he knows where to go to get materials. Wes appreciates the manufacturing spirit of the area.

Yes, work is collaborative.

Talking Dolls is a forhire think tank collective of five Cranbrook Academy of Arts grads

The shop can make other things.

MATERIALS

SHOP

Chocolate Cake Design Collective

17501 Van Dyke St. Detroit, MI 48234 www.chocolatecakedesigncollective.com info@chocolatecakedesigncollective.org

PRODUCT

TOOLS

Wood-working tools (chop saw, band saw)

Metal-working tools Photo darkroom Clay studio Kiln

Welding equipment Sewing machines

Various art works: woodworking, motorcycle fabrication, photo development, clay, fabric dying, painting, sculpture, etc.

Varies by project - products are usually whole (i.e., not components of products assembled by other shops) and finished in house.

CCDC is a collective of CCS graduates, practicing artists and community members with plans to be a makerspace open to the community and to renting members.

Our resources come from CCS, and it blows my mind when I think about all of the people who could have moved away from Detroit and haven’t...I have all of these people in my network that I could go to and ask about anything.

Danielle Denha Katie Bramledge

Matt Arnold

SCALE

*

CCDC is in Detroit because its founders were all already here, and their families are local.

FACILITY

PROCESSES

Printing multiples

Cutting, shaping, and joining metals and wood

CLIENTS

varies - up to 300’ fabric project

BATCH SIZE: Varies - depends on the project self-initiated

The shop is new and still being developed, but they want to develop clients and products.

There is a looseness to Detroit that allows creativity to flourish.

Detroit is a wonderful place to make things, but we can’t forget we’re in a larger world...as an artist, if you want to have an impact, you have to figure out how you can put yourself beyond Detroit. It’s a great place to make things, but it’s not the end all and be all.

SHOP

Smith Shop

Ponyride Detroit

1401 Vermont Detroit, MI 48216 (616) 745-7573 (269) 599-6164 www.smithshopdetroit.com

FACILITY

MATERIALS

Amy Weiks Gabriel Craig smithshopdetroit@gmail.com

Metal and salvage metal - gold, silver, copper, brass, steel

PRODUCT

Amy and Gabriel collaborate with each other, and are very open to working with and learning from many people.

TOOLS

The shop is here to be surrounded by others making and the culture of making. People here are unafraid to work on their own, and promote a culture of empowerment and hard work.

SCALE

Enameling kiln

Blacksmith welders

Horizontal bandsaw Abrasive chopsaw Anvils (5), including “Jeanette” from 1842

Craftwork and Commerce: Symbolic Ornament at the Guardian Building

The Guardian Building is an art deco narrative of commercial benevolence in stone, ceramic, glass and metal. The Union Trust Bank who commissioned it was a major financier of the city’s 1920’s building boom. The Guardian was to communicate UT president Frank Blair’s ideals for financial service, “faith and understanding,” into architecture. Crafted figures perform much of the building’s symbolic work. Its lobby is overlooked by an abstracted white pine in mosaic, sheltering the company’s mission statement, which was produced by the Ravenna Mosaic Company in St. Louis. Stained glass figures (angels?) stand allegorically for the commercial ideals “security” and “fidelity.” This lobby is divided from the banking hall by an intricate screen in “Monel” metal, a nickel alloy, designed by Rowland and produced by The Gorham Company of New York. It pairs the Christian symbolism of a stylized cross with a Tiffany stained glass clock. On the building’s exterior, at its monumental apse-like Griswold entrance, two Detroit-based makers’ figural works are juxtaposed. Mary Chase Stratton of Pewabic Pottery tiled the half-dome with a winged allegory of progress and medallions celebrating its agents: industry, agriculture and transportation. Italian-born Detroiter Corrado Parducci sculpted imposing representations of Native American “guardians” as stone piers on either side of this entrance. Holding a sword and key respectively

they communicate celebrated and elusive ideals of American banking: safety and security. In 1933, four years after the Guardian building’s completion, the bank failed and closed its doors. The Great Depression had brought sharply lower automobile sales, gutting industrial employment in Detroit and the value of its many homes mortgaged by Union Trust.

image: Michael McCulloch. Used with permission. Griswold entrance of the Guardian Building

Craft Multiculturalism

Detroit was a city of immigrants in the early twentieth century. Its ethnic fragmentation was threatening to modern industrialists such as Henry Ford, who pressed the often rural-born new arrivals under their hire to assimilate to urban, modern, “American” lifestyles. The Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts countered this assimilationist trend, however. Beginning in October 1917 it established the Society’s Folk Handicraft Committee to develop “native industries in the foreign colonies [of Detroit],” referring to the city’s immigrant neighborhoods. The committee hired craftwork, especially in textiles, from thirty women from across the city’s European spectrum. In order to build interest in these works the committee held an exhibition of exemplary craft objects borrowed from Detroit families of Italian, Greek, Romanian, Armenian, Russian and Syrian origin. The program’s aim was to give value to the city’s diverse craft knowledge despite the universalizing trends of modernization that surrounded it. The committee sought to build the market value (and cultural value) of this knowledge by selling and advertising the crafts and paying their makers for the work. With the earnest paternalism of the Progressive Era, chairwoman Claire Sanders explained that the women’s handiwork, “formerly commonplace to them, has taken on an added dignity due to the appreciation of Americans.”

MADE IN DETROIT: Stories from the Early Twentieth Century

Courtyard of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts Building on Watson St., where the Society’s Folk Handicraft Committee made its headquarters in 1917.

©DSAC Archives, College for Creative Studies. Used with permission.

Industrial Fabrication

Detroit Tube Products National Bronze Manuf. Co.

Federal Pipe & Supply Co., Inc. L.A. Martin Co., Inc.

Addison Ironworks, Inc. Thiry Machine Co., Inc.

Do-All Plastic, Inc. Truchan Tool & Machine Wolverine Bronze Co.

Contractors Steel Crankshaft Craftsmen Eutectic Engineering Welk-ko Fabricators, Inc.

Carlson Metal Products, Inc. Soley Metal Fabricating

Tolerance Tool & Engineering Wooden Graphics, LLC Allied Manufacturing J&N Industries Acrylic Specialties & Plastics Vulcanmasters Welding Co. Jim’s Ornamental Ironwork

Jim’s Awning

Artisanal Fabrication

AK Services C.A.N. Art Handworks, Inc. Richard Bennett & Associates

Arts and Crafts Hardware New York Designers Furnace Design Studio Dormouse Fabrication

Chido Johnson Context Furniture Origins Concrete Design Cyberoptix Tie Lab Andy Thompson

The Empowerment Plan OmniCorp Detroit Signal Return Press Stukenborg Letterpress

Aaron Blendowski i3 Detroit Detroitus Detroit Denim

The Collective Detroit Fashion Collective Chocolate Cake Collective Talking Dolls Smith Shop

Timeline

[by date of establishment]

Morris in Detroit: Selling and Exhibiting Craftworks

The Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts (DSAC) brought William Morris’ belief in a craft-based society to the emerging Motor City in 1906. They believed that hand-made objects, both useful and decorative, could ennoble the everyday lives of the objects’ makers and users. Commerce was essential to the Society’s efforts. They operated a showroom for craft objects, held lecture series, and posted newspaper advertisements to invite the public to view and purchase finelycrafted house wears from the society. In 1929 the Society coordinated an exhibition of ceramic arts and tableware in cooperation with several leading department stores, including the J.L. Hudson Company and even the Kresge Company, who installed a series of window displays to showcase modern designs in low-cost tableware. In a reunion of sorts, an Arras tapestry by Morris and the needlework of his daughter May were prominently exhibited in Detroit by the Society in its 1920 show of British arts and crafts.

MADE IN DETROIT: Stories from the Early Twentieth Century

General view of the DSAC auditorium converted into a salesroom for craft objects.

©DSAC Archives, College for Creative Studies. Used with permission.

Kiln sharing at Flint Faience

The AC Sparkplug Company of Flint, MI fired its plugs’ ceramic insulator bodies in modern tunnel kilns. These kilns were not needed around the clock, however, and rather than let the down time go to waste they sought a creative solution. The auto parts supplier established an in-house architectural tile subsidiary to share its kilns, naming it Flint Faience. Newly hired designers and ceramicists added to the existing expertise of the company’s ceramics engineers and technicians. The tile maker was named for faience, a high grade and high cost form of tile that was distinguished by a hand-made appearance and a rustic, painted surface ornamentation. The company boasted that its tiles had more than 5,000 applications, including “floors, sidewalks, vestibules, entrances of the home, automobile showrooms, hotel lobbies, store entrances…kitchens, mantels, fireplaces [and] fountains,” for which it could create custom tile or quickly provide designs from its stock catalogue. Following corporate absorption Flint Faience undersigned its advertising with the phrase “a Subsidiary of General Motors Corporation.” After a short but prolific run Flint Faience was disbanded in 1933 due to a perceived incompatibility between automobile and tile-making and an increased demand for kiln time to produce sparkplug insulators.

Re:Tool-Kit for Detroit_INTRODUCTION MADE IN DETROIT: Stories from the Early Twentieth Century

MADE IN DETROIT: Stories from the Early Twentieth Century MADE IN DETROIT: Stories the Early Twentieth Century

MADE IN DETROIT: Stories from the Early Twentieth Century

The university seal in Lorch Hall (formerly home to the School of Architecture) was produced by Flint Faience, likely in the same tunnel kilns that fired AC Sparkplug casings c. 1927.

image: Michael McCulloch. Used with permission.

Case Studies

Our team interviewed 50 Detroit fabricators in the summer of 2012. The people we met and the stories they told us were just as compelling as the skills, tools and capabilities we had originally set out to map. The following collection of “case studies” represents only a sliver of the makers working in Detroit today. They were selected to show the diversity of personal histories, shop types, processes, techniques, and attitudes.

The Empowerment Plan

Veronika Scott employs homeless women living in shelters to work in sewing-machine based production. Her shop, a non-profit humanitarian project called The Empowerment Plan, manufactures a coat made for people living on the streets. This coat is “self heated, waterproof, and transforms into a sleeping bag at night.” The Empowerment Plan grew out of work Veronika did for a class in her senior year studying design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. In school, the project dealt with the idea that power comes from making and how things are made. She’s had to learn about business, manufacturing and production outside of school. When she first tried to pitch her idea, she was told by many that it was impossible. She persevered and eventually found funding and matching donations were provided by Carhartt.

The coat/sleeping bag that Veronika creates is “all about the ladies [she] employs.” The model to employ women from shelters highlights the socially conscious manner in which she conducts business. While many people have offered her other work in the field of sewing fabrication, her current plan is to work solely on perfecting the coats before branching out to other projects. In the future, Veronika would like to scale up to a for-profit business model, similar to the one-for-one model currently practiced by TOMS Shoes, who, according to their website, match “every pair of shoes purchased, give a new pair of shoes to a child in need.”

Veronika’s first employee was hired in 2010. The Empowerment Plan has six employees, three quilters, three double needle machines, two single needle machines, four foot-operated walkers, and a serger. Instead of being solely focused on the mass production of products, Veronika explains that The Empowerment Plan is “people-based manufacturing, for one. We’re about the people we hire and how they’re treated and how they feel when manufacturing…which is different and rare and, probably, not the most cost-effective right now, but in the future, it will be for sure.” The shop values transparency in the work-

place. Their “entire supply chain is written on a whiteboard in our office for everyone in the building to look and change and edit and suggest.”

When asked about networking and finding the right person to make something in Detroit, Veronika explains that “Detroit is the smallest biggest city... It’s an internal city. So, everything you need is kind of hidden. All of the cool stuff that’s happening is inside these buildings that are very unassuming.” She also describes Detroit as a “wild west of creativity. You’ve got people starting things on their own all of the

“Detroit really is the only place where I could, as a 22 yearold, do a business on my own... I can’t think of doing it in any other city.”

time. Somebody is making sausages one week.” Then somebody else starts a different project, the next week. “It is all kind of happening at once and you can’t really see it right away, but you’re bound to be connected to each other because it’s such a tight-knit community that if you’re actually doing what you say you’re going to do, like if you’re actually building something or teaching, or creating, in a manner that you say you’re going to, you’re bound to be picked up by somebody in the community.” She continues, “Most of the new businesses I know have started because they are friends with another person that started their own business. It’s a chain effect.” Someone helps someone else start a business or works for a start-up while it is getting its feet on the ground. That person then leaves and starts something completely different on their own.

“The reason I stayed [in Detroit after graduation from CCS] was because: one, this project. I would not be here without this project, without these ladies and without the commitment I made to the people and the city, and two, where else? I could be back in New York, but I would be a sketch monkey for somebody else for a very long time before I could ever get an opportunity to do something like this again. Detroit really is the only place where I could, as a 22 year-old, do a business on my own... I can’t think of doing it any other city. I have enough support here and I have enough momentum here.”

“I like [Detroit] because of the opportunity and because I’m unbiased. I wasn’t here in the 1930s, the 1960s, or the 1970s when everything collapsed. And I wasn’t here when it was the ‘Paris of the Midwest.’ I’m not looking at Detroit as what it was. I do see abandoned buildings, but I don’t think, “Oh, that used to be the Hudson building.”

Richard Bennett & Associates

Richard Bennett “creates and builds unique innovative multi-media works from wood and metal including furniture, sculpture and custom requests.” He uses all different kinds of metals and materials, produces a line of high quality furniture, and has made public art works that have been exhibited in cities around the world. These include a pair of 18’ wide and 10’ high copper and wood doors that were permanently installed in the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in 1997.

He started Richard Bennett & Associates thirty years ago in his parents’ basement, later upgrading to a garage and eventually, in 2001, buying a whole building which now houses his workspace with ample space for living and renting workspace and retail space to others in the future. Richard explains that “when I bought this particular building, you couldn’t give property away down here. It was Cass Corridor then, before it was Midtown. Now, it’s one of the hottest real estate areas in Southeast Michigan.” But when he bought the building, he couldn’t afford to move anywhere else.” The building had been abandoned for 22 years. It had been repeatedly set on fire. Thirty trees with four-inch diameters were growing on the roof. “The roof was leaking. You could ice skate upstairs.” It took ten forty-yard dumpsters to clean out the space. In the future, he would like to have more foot traffic, more operable windows, and create a destination for designers.

Richard was good at making things from the very beginning. He

earned awards in woodshop class as a child and then worked in an aerospace plant after high school where he was introduced to welding. They were welding exotic metals and sparked his interest in marrying the highly technical work with the creative. “I was born and raised here. Detroit gets on my nerves sometimes...but it’s a great city with great people in it. There’s a lot of industrial knowledge here. There’s a lot of industrial support for what I do. With the advent of the internet you can market all over the world.” Although most of Richard’s work today comes from referrals, he says that

“gives

vive...The suburbs, like Birmingham and Ann Arbor and West Bloomfield, is where my clientele base is. Most of the work that I do is going down to the suburban areas. Most of the architects and the designers that I work for are out of that area, too. It’s been

working in Detroit

you a tenacity and a grittiness to sur-

a good situation for me. I’m not complaining about it. If you’re going to be successful or make it through in business it’s going to be about your clientele base. You have to spend years establishing a clientele base, letting people know your philosophy about your work and the quality and all that stuff and then maintaining it over the years. Then, the phone rings and the fax machine goes off... This is where I’m at.”

“The fabrication culture of Detroit is unique. I think it’s cutting-edge. You’ll find guys out here doing all kinds of wild things with their talents... You’ve got some really, really experienced technicians, craftsmen and artisans here in this area and one thing I like about it is that everybody is supportive of each other because, it’s not a large community. If you’ve been in business long enough you’re going to run into the guys that are ‘doing it’ so to speak and we kind of have a brotherhood of sticking together. If somebody needs to use my shop to do whatever I can do that they don’t have the capability of, they’re welcome here and that extends to some of my other friends’ shops too. If there is something that I need I call them up. I’ve got keys over there to Chip Flynn’s place... that’s how we operate together.”

When asked if he has the capacity to make something different than what he makes today, Richard responds by saying “Yeah, I’ve got plenty of space here… capacity is all about what I’m capable of marketing and/or what someone else is capable of marketing… I have the

“we kind of have a brotherhood of sticking together.”

space and I’m not utilizing all of it so I do have extra space that I could lease out.”

When asked how he goes about finding a fabricator for a job in Detroit, Richard says, “I’ve been in business for 30 years, so I know most of the folks that... have the capabilities of doing what I can’t do here, in my shop... I’ll usually just call around to some of my friends if I need something that I can’t find or don’t have.”

When asked to recommend how someone without an extensive network would find a fabricator in Detroit, Richard suggests “you find someone who’s in the business and pick their brain. A lot of times, if you go to the Yellow Pages, you dial up company businesses, you get a lot of companies that have gone out of business now. Try to find someone in the business to recommend, because someone in the business probably did work with these outside businesses before and could let you know what kind of quality or reputation they have.”

Richard thinks that Detroit is changing, but the change hasn’t necessarily reached the builders, makers, and fabrication people, yet. He says “The changes that are taking place are in the opportunities that are out there. You’ve got the College for Creative Studies. You’ve got the shows I was in with Artscapes on the RiverWalk. You got this Midtown thing that’s blowing up here. I think that’s the major change

that has happened over the past five or six years which will evolve and change what you do in your shop. If there are more opportunities out there for you to display your work or to be in shows, you know, like the Artist’s Market or the Museum of Contemporary Art [Detroit] and places like that...if there are opportunities out there, then the builders in the area are going to evolve to take advantage of those opportunities. That’s the change I see. There are more opportunities for shows and commissions and builders.”

Smith Shop

Amy Weiks and Gabriel Craig moved to Detroit to start their new studio, the Smith Shop. They are an example of the new wave of makers moving to Detroit to participate in the creative community they say is “beginning to exist here.” Their new studio is located in Corktown at Ponyride – a new non-profit organization aimed at supporting artists and entrepreneurs by leasing multiple spaces in a single building with shared resources and facilities. Gabriel and Amy are metalworkers with backgrounds in blacksmithing, silversmithing, jewelry, and installation work. Amy recently received her MFA at Cranbrook Academy of Art. They plan to work collaboratively and make objects out of metal, but also plan to use their space to teach others their trade. “One of the reasons [Smith Shop] wanted to locate in Detroit is because people make things here. It’s always been a center of making things and that’s part of the culture in Detroit, but it is not the same making culture as in other places. People aren’t afraid of working on their cars. There seems to be a culture of empowerment and handwork. That was an attraction.”

Amy and Gabriel started talking seriously about setting up a collaborative studio about three years ago while living in Houston. Gabriel explains that he “had been thinking about having a collaborative studio that followed a different model than most. “I was looking at 19th century craft guilds in the United Kingdom-- intentional communities centered around manufacturing--and thinking about where a good place to do that would be.” Gabriel had grown up in Detroit, but

Smith Shop 39 Smith Shop

Re:Tool-Kit for Detroit_CASE STUDIES

moved away. “Detroit seemed like a logical place to have a studio that was collaborative and had the capacity to do both commercial and retail production but also had the facilities to teach and make artwork.” They’re organizing their workspace so that it can accommodate classes and workshops up to eight students.

In addition to teaching, Smith Shop plans to make jewelry and metal objects for individual patrons as well as limited edition production items. They would also like to create details that could be included in repurposed buildings. “We are in the process of feeling out where we

“One of the reasons we wanted to locate in Detroit is because people make things here.”

are going. We have a lot of inclinations and ideas about what we’d like to see. Certainly teaching is one avenue we would like to pursue. It depends on what sort of work comes through the door because we have such a broad and deep training in all sorts of metal works that we could really do anything. I hope that people in Detroit will have things that they want to be made and hopefully we can use our experience as metalsmiths to inform the design process of the thing they want to make. We could do anything from production jewelry to

custom ceremonial silver objects to tools to architectural details. That’s the range of tools that we have. Having the flexibility to work between projects will keep us interested over what is hopefully a long tenure here.”

Smith Shop makes their own tools. “Mechanisms, or findings (like a pin clasp or a bale) are super satisfying to make. You can geek out on those as a metal smith. Things most people will overlook…you’re really making it for yourself.” Gabriel explains, “Metalsmiths are detail oriented. There are a lot of processes where you follow one step and then another step and if you don’t follow a step, something can go wrong. It tends to attract people with mild cases of OCD or it brings that out in people.”

Amy and Gabriel have a lot of tools. “Jewelry making requires a lot of low-tech tools. We have hammers and jeweler saws. We have things for hammering, cutting, and files for shaping. We will have three soldering stations—for high temperature silver soldering.” They own an enameling kiln, and hope to have a centrifugal caster soon. They are eager to use a newly purchased power rolling mill that allows them to turn their ingots into sheet and wire. Gabriel explains “we are big on ethically sourced materials. When you can recycle your own material, you don’t rely on any outside suppliers for your source material.” They can take their scrap silver and filings, put them in a crucible, melt

them down and pour them into an ingot. An ingot is a thick sheet or wire that can be passed through the rolling mill to be thinned back to a working thickness.

They also have a drill press, a forming table with a vice mounted on it for small-scale sheet metal forming. There will be a soldering bench that can anneal metal. There is also blacksmithing equipment, a kiln, a centrifugal caster, welders, steel working tools, a horizontal band saw, abrasive chop saw, a gas forge for heating up metal, and five anvils. The big one is Bernice - a 203-pound Hay Budden made in the USA. The smaller one is a 134-pound William Foster made in 1842 in England and named “Jeanette”. There are also “drawers and drawers and boxes of hand tools” that they have accumulated over ten years.

When asked what is the best way to find a fabricator in Detroit, Smith Shop said, “Get a recommendation from some salty old person that’s been around for a while. Those are the recommendations I love -whether it’s a restaurant or a manufacturer--someone who knows from experience.”

CAN Art Handworks, Inc.

Carlos Nielbock is a European Master Craftsman. His shop, CAN Art Handworks, Inc., designs and fabricates architectural and ornamental metal work. He employs metal working technologies that pre-date welding and is passionate about passing these traditional metal technologies on to others through an apprentice system so that the skills will live on in the future. He makes a living out of restoration work and recreation projects, but also does sculpture and has built windmills and other green energy prototypes. His shop on the east side of Detroit is a freestanding three-story building with a big working side yard which is full of his projects, including a windmill, and is entered via an ornate metal gate.

Carlos’ mother is from Germany, where she met his American father, who was in the U.S. Military Police Squadron. Carlos was born and grew up in Germany, and when he moved to Detroit in 1984, he was only “equipped with the knowledge of a journeyman. I learned architectural, ornamental metalwork under really strict guidelines” in the German craft guild system. “The set of knowledge that get[s] transmitted [in a craft guild environment] is a set of knowledge you really cannot read in a curriculum or in a book because it only happens by means of interaction. You have an old guy, telling a really young guy all the knowledge this old guy got from another really old guy when he was young. So, you can see there’s a span of hundreds of years of accumulation of knowledge and know-how and practice that get[s]

CAN Art Handworks,

transmitted in an interactive fashion that does not really exist here.”

Carlos believes there is a connection between educating craftsmen in the traditional technologies required to do restoration work and the revival of Detroit. “The principles of how to construct skilled trades is necessary to build this city back to the state (or semi-state) that it came from. It used to be the Paris of North America. That’s why you and all kinds of other people are trying to figure out what is going on here. What is the myth of Detroit? If you go to the library and look at the glass plate photos that are available, you can see for yourself how beautiful Detroit was and what type of artistry and craftsmanship and creative energy was here to catapult Detroit from an outpost right after the civil war with less than 80,000 people in the whole region and only accessible by boat, with less than 50 years to 2 million metropolitan, bustling—you can’t even comprehend that.”

“I can build anything out of nothing.”

Eutectic Engineering

Before he took over Eutectic Engineering, Charles Baer was a manufacturer’s rep with a background in a variety of processes such as stamping, forgings, plastics, die-castings, sand castings, gaskets, tubing, and hoses. Charles’ father founded Eutectic Engineering in 1961. It is located in Detroit on East Davison Street and specializes in investment casting. Investment casting is a specific kind of casting process also referred to as a lost wax process or precision casting. The ultimate objective of the process is to eliminate or minimize machining, thus making a “near net shape.”

Near net shape is a term referring to the fact that the initial production is very close to the final shape minimizing the need for subsequent surface finish-

ing. Eutectic Engineering has made precision castings for stainless steel replacement knees and golf club heads. They have worked on thousands of different projects over the years including work for the defense, automotive, medical, aerospace, food, oil, aircraft and energy industries. Even some building components such as certain hinges and large heavy-duty door and window frames can be made with investment casting.

Foreign competition, in conjunction with outsourcing, bankruptcies and economic downturn, has dramatically impacted Eutectic’s market. Eutectic has had to change their approach and now goes after medium to low volume, precise difficult parts that are hard to manufacture and likely to be sourced domestically. For liability reasons, medical, defense and aircraft companies continue to work domestically and therefore are likely to provide a reliable source of work. In a time crunch, Eutectic can turn a domestic or local job around more quickly than an overseas competitor.

Charles explains that when Eutectic Engineering started, they did “non-production, fixed-stream work for the automotive industry, followed by military work, progressing into automotive production work (transmission components, in particular). When that was outsourced world wide, we became specialists in convertible applications for 20 years. Along the way we got into finished machine assemblies, aircraft and medical work.” Eutectic used to do runs of 100,000 parts and had a staff of 120. Now, runs are in the range of 100-500 produced by a staff of 12. With 12 employees, the largest batch size is 10,000, though the capability still exists to run hundreds of thousands of parts without capital investment. The items Eutectic makes are usually under five pounds, but can be as light as a couple of ounces or be as heavy as 40 lbs. They pour

over 130 different alloys including steel, aluminum, bronze, and brass. The most common is stainless steel. They don’t pour titanium. Eutectic has wax pressers, grinders, ovens, and conveyers, pneumatic tools, sand blasters, and machining tools as well as a band saw, chops saw, and a wheel abrator. Among other things, their tools melt alloys, bake ceramic and melt wax. All of their tools create other tools.

In other words, their tools are used to create the forms that are then used to make parts.

Charles explained the different factors that impact whether or not a client will choose a precision casting. Sand casting is about half the price, but it is not as precise as precision casting. The machines used for die-casting are big, made out of steel and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a result, die casting only pencils out if a client needs a large volume of parts. Precision casting tools, on the other hand, are made of aluminum and easy to machine. So although the piece price for precision casting is roughly double the cost of die casting, the tooling price is cheaper. As a result, if a client wants to make a more complex part in lower volumes, they might choose precision casting. That said their customer base usually needs parts that can withstand high temperatures and corrosive environments. These require stainless steel.

When asked why Eutectic is in Detroit, Charles says “because this is where we started.” He wouldn’t mind leaving the city, but relocating all

of his equipment would be a considerable expense. He says Detroit can’t be competitive due to safety, inconvenience of city services, and the cost of business here. “In addition to a lack of streetlights at night, because everybody who works in Detroit lives in the suburbs, business owners have to pay an additional tax to the city of Detroit. Our

insurance for cars in the building is double what it would be outside of the city. Property taxes are also almost double what they would be outside the city. There is an additional 5% penalty for gas and electric which Eutectic uses extensively in our process. There are additional taxes and licenses, including a tax for a sign and a waste container. But, our biggest challenge is that although our actual water usage fee is $200 a month, the combined fee for usage of water and sewer system is $3,200 a month. Consequently in our process, it is cheaper for us to use bottled water than it is to use tap water. These factors force us to be more competitive in our business. We’ve cut everywhere that we can and it results in lower wages. Electricity is 40% less per kilowatt in the state of Indiana. Workman’s comp is 90% less. Other than that, everything is great down here.”

When asked to recommend the best way to find a fabricator in Detroit, Charles advises, “Referrals are the best way, but you do run into situations where you need something unique. As long as people, not computers, are making decisions, there is still a human element. Human relationships and reputations are important.”

is hardly anything made in Detroit. Eutectic is in an industrial section, but if you pull out the Harris Guide and look at manufacturers, there is not much left in the city of Detroit. There is Detroit Diesel. There are the Poletown and Jefferson auto plants. There are little guys like Eutectic. There are a couple of machine shops here and there, but there just isn’t that much.”

“There

Tolerance Tool and Engineering

Jerry Fiorentino worked as a tool and die manager at a number of different local Detroit companies prior to 1980 when he started a grass roots engineering company in a garage. He called it Tolerance Tool and Engineering. In 1983, he rented a corner of a warehouse on the west side of Detroit and then continued to expand renting more and more space until the landlord offered to sell him the whole property. Today, Tolerance Tool & Engineering is a small, experimental, prototype firm. They’re more of an R&D firm, but they also do production.

Jerry claims ”The tougher the job, the better it is for us.” In 2006, Dave Bruckman, a nephew, was brought on as Chief Operating Officer.

When Tolerance Tool first started out, they accepted jobs that other shops would refuse—making precision replacement and surplus parts for other manufacturers. Since then, they’ve become a diversified heavy industry, agriculture, and defense manufacturer. In addition to working on one of the first artificial hearts and replacement hip sockets, they have also built parts for fire trucks and car washes. They make after-market auto parts, and someday, they’d like to have their own product line. Currently the majority of their work deals with military parts and heavy-duty equipment. Recently, Jerry saw something he’s made on TV being used in Afghanistan.

Tolerance Tool & Engineering does machining, engineering, grinding, prototype development and low volume production work. All of their tools remove mass from stock materials into the desired shape. Toler-

Tolerance Tool and Engineering, Ltd.

ance Tool owns state-of-the-art CNC turning and milling machines as well as welding and engineering services. They know where to go for plating, heat-treating, grinding and other special processes when needed. They make items as small as a screw to as large as a mas-

Tolerance Tool and Engineering, Ltd.

sive axle for a military vehicle. They can make one-off prototypes or crank out batches up to 1000 parts/month and they have the capacity to double their output when working 24/7.

For Tolerance, the beauty of working and staying in Detroit for so long is that they have established such a strong reputation that many projects are from long-term clients, and developing new business can happen via word of mouth. Very few clients find them through the internet. When asked how he finds a fabricator in Detroit, Jerry explains that “Because we have such a large network of current vendors it’s fairly easy [to find someone], but if it is someone or something we don’t have a vendor for, we just Google it or

call another shop and say, ‘This is what we’re looking at.’ Sometimes, we email the print and say ‘This is what we’re looking at, any suggestions?”

Tolerance Tool is located in Detroit because it has always been in Detroit. Tolerance explains that there are lots of fees, inconveniences, security issues and hidden costs of doing business in Detroit. They were considering moving out of the city right before the market crashed and are glad they didn’t. That said, there are some financial incentives for clients as a result of being located in Detroit. Detroit is designated as a Historically Unde-

I believe in the Universities. I believe in young people trying to learn about what and how we do what we do so that you can hopefully promote this state of ours, this city of ours. I believe in you, but I don’t have any faith anymore in our city, in the city of Detroit-until something changes.”

rutilized Business Zone. Customers get 5% back for doing business with companies in HUB Zones. But in general, being here doesn’t really affect their work all that much.

There have been many changes to how things are made in Detroit including the introduction of computers, the rise of the internet, and free trade agreements. Some changes have hurt business, but now, there seems to be an increase in demand for “American Made” products. Jerry thinks it seems like “America has figured out that we really can’t do without being a manufacturing Mecca. We gave up too much when we gave away the manufacturing. I know it’s a world market these days, but it just really hurt us by going offshore with our manufacturing. We lost a lot. Our gross national product is highly dependent on manufacturing, not all of it by any means, but it’s a big piece of it.”

Tolerance Tool and Engineering, Ltd.

Do-All Plastic

Gary La Duke comes from a fabrication family, and claims to be the last plastic injection molder within the city limits of Detroit. He is a working boss and has been in the business for 31 years, inheriting DoAll Plastic from his father, who started the shop in 1950. The original business was actually called Fabric Products. The man who owned Fabric Products, which made fabric leaf springs for the rear wheels of cars, came to Gary’s grandfather and asked if he could make the same part out of plastic. With that, Do-All Plastic was formed. Both companies still exist, but Fabric Products is a sales name. Do-All is the manufacturer. Gary plans to work until “the day he dies.”

Do-All Plastic has been in the same building since 1965. In the beginning, Do-All primarily worked for the Big Three. As world markets have opened up over the last 20 years, much of that work has gone overseas too. Back in its heyday, Gary used to have 40 employees working around the clock on three shifts. He did not want their shop to be found because they were already working at full capacity. Gary lost 80% of his business in 2001 to Mexico and China after signing of the Free Trade Agreement. Today, he has four employees working the dayshift. He definitely has the capacity to make something different than what he makes today as he is only working at 15-20% capacity. Do-All Plastic specializes in injection molding. They make anything out of plastic and use all kinds of plastics including synthetic, rubber, ny-

lon, polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl, and PVC. They make items as small as a dime up to roughly 2’ x 2’ or 3.5 lbs., with a limitation being the thicker an object, the longer it takes to cool. Batch sizes range from 1-1000 pieces.

The shop is located in one of three buildings on a dead end road across the street from the Chrysler plant in East Detroit. Gary typically does GM service work and most of his business still comes from the Big Three automakers. Although he would prefer to work domestically, he is willing to work for anyone. His prices are competitive with China. He can completely eliminate shipping costs -- he is so close to Chrysler, he can literally walk products across the road.

Gary collaborates with mold makers, material makers, and inventors.

Do-All Plastic has 9 injection molding machines produced by Cincinnati and Vandor – both American companies. The machines heat tiny plastic pellets in a hopper. The material is then pressured by a screw through a tiny hole to fill up a mold. They have hundreds of molds. Gary doesn’t make the molds in house. He usually works with a toolmaker in Port Huron. Some of the molds are owned by Gary; other molds are owned by the company that provided the job.

Even though Do-All uses known machines, they have mastered tricks of the trade, techniques, and trade secretes that make operating the machines a kind of craft.

Detroit Tube Products

Detroit Tube Products has always been a part of Therese Bellaimey’s life. Therese took over Detroit Tube Products from her father when he died. Her father had inherited the shop during World War II from his father, who founded the company in 1911. Today, Therese’s desk overlooks an expansive shop floor. Large quantities of metal, tools and machines obscure the 22 people working there. Detroit Tube Products fabricates and forms metal tubing. They buy straight tubing and then use their tools and machines to bend, punch, crush, weld, flare, drill and “otherwise fabricate” it to their customers’ designs. They bend mild steel, stainless steel, aluminized steel, aluminum, and brass. Detroit Tube Products has created tube assemblies for a variety of industries including heavy-duty diesel, power generation, natural gas power generation, water filtration and irrigation, the commercial food service industry, car washing, fire suppressant systems, and mining. Some of the most unusual things they’ve made include “parts for engines that run on animal poop.” They also “helped one of our customers develop the first energy star rated vegetable steamer that could cook twenty pounds of frozen broccoli in a minute and a half.”

Therese’s grandfather was the son of a ship carpenter who grew up along the Detroit River. “He was interested in shipping, boats and speed.” In 1905, he started “building gasoline engines for commercial

“Since the market is big, there is room for that guy, there is room for the little guy, there is room for us.”

vessels on the river. There was no tunnel. There was no bridge. There were just boats going back and forth… He found that was lucrative for a while. When other people started making gas engines more cheaply, he found his niche in piping them up – converting a vessel from steam to gasoline required tubes to convey the water and the gasoline and the exhaust. He developed tooling and machinery to do that. He built his own tube bending and forming machines… Some of the first contracts were for an umbrella company and refrigeration equipment which was in its infancy, and some automotive work like building frames for the windshields of cars.” Therese emphasizes the role of innovation at Detroit Tube Products, stressing that over time the company continually adapted to meet the demands of their customers, creating new tools to do the job, if their current tools were not suitable.

The shop has always been in the same Southwest Detroit neighborhood. Therese’s grandfather originally worked in a stable behind his mother’s little house. It was not far from where the shop is located today. Eventually, his mother moved out and the business expanded into her little house on the property. In 1927, the current building was built. Over the next few decades, the business expanded to encompass the whole block. Production is more automated today, but many of the machines are still the same machines that were developed by Therese’s father in

response to war, that brought a sudden and radically changed labor force at the same time as an increased demand for production. Therese explains “all able bodied men were at war.” Her father, who was freshly graduated from University of Detroit in engineering, had to do war production for the Navy and Army Air Corps using old men, women of all ages and teenage boys who were too young to serve. The tube bending equipment had previously been dependent upon brawn. “My father’s challenge was to create new equipment that didn’t require brawn but used hydraulics and pneumatics because

most women didn’t have the power to bend a tube by grabbing it and pulling it around a big wheel. They had to do it mechanically -- by mechanical brawn. A lot of the equipment we got in that period was handmade here in our facility. We are still using a few machines that were built during WWII right here. The machines might have been rebuilt with a new motor or refurbished or re-piped, but they originated during WWII in order to do tasks that nobody else made machines to do.” They also have computer-controlled machines you wouldn’t have had before. “Basically what changes over time is that you improve the tooling.”

When asked what kinds of skills are required to work at Detroit Tube, Therese explains, “If [employees] have geometry and trigonometry, they are so many steps ahead of anybody else. Being able to visualize in three dimensions is absolutely a gift. The people who have that ability are able to advance.” Therese likes to hire people who tinker with cars, build robots, and program computers. “Everybody here likes to work with their hands.”

“You really do have to have good problem-solving skills. The kind of problem-solving skills that are taught in school nowadays are primarily interpersonal. And of course that’s important in any workplace, but people don’t seem to understand scientific method. They don’t seem to understand controlling for variables. What we do is working on the

envelope. We’re working at the margins of a machine and material’s capability. So everything doesn’t go as planned. You have to be able to solve problems and figure out ‘Why did it break? Why did it break here?’ And rule out all the easy stuff first. Get rid of the low hanging fruit and then move on to what other things could it be. In order to do that, you have to have decent, and I would call it scientific-based, problem-solving skills that are evidently not being taught to non-college bound students or even to college bound students. They are not being taught in a hands-on way. It’s more of a test tube experiment and lab work kind of a way and not based on something you can put a wrench to.”

When asked if the shop has the capacity to make something different than what they make today, Therese says, “Sure. Just name it. We’ll make it…But I wouldn’t want to go outside of those tubing sizes” (i.e., from ½” up to 6” outside diameter). When asked why the shop is in Detroit, Therese states, “The river is right there. At the time this was founded, the river was still a major means of transportation and the railroad tracks you crossed on your way in were there, too. Your two primary means of transportation for shipping your goods and receiving goods were all right there. Detroit has been a center of innovation in things that are mechanical and processes to make things. You get people who are interested in making things wanting to be here because this is where the action is traditionally. It has changed ...”

When Kerry Baker, a chief engineer, started working at Detroit Tube Products in 1971, there were houses on all the surrounding lots. Today, it still abuts a residential neighborhood. Lots of houses have been torn down, but Kerry tells us that the people that stayed are the people who want to live here. So, they know everyone who has stuck around. “We have neighbors that watch over us and we watch over them, too. Its pretty cool.” Therese adds, “Still having residential people along the side streets is different -- not like a suburban industrial

park. I know the lady who lives down the street. I know the guy next door… if somebody wants to have the lawnmower blade fixed, we do that… You keep those networks and human relationships and you don’t necessarily get building invasions because they’re your friend.” When asked why the business is still in Detroit, Therese says, “partly my family is stubborn—and why should you move? None of us have ever seen a reason to move. It is central. All freeways lead to downtown Detroit. We’re not far from downtown and you can get anyplace from here in under an hour. My family is from this neighborhood, well not quite this neighborhood, but Southwest Detroit. Never saw a need to move.” Kerry adds “The cost of moving would be something you couldn’t absorb. No reason to go to another place to say you don’t want to be here.”

Kerry explains how he finds the right person for a job when he needs something made in Detroit “I go by networking right now. It’s easiest to just call the people you know and say I need this. When Therese’s dad was alive, he said we could drive anywhere and have anything done within 20 minutes. And it’s almost true now because there are still enough places. If I need a gear, I can find a gear place. If I need bearings, I’ve got a bearing place. There are 20 shops I could pick off the top of my head.” When asked to recommend how someone without an established network should go about finding a fabricator in Detroit, Kerry says, “So, if YOU called? Once we find out what YOU want, I usually give someone three different names of the people I go

“The design work that happens here is tooling design. So, the customer gives us a design for the tubing. We would have to design the tools to make that happen, but we don’t design their products.”

to. And If I can’t do it, if we can’t bend it, I can give them a competitor who can bend it. If I can’t do it, there’s no sense not leading people to the right place because I appreciate all the help people give us when we call…Just call anybody.”

“It is still true that you can get anything made here, anything—especially metal. . . I think you can get anything made and you can get the pieces to build anything, too. You want to build a machine. You can build anything here. We can do anything. You can buy cylinders. You can buy all the fittings. You can buy cylinders. And people who know what they’re doing.”

Re:Tooling for War Production

Detroit’s industrial producers saw great opportunity in wartime production. They flexibly adapted their operations to provide machines and materiel to the U. S. military and its allies in World War I and II. During the first war the Packard Motor Car Company retooled to produce Liberty aviation engines. The Dodge Brothers learned to make munitions and firearm recoil mechanisms. Ground was first broken at Ford’s River Rouge plant in 1917 to produce 100 Eagle Boats for Undersecretary for War Franklin D. Roosevelt. The company leveraged federal dollars to dredge the Rouge River and prepare the site, and while only 60 boats were completed before the end of the conflict the arrangement left the site well poised, with its deep-water access, to become Detroit’s leading automobile production center of the 1920’s. During periods of wartime production, however, automakers such as Ford sought to keep alive the desires and aspirations of their American consumer public. During the Second World War the company reassured homefront magazine readers that wartime deprivation was only temporary, advertising that “There’s a Ford in Your Future!” and explaining that “Some day—when America’s biggest job is done—peace will return. And with it will come a big, new Ford.”

From the collections of The Henry Ford (P.833.22621/THF97488). Used with permission.

Launching of the first Eagle Boat at Ford’s River Rouge Plant, 1918

A New Spirit to Lead Us: Art and the End of War and Consumerism

As Detroit industrialists made the materials of war the city’s Society of Arts and Crafts reflected on its own role in wartime society. Society President George Booth urged continued support for the arts in 1917 despite the alarming conditions of the fighting. The conflict, he believed, was a fire upon which the age of base materialism was burning away. But “while this funeral pyre still burns, while the very earth still trembles,” Booth believed that in the arts a “new spirit which is to lead us is breaking forth.” Replacing the mad rush for power and possessions Booth imagined a postwar material culture centered on beauty and the expression of spiritual values. “If hope exists,” he said, “if there is still a striving for better things, then every step upward leads to this feeling of real necessity, -- to express visibly our spiritual progress by beautifying that which makes up our immediate world.” The Society of Arts and Crafts produced memorial medals in 1919 that were given by the City of Detroit to the families of men who lost their lives in the Great War, inscribed “In memory of one who died in the cause of freedom and humanity.”

©DSAC Archives, College for Creative Studies. Used with permission.

Memorial Medal Given by the City of Detroit to the families of men who lost their lives in the Great War - Designed by Paul Manship, 1919.

Fabrication

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