Dagry Tooling keeps machines moving for 35 years
Dave Luedtke stands in front of the first piece of equipment owned by Dagry Tooling, Inc. He co-founded the business 35 years ago with his brother, Gary. Staff photo by Joni Hubred
Dave Luedtke started taking machines apart when he was in kindergarten.
The co-founder and owner of Dagry Tooling Inc. in rural Owatonna said he dismantled his bicycle, to see what made the tires go around. From there, he moved on to machining classes in high school and knew he’d found his calling.
“My first job was at Owatonna Tool Company on a job release program,” said Luedtke. “I took tool and die at Faribault Area Vocational-Technical Institute and never looked back.”
While working in the Twin Cities in 1987, Dave and his brother, Gary, took on some part-time work at night, just to stay busy. Four years later, they built Dagry Tooling’s first building at Lemond Road and SW 52nd Ave.
Dave got into the business full-time not long after the building was completely enclosed–but not for the reason you might think.
“I was out front riding on a neighbor’s horse, and it reared up,” he said.
Fortunately, his only injury was a broken leg, but that forced him into making a choice.
The brothers had been working on a project for Gary’s employer, making glass lens blanks for the optical industry. When they finished that, they started looking for job shop and maintenance work.
“As luck would have it, a guy I worked with… his brother started a a shop and had to get out,” Dave said. “We ended up buying our first CNC (computer-controlled machine) from him, and that came with work in Owatonna.”
For the most part, Dagry–a combination of the brothers’ names–is a job shop.
“We’ll make product to industry blueprint, and we do reverse engineering,” Dave said. “We do repair work, machining, fabrication, and weld.”
The company also sells metal artwork, displayed in the front office.
What started as one building is now six pods under one roof. Luedtke said he bought out Gary’s share of the business in 2010.
Dave owning the farm where the company is located helps with costs–he said it would have cost three times as much to move into Owatonna’s industrial park.
However, he said, “It appears Steele County thinks we should pay the same taxes as they do in the industrial park.”
Dagry Tooling currently has about 15 full- and part-time employees, some who have been there a few days and others for years. Luedtke said as with all manufacturing businesses, it’s tough to find workers.
And then there’s training.
“Our operating system is so simple, it’s scary,” he said. “The system we use is extremely powerful. It has menus for everything, so it’s click, and it’s done.”
The technology makes the day-to-day easier; it’s just copy-and-paste to get from a quote to purchasing materials.
“When I was introduced to this system, it was just a no-brainer,” Luedtke said. “The machining technology hasn’t changed a lot. Tool efficiency and tool performance have.”
Dagry Tooling’s services include fabrication, material sales, CNC plasma and torch cutting, maintenance and repairs. They can also assist with design.
There is one kind of repair, though, that the Owatonna business can’t handle, Luedtke said.
“I always say we can fix anything but a broken heart.”