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• Do It Yourself Network's 'Cool Tools' films at New Richmond shop

By Laura Kruse, RiverTown Staff

Heintz Machine Corp in New Richmond had a slow day on Wednesday, June 25.

In fact, the day before was kind of slow too, and the economy had nothing to do with it.

The corporation's primary customer, Lumberjack Tools, took over the shop for a day of filming for the Do-it-Yourself network's TV show, "Cool Tools."

At Heintz Machine Corp, their four Computer Numerical Control machines turn cylinders of raw material, like aluminum, plastic and steel, into finished products.

Heintz forms aluminum into tenon cutters for Lumberjack Tools. The cutters whittle a tip and drill a hole in small logs used to make log furniture like beds and tables. The cutters fit on electric drills.

Andy Heintz, owner of Heintz Machine Corp, explained, "It's like a big pencil sharpener."

Heintz said they make roughly 200 parts per day for Lumberjack Tools, handling all aspects of the manufacturing process from the Computer Aided Design to manufacturing to the end user.

Scott Sullivan, owner of Lumberjack Tools with his wife Wendy, said they've been working with Heintz for about as long as he's been open, around two-and-a-half years.

All of Lumberjack's other needs are met in the area too. They work with White Bear Machine and Arden Specialty Products. Each of the businesses is family owned, there isn't a corporate division.

Additionally, they are all American.

Sullivan said he started the company in 2002 in Dresser, Wis. where he resided for 10 years.

In 2007, Sullivan moved the company to Colorado Springs, Colo. for personal reasons but knew he wanted to keep the manufacturing here in Wisconsin because of all the technical knowledge this area holds. He said, "The heart of manufacturing is still in the Midwest."

Sullivan added that in this age of technology with e-mails and faxes, it's not too hard to keep the business functioning smoothly, even if parts are states apart.

Get more on this story in this week's print edition of the New Richmond News.