Cincinnati Dowel Origin and Evolution
Our company, Cincinnati Dowel & Wood Products, is rich in history and has had continuous success over several decades.
For this blog post, we sat down with the owner, Jerry Streight, and discussed the history in more depth to get a deeper glimpse into how our company has grown and expanded.
In addition, we touched upon what we are doing now and what is to come next!
If you want to learn more about our history, click here to view our About page.
Our Origins
We are a family-owned company that has been providing high-quality wood products since 1925. Our story began with the founding of our company by brothers Milton and Ray Wurtzelbacher in downtown Cincinnati, OH.
We have always manufactured wood from Appalachia and produce a variety of wood products, such as dowel rods, small turnings, and more!
By 1949, around 10 years after surviving the Great Depression, the brothers had split the company. Ray relocated to the west side of Cincinnati and called his company Atlas.
Milton proceeded to move operations to the north side of Cincinnati in the Golf Manor area, retaining the name Cincinnati Dowel.
Another major part of our history revolves around wood bungs. In the 1950s and 1960s, we were a major supplier of wooden beer bungs used during the heyday of the Hoff-Stevens keg.
During the 1980s the kegs eventually became obsolete and were replaced with the bung-less Sankey-style beer kegs.
We had to pivot and decided to focus on growing other markets, such as dowels and turnings.
In the 1990s, furniture manufacturers suddenly migrated to China. Therefore, we had to reinvent ourselves.
While many traditional dowel manufacturers were dropped by the wayside due to not embracing the change that was happening in the economy, we flourished.
We balanced our focus between domestic and imported products and provided custom work.
In fact, in 1994, we started a satellite company in Mexico. Cincinnati Dowel created dowels for some of the largest home centers in the United States! We eventually transferred the company to our partner.
In 2008, several cooperages approached us, asking for a high-quality wood plug for the barrels, also known as a bung. Given our history of creating beer bungs, we were in a unique position to offer different variations of wood bungs. We began resurrecting and modifying some old machinery as well as designing new machines to produce bungs again since. Having knowledge of the product and manufacturing process put us in a great position to produce the high-quality plug with tight tolerances that our customers required.
Where We Are Now
We manufacture our equipment and machines to ensure our products are of high quality. This also allows us the opportunity to identify areas that can be improved and made more efficient and make the changes on site.
Our diverse range of manufactured wood products are used all over the world and we are now widely recognized as the premier wood bung manufacturer. We currently supply 95% of the wood bungs used by cooperages and distilleries throughout North America.
Our dedication to continued growth has allowed us to expand into the European market as well as many other countries around the globe, including 5 of the 7 continents.
The Future of Cincinnati Dowel
We have several aspirations to come, but one of the main priorities we are looking towards is bringing our turning business up to speed by upgrading our equipment. This will allow us to produce high-quality turning products more efficiently and at a greater capacity.
The ability to upgrade will help us continue to adjust to the market economy and continue our reach into other countries as well.
In addition, we have the goal of encouraging young professionals to become interested in manufacturing and utilizing the equipment.
We are actively pursuing this mission by having on-site training to teach young professionals all the tools of the trade.
We are thrilled to make wood products that work for all your projects.
Cincinnati Dowel & Wood Products Made for You
The history of our company is long and intriguing. We are very thankful for your enduring support through the years!
The quality of the products you use in all your projects matters. For that reason, you need high-quality dowels and wood components produced by Cincinnati Dowel.
At Cincinnati Dowel, we have produced the finest manufactured hardwood dowels, buttons, bungs, plugs, and other turnings since 1925.
We have domestic species of wood, including Red Oak, White Oak, Hard Maple, Soft Maple, Poplar, Beech, Hickory, Ash, Birch, Pine, Walnut, and Cherry. We also have exotic species of wood including African Mahogany, Genuine Mahogany, Sapele, Teak, Ipa, Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba), Ironwood (Ipe), Canary wood, Purpleheart, Yellow heart, Wenge and many More.
For all your business's dowel and wood component needs in Cincinnati, the Midwest, and all over the United States, reach out to Cincinnati Dowel today!
For more information on wood dowels, follow Cincinnati Dowel on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.
Also, if you are satisfied with your Cincinnati Dowel experience, leave us a five-star review here!
