Ohio-based design and tool company is seeing steady growth. 

By Lynn Ascrizzi 

When you’re bent over the workbench, attempting to create a worthwhile product out of leather or BioThane, you know how frustrating and downright thwarting it can be to not have the right tool for the job. 

Maybe you’d like to hot stamp a logo with contact info on your products to better advertise your stuff. Then again, you might realize that making a straighter cut on leather would create a neater look. Or, perhaps you’d like to make that tough rope clamping or cutting job quicker and easier. And, wouldn’t it be great to consistently finish your leather belts down to their finished edges and punched holes, just by pressing a couple of buttons?  

If you can relate to any of the above situations, or come up with even more, you’re not alone. However, resolving difficult work tool challenges to achieve greater productivity and quality is achievable. In fact, it’s all in a day’s work for Leroy Hershberger, owner and operator of Sunset Design & Tool, LLC, a family-run business based in a 44 x 80-foot workshop in Dundee, Ohio.  

“We have a standard line of products that people can choose from,” Hershberger said, referring to a wide range of complex  tools and equipment that the business designs. Fifty percent of those products are manufactured at the workshop. The rest are made by a company the tool business has been affiliated with since it was founded. “We offer any machines that do cutting, punching, riveting, clamping, logo (word) stamping, stapling and decorative spotting. I really enjoy the design end of the business. I enjoy a challenge,” he said.  

The tool company also offers a lineup of machines designed to be used specifically with the BioThane industry. “That synthetic material has a vast amount of uses — in sports, canine and equine industries, and for dress belts. We have a number of manual tools and also tools that are combined electric and pneumatic operations,” he noted.  

Besides offering ready-made tools and equipment, Hershberger does a certain amount of customizing. “We do some custom work with cutting and punching dies used in the machines we manufacture. For instance, we make a cutting bar for our Gang Punch Machine. It has 10 oblong slots and is used in the riding tack industry.”  

Their most popular item is The Handyman Press, a small hand riveter and punch made by Sunset Design & Tool.  

“It’s mostly used by the do-it-yourself and start-up industries,” he pointed out. “It weighs 15 pounds and can cut and round the ends of a strap, or punch the holes where a buckle goes in. With the rivet attachment, you can rivet a buckle to the strap. We sell hundreds of these to people making items like dog collars or other products at home or in a small space. Those sales dramatically increased with the onset of the COVID pandemic, when a lot of people were home and looking for something to do.” 

A snap-setting accessory, which can be used with The Handyman, is also widely sought after. “A lot of leather people use snaps in gun holsters, purses or maybe even a phone pouch,” he said.  

Also in demand is the Gang Punch Machine, designed for cutting and punching BioThane and other strap materials. The efficient tool, used by do-it-yourselfers and those who work in strap goods industries, can cut both ends of a strap at once. Tooling can be changed quickly and a self-centering guide ensures that holes are consistently punched where you want them. The hot stamp machine, which does logo stamping, also is often requested.  

To get a broader idea of the company’s wide range of tools, machinery and other offerings, those interested can call or email to request its 26-page catalog: 2022 Sunset Design and Tool LLC. Approximately 20 tools are displayed in its pages. An area map is also included, for folks who might want to visit the business site, located two miles east of Winesburg, Ohio. Visitors are welcome to stop in and browse their recently built 20 x 30-foot showroom. 

A HUGE LEARNING CURVE 

In 2017, Leroy Hershberger bought the toolmaking business, including its tools and equipment, from his father-in-law, Noah Miller, longtime owner and operator of N&A Harness Shop in Millersburg, Ohio.  

Miller had added the toolmaking side of his business around 2007, to maximize the productivity and quality of his harness product line. Miller’s ongoing harness shop business works with BioThane, a synthetic leather.  

“When he started working with BioThane,” Hershberger recalled, “he had a company make the new tools that he designed. But the tool business grew into something he couldn’t handle anymore, due to an increase in sales and a growing demand for products made with BioThane. For a year, in 2015, he was after me to take over the tool side of his business. He’d tell me, ‘I think you can do this!’ ”  

At the time, however, he was working long hours at a full-time job with Homestead Furniture. But finally, after much coaxing and encouragement by Miller, and after much thought, he agreed. In 2016, he left his former job and began working with his father-in-law.  

But, taking on a completely new line of work was far from easy. “The change had many challenges and new things to learn. It was a huge learning curve. For example, in the spring of 2016, I put in a metal milling machine. This was totally new work for me. So many different operations are involved with the milling machine. I had to learn proper drill speeds and how to machine the metal.”  

How long did it take to figure out all the tool product challenges? “We’re still learning every day,” he said.  

“A huge part of our decision was to create more family unity,” he explained. He and his wife, Miriam Hershberger, were busy raising five boys and one girl. Like many working dads coping with demanding outside jobs, he sorely missed spending real time with the family and giving everyone the attention they needed.  

“For instance, I wanted to create jobs for our young sons before they were old enough to work out and find work for themselves. I wanted to create stronger bonds and work with them, especially during the summer, when they’re on school vacation,” he said.  

Then in 2017, he shouldered an even greater challenge. After consulting with his wife, he bought the tool business. “It was a very big decision,” he recalled. But today, he is grateful to have made the leap. “The Millers gave us a great opportunity and business information — including machine tips and tricks, and what companies would like to see in these machines. We also had a great customer base all over the country to start with. And, other countries already knew our equipment.” 

What’s more, Sunset Design & Tool, which is an independent business, keeps on growing. “Business has been increasing at a very steady rate, at about 20 percent a year for the past three years,” he said. And despite a difficult 2021, due to the COVID pandemic, in 2022, the family business was able to add a new workshop with a retail space.    

“The reason for the greatest part of the growth, we hope, is the customer service and quality of the tools we give to our customers. If we occasionally need to rework something, we will remake or redo tools. We listen to what the customer says.”  

By way of example, he cited a complaint that a customer once made about an automatic rivet machine. “We changed the design and fixed his machine to the specs of the new design. He came back to us later and said, ‘That was a huge improvement.’ That’s why I say we listen to customer feedback. We don’t learn anything if everything is going good!” 

Another customer requested an efficient way to stamp logos on BioThane. “We had to basically create a new machine, just for that purpose,” he said.   

The tool company’s products are sold largely in the United States. Sales also come from Canada, Germany, Singapore, Great Britain, France, Australia and more. “Potentially, I think of finding new hires,” he said. “But, it’s a struggle to find labor. Work seems to find people who work. But it’s something I’m looking into having in the future — to take on more employees.” 

As he had hoped, running a business at home made it possible for him to work with his kids. Currently, his older offspring make up the majority of his helpers. “Right now, there are four of us: my three sons, Kevin, 14, Michael, 16, Bryan, 18, and myself, age 41,” Hershberger said. “In Amish communities, children normally go to school up to the 8^th grade. In summer, they can work full time in the workshop here. I really enjoy working with my sons.” 

Looking ahead, he wants to further develop his product line, such as utilizing rivets to make dog collars. “We’re working on improving prototyping and making changes on some machines that would dramatically improve production. I’ve always enjoyed my work, but I enjoy it immensely now.  

“We always want to be thankful for what we have,” he added. “We realize that we want to maintain family values. Work is not the only thing that means something.” 

LEARN MORE 

Leroy A. Hershberger? 

Sunset Design & Tool LLC? 

10900 Chestnut Ridge Road, NW? 

Dundee, Ohio 44624-8964 

330-359-5823 

Fax: 330-359-0679 

Phone hours: ?8 a.m.— 8:30 a.m. (Or, leave a message). 

Retail showroom (in workshop location)