It doesn't matter who you are or who you know, it’s all about the springs

One of the great traditions of American small business is that every employee needs to wear many hats while they work. 

If your business only has a small amount of employees, you don’t have the resources for extreme specialization. 

No one is above taking out the trash or answering the phones, not even the boss.  Or, as it is in this case, the son of the boss.

This photo here is of Nick Dooley, the CEO’s son and future CEO himself.  He’s currently working as our Production Manager, except of late he’s been putting a lot of time in at the shop. 

In order to make sure our parts order stay on schedule he’s been working in the shop himself getting his hands dirty.  This is the type of dedication to the company and overall product and process that you just don’t see in large scale businesses.  Every member of our team is familiar with every step of our springs and wants to make sure we offer the highest quality springs possible. 

And Nick is an excellent example of this dedication.  Not content to simply rest easy as the boss’ son, he’s working above and beyond to make sure Ebsco keeps its schedule commitments, and meet’s our own high standard of quality.

The great roman general Agrippa once said that an Empire was only as strong as its line of succession. And looking at the determination and commitment Nick is demonstrating, we’re confident that the next seventy years at Ebsco will be just as bright and successful as the last seventy years have been. 

Spring Shoes: Definitely Putting Spring in Your Step

For those of you who remember the old days of the PF Flyers which claimed they could make kids "run faster and jump higher", you'll have special appreciation those who have actually created every kid's dream: spring shoes! While the makers of the acclaimed PF Flyers mainly only used their performance-enhancing claim to sell shoes, nobody is trying to make a buck off these next creations. Using springs cut out of old mattresses and whatever else they can find, these do-it-yourselfers have transformed their boring sneakers into items of bouncing footwear that are capable of helping them reach heights never before attained by the relatively non-athletically inclined. Check out the Cockeyed "Stuff I Made" page for more information on how to make your own homemade spring shoes. 

For the Tulsa spring manufacturer that produces some of the highest quality custom springs for use in fields ranging from aerospace to agriculture, EBSCO Spring Company is pleased to bring customers the very finest spring you can buy. 

Ebsco Spring Turns Pink

The staff of Ebsco Spring in Tulsa, OK is not only busy making the best custom springs, but also spreading cancer awareness! The team was out in full-force today sporting their pink Ebsco Spring t-shirts in support of the Turn Tulsa Pink event. Turn Tulsa Pink is a cancer awareness event spanning from October 20-27 which has Tulsa businesses and governmental departments wearing pink to raise cancer awareness as well as funds that go to Tulsa cancer charities. Judi's mission was to raise awareness of how cancer impacts Tulsa, but also went on to be named the Best Success Story in Urban Tulsa Weekly and Tulsa Business journal as they raised $46,000 to support ten different Tulsa cancer charities. 

Learning From The Best: Using Books As a Springboard

At Ebsco Spring, there is a constant dedication to innovation and utilizing the ideas of the team. Though there are a few higher-ups, the team is the most essential aspect of the entire spring manufacturing process. All members of the team at Ebsco Spring contribute to the process for increased efficiency, quality assurance, and overall customer and employee satisfaction. One of the tools used to utilize the effectiveness of the team are an assortment of books shared amongst departments. C.O.O. Todd P. lets outside folks know what's being read on the inside to help Ebsco Spring team members make the best custom coil springs on the market. Located in beautiful Tulsa, OK, Ebsco Spring Company provides a variety of industries with custom spring components. 

Drumming Up Food

Are you a drummer who cares about your community? Come November 4, 2012, Tulsa-area drummers will unite in an attempt to set a world record for most drummers playing the same beat in one area as well as raising food for the food pantries in the area. Each drummer is required to bring along at least 10 canned food items to participate as well as their own drum kit. For more information, log on to Drum Day Tulsa's official website. Ebsco Spring Company in Tulsa is proud to promote this event in attempts fight hunger in the area and set a world record for Tulsa! 

A Positive Evaluation: Ebsco Helps Employees Reach Their Goals

How many performance evaluations have you been through in your life? How many of them do you feel were beneficial to you and the company aside from simply discussing a possible raise? What if you could turn the tables and evaluate your boss? At Ebsco Spring Company in Tulsa, OK, job evaluations are much more than simply deciding how hard someone worked and what kind of raise they should receive. Evaluations at the Tulsa spring manufacturer are a powerful means of employees expressing the goals they want to achieve in the coming year to their employers so they can work together to help those be reached in a way that benefits the employee as well as the company. In Ebsco Spring C.O.O. Todd P's latest blog post, he outlines the job evaluation process at Ebsco Spring Company as well as how it goes when the tables are turned and he goes under the magnifying glass himself. To read more, log on to the official Ebsco Spring blog as written by Todd P. For more information on the many quality from Ebsco Spring, log on to their official website. For custom springs made in America for many different industries, look no further than Ebsco Spring Company in Tulsa, OK.  

Giving Back to the Community

Of the four pillars of Ebsco Spring's mission statement, one of them is that Ebsco is dedicated to giving back to the community. A location is more than just a place to do business, but a home and the roots of an operation. Ebsco Spring is proud to have called Tulsa home since 1940 and has contributed more to the community than jobs for its residents, but has contributed many volunteer hours for many different charitable organizations. From lending a hand to help gather and package good for food pantries to blood donation, Ebsco Spring company are happy to help victims of natural disaster and help to feed the hungry when times are tough. Ebsco Spring company out of Tulsa, OK is proud to be the spring company with a heart. Not only contributing components to aerospace, medical fields,and beyond, but also giving back to the community, Ebsco Spring Company is proud of its community in Tulsa and is happy to give back. 

Spring-Powered Car: Did It Exist?

In a time when auto-innovators are looking for the next answer to alternative energy for the road, one blast-from-the-past comes to us in the way of spring technology. According to one newspaper article from 1933, supposedly the Japanese had developed a spring-powered car that could drive 40 miles on a single "wind up"; whatever that entailed. Little else is known about the car since it doesn't appear they were put into production, but pondering on whether or not the car actually existed and could they ever exist is half of the fun of this legend. For more information on this possible myth-mobile, check out Modern Mechanix's piece for the full scoop on this tightly-wound wagon. 

For more information on the use of springs and custom spring manufacturing, visit the offical site of Tulsa, OK's own Ebsco Spring Company. For the finest springs made in the U.S.A., look no further than the spring experts at Ebsco Spring. 

Thunder In a Can: Spring-Powered Thunder Tubes

How do you conjure thunder from a can? It's easy with a thunder tube! Coming up in the world of weather-sound mimicking instruments (such as the rain-stick) is the thunder tube. Also known as the thunder drum, this very simple device is used by orchestral percussionists, Native American musicians, and anyone else who wants to create the sound of thunder using a relatively simple design. Though varying by size, the design is typically always the same: one tube, a drum-head or other covering, and a long skinny spring attached to the center of that head. When held upside-down and shaken, the vibration of the spring resonates through the drum-head and is amplified by the tube. Below is a video of a thunder tube in action.



Because of the simple design of this instrument anyone can play, eHow has a fun tutorial on how to create a thunder tube of your own. 

For more information on the power and influence of springs as well as spring manufacturing, look no further than Tulsa, OK's premier spring manufacturer at EBSCO Spring Company. 

Springs For Fun: How Spring Airsoft Guns Work

Airsoft: How Do Spring Airsoft Guns Work? on Howcast
One sport/hobby that has taken off in recent years is that of airsoft weapons. Resembling actual firearms, airsoft guns use a combination of air and spring power to fire plastic pellets without the use of any form of explosive such as the gun powder found in tradition firearms. Airsoft weapons are used as a safer target-shooting alternative as well as for simulated gun fights with friends while wearing equipment that protects the eyes, face, and other sensitive regions. In this video, airsoft weapons technician Josh Meyer demonstrates how springs project the plastic bb's through the barrel of the weapon.

For the finest American-made springs, custom-made to order, look no further than EBSCO Spring Company in Tulsa, OK. Building springs for everything from the agricultural industry to springs uses in aerospace and defense, EBSCO is dedicated is proud of never having let a defective spring out of the door.  

EBSCO Teams

Including the different departments of EBSCO Spring Company are the different teams throughout the company. In order to make EBSCO Spring an safe, efficient, and enjoyable place to work for employees, EBSCO Spring Company COO Todd P and CEO Cheryl D worked together to create many different subgroups throughout the company. Included in these subgroups are the EBSCO Fun Team, EBSCO Safety Team, EBSCO Lean Green Team, EBSCO Community Service Team, and the EBSCO Healthy Living Team. To address all the aspects that go into what makes a company successful, efficient, and an enjoyable place to work, these different teams help round out the workplace atmosphere into more of a compatible community instead of just a business. For more information on each of these teams their function, check out the official EBSCO Spring Wordpress Blog written by EBSCO Spring COO Todd P. 

Tomorrow's Innovation Based On Yesterday's Craftsmanship

There once was a time when people wanted to know the time, they didn't look to the bottom right-hand corner of their computer monitor, push a button to light up their smart phone, or even look down at their wrist. The answer to their question was typically on the end of a chair connected to their vest, belt, or in the breast pocket of their jacket. According to an article by Mike Eggert, pocket watches have been in use since the 16th century and continue to have much of the same appeal as they did during the time of their first introduction; aesthetics. Yes, train conductors and other professions that required a precise measurement of time did popularize the utilitarian aspect of the pocket watch, but the first pocket watches were primarily a status symbol that only the elite could afford.


The reason for the steep price tag of early pocket watches were not only the materials from which they were constructed (many were crafted from silver or gold), but the craftsmanship that went into every watch to ensure accurate time keeping. A series of springs had to be very carefully calibrated to work with a series of gears in order to accurately reflect seconds in time. 


Though pocket watches have fallen in popularity with the onset of wrist watches and even more so because of the accurate and virtually maintenance-free electronic watches of today, many still collect pocket watches as a memento of days gone by or to remember their original owners who had passed on generations earlier. At EBSCO Spring Company in Tulsa, OK, we truly appreciate the craftsmanship and precision that went into the pocket watches of yesteryear and are dedicated to the same attention to detail in every spring we make. For more information on EBSCO Spring Company's variety of spring products used in various industries, log on to EBSCOSpring.com for more information.

Spring in Your Step? No, Spring in Your Seat!

Though primarily known for making smaller mechanical springs, the staff of EBSCO Spring Company are downright spring fanatics quite fond of clever uses for springs that go beyond the mechanic and can quite possibly be incorporated into design. As decorative design has grown to be companions with sustainable practices, more and more designers are looking to recyclable items not only for inspiration but also for the materials of their products and accessories. For put a spring in your seat, many have discovered that coil springs from automobiles or elsewhere, when fitted with a seat, make for splendid bar stools to be used indoors or outdoors. Not largely available from any single manufacturer, the popularity of such a design and the lack of availability has lead many designers, homeowners, and business owners to craft their own custom coil spring stools by affixing seats on the springs and additional work to make them steady. This picture came from the Cool Oddities blog for your viewing enjoyment. To get a up-close look at stools of this design, stop by the EBSCO Spring factory and take a seat on some of these coil spring stools that grace the exterior. 
 

Check Springs: How Springs Help Keep Your Clothes Together

Adding to the list of complex devices that require the use of a simple mechanical spring, today we're going to talk about the "check spring." What is the check spring? If you haven't used a sewing machine, you probably have no idea just how crucial this very simple device is to the machine that is responsible for keeping your clothes together.

Most people (even experienced sewers) do not know how a sewing machines works; it's just one of those inventions that people take for granted. You see a needle drive into a piece of fabric as the fabric is pulled through the machine and a stitched piece of fabric comes out on the other side. Though this seems like it is a tremendously complex machine, the way it works is quite simple. 

 As you can see from the animation, the real action of a sewing machine occurs out of sight; just below the stitch plate. The needle carries the thread through the fabric to meet up with another device called the hook (as represented in red in the animation). While the needle is carrying one supply of thread, the hook is guiding another supply of thread from a smaller spool known as the bobbin. As the upper thread is brought down by needle, the hook helps guide the lower bobbin thread to form a stitch with the upper thread. In space between where the needle and the hook interact is often measured in fractions of a millimeter to ensure proper stitch formation. Even though this process seems highly technical, the action itself is not much different than someone tying a form of knot or stitch by hand, but rather the entire system is automated to be able to form as many as 3,200 stitches in a minute on an industrial machine and around 1,500 stitches a minute maximum on a sewing machine for the home. 

Though this seems complex enough as it is, none of this could take place properly without this simple device:

Though it looks relatively straightforward, the check spring (as it is referred) is crucial for proper stitch formation. Located on the upper "head" of the sewing machine typically near where the upper thread tension is adjusted, the check spring keeps tension on the upper thread as the take-up lever (an arm-like device also on the upper "head" of the sewing) is in the process of pulling the upper thread up to tighten the stitch. Without the check spring, the additional slack in the thread would cause the take-up lever to throw the thread around and get tangled on other components of the sewing machine and negatively impact the desired tension of the stitch.

A check spring just below the take-up lever.

The next time you put on your favorite pair of jeans or even a custom-tailored suit or dress, take a moment to look at the stitching of your clothes. Though it seems very simple, many components went into the formation of the stitches that keep you covered up! For more on springs and for various applications, visit the official website of Tulsa's own Ebsco Spring Company.

Leaders in Any Industry

You wouldn't know it by seeing how he runs his business, but EBSCO Spring Company's C.O.O. has only been working as the brains of the operation for 2 years. Not only that, but he's only been involved in the manufacturing industry for the same amount of time. Todd P. was in a retail manager's position at Walgreens just a few years prior; a career trend that has been sweeping the manufacturing world as the industry looks for determined leaders to head up their operations. Not muddied down by the industry, Todd's fresh look on the business of manufacturing springs has lead to great successes for his company as he strives to evaluate what business tactics are working for the successful spring manufacturing company and which are not. On his latest blog, Todd gives readers his top 10 tips for people entering a leadership role in the manufacturing industry. Though directed at those in manufacturing, Todd's wisdom transcends industry to be applicable to any field of business or leadership position. To check out Todd's blog on leadership, click here. For everything related to springs and spring manufacturing, be sure to check out the official website of EBSCO Spring Company. 

Denture Dilemmas from a Founding Father

The legendary pouty expression is rumored to depict
Washington trying to keep his dentures in place.

Though simple, springs have served a variety of amazing function since their development in the Bronze Age. Commonly overlooked, springs have played a crucial role in military victories and industry innovation, but few spring uses could be quite as odd as the following: the springs in George Washington's dentures. American's first president, famous general, and Founding Father, George Washington is known for many things; but good oral hygiene was not one of them. Rumored to this day to have worn wooden teeth, this bit of information is not entirely accurate, but George Washington's dentures did help revolutionize the field of prosthetic dentistry forever. Starting to lose his teeth in his early 20s, the Founding Father only had one tooth of his own left in his mouth by the time he uttered his presidential inaugural address; which its brief nature is rumored to be because of the immense pain brought upon by his poor dental health. 

Over the years, various dentists of the day hand-crafted dentures for Washington. Many of these dentures were either carved from hippo ivory or made from cow teeth bonded on a gold, bronze, or even lead base. Because denture adhesives were not yet used to bond dentures to the inside of the mouth, dentures were kept in place by the use of bent springs on the corners of the teeth which pushed the false teeth into the roof of the wearer's mouth and lower jaw. This allowed for somewhat natural chewing, but made his mouth appear bulky when closed and at times, very uncomfortable. Had George relaxed his jaw, the dentures springs may have popped out and gotten drool all over the Constitution! Without springs, the dentures would have had no way of staying in place. 

The above pictured is a replica set of George Washington's dentures. For a set of his real dentures on display, click here. For more information on everything springs, check out Oklahoma's spring experts at EBSCO Spring Company. 

Destination: Success

As people start planning their vacations with eager expectation, EBSCO Spring Company C.O.O. Todd P. continues to never take his eye off the ball. In his latest blog, Todd makes a whole variety of connections between the act of planning an exciting and enjoyable trip to how a successful business plan is formed and then executed. Just like planning a vacation, businesses need a destination to be able to know how far they've come. In deciding that destination, they need to determine the best route in getting there. While other employees are figuring out the fastest, most efficient way to the beach this summer, Todd is hard at work figuring out the most efficient route to success for EBSCO Spring Company. For more of Todd's business advice and the future of EBSCO Spring, check out his blog and subscribe to receive regular updates. EBSCO Spring Company also wishes all of you a great summer vacation season. 

How Springs Changed Rock-n-Roll Volume 2

Rarely does anyone outside of spring manufacturers and those involved with the industry stop to think about just how much springs have contributed to the innovation of so many modern devices and industries. A possible reason for this oversight may be the sheer simplicity of the mechanism, but springs, none the less, deserve a great deal of credit for the job they do along with spring manufacturers and those who have incorporated these devices into their inventions since the Bronze Age.While there are a wide variety of spring applications that come immediately to mind, from the shocks of a car to the function of a mechanical pencil, there are many more that are taken granted. While in the past article "How Springs Changed Rock-n-Roll" the subject of spring reverb was discussed, today we'll "dive-bomb" into the spring innovation that helped developed the guitar tremolo device. If you've ever enjoyed a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo, you've experienced the role springs have played in rock-n-roll music. 

You don't have to be a musician to understand the concept of tremolo. Ever heard an opera singer's voice and notice how they rarely stay on one single pitch for any length of time, but instead flutter the pitch between the higher and lower ends of any given note? Have you ever watched an orchestral string player's hands on the neck of their violin, viola, cello, or double-bass as they shake furiously anytime they hold any note out for any given period of time? This wobbling of the sound of a pitch, known as tremolo, is a means of making the note more palatable to the ear and provides a more musical experience for the listener. To experience the sound of an orchestral instrument or singer without the proper use of tremolo, listen to a first-year string player or amateur night at  your local karaoke bar. After un-gluing your hands from your ears, you will learn to appreciate the proper use of tremolo. 

With this basic understanding of tremolo, we move on to the guitar. One of the most popular stringed instruments in many different cultures, more innovation has taken place to modify the sound of the guitar than most any other instrument. It has been incorporated into every style of music; from being attributed to helping develop rock-n-roll, to Spanish music, jazz music, and classical music. Though the guitar is capable of many different sounds, one of its original limitations was creating proper tremolo. Unlike its orchestra brothers and sisters that are played with smooth necks that allow the player to have complete control over the pitch of the note depending on where they apply the string into the neck, guitars have a series of thin strips of metal called frets that act as raised portions along the neck to assign a specific pitch to a certain area of the neck depending on the tuning of the string. Guitar strings do not make direct contact with the wood of the neck in order to produce a note, but rather the carefully placed frets along the "fretboard" of the neck determine exactly where string contact will occur; thus changing the length of the vibration and sound of the note. The string makes contact with whichever fret the player applies pressure directly behind. 


While frets on a guitar neck are extremely beneficial in helping the player produce a more accurate pitch (which can be more difficult to obtain when the player is playing multiple strings simultaneously) this limits the player's ability to play with tremolo. With the locations for an accurate pitch already set into the fretboard of the guitar, there is little a guitar player can do in order to produce a slight raise or dip the pitch in order to apply certain level musicality and style to their playing. While classical string players have the advantage of being able to fluctuate the pitch of the note down and up with the movement of their fingers on the string against the neck, guitar players can only increase the pitch slightly by manually pulling the tension of the strings tighter as they play in a technique known as "bending." Even with bending, there is no way to manually "bend" the note lower without manipulating the tuning of the string. As guitar design and innovation advanced along the 1920s and '30s , a tremolo solution for the guitar was right around the corner. 

As the acoustics of the guitar no longer played as much of an active role of electric guitars, other new features could be easily added.Deriving inspiration from the string tension-bending technology of lap steel guitars, many different devices were developed to allow the player to adjust the tension of the strings using a handle attached to the bridge or tail piece. These devices employed a spring or series of springs to attempt to maintain the tuning of the guitar after the tension-bending device was used. Though many saw some success, early tremolo devices in hollow-body guitars were not able to provide spring-tension to keep the bridge in place and the use of the tremolo bar or handle would frequently knock guitar out of tune. 

Over time with additional innovations in guitar electronics technology, solid-body guitars were able to produce  warm tones similar to that of their hollow-body predecessors with less feedback and increased rigidity. Along with a rigid design came room to grow in the area of mechanical tremolo devices. One of the most famous early tremolo designs was one developed by electric guitar pioneer Leo Fender who was also known for contributing to the development of the electric bass guitar. Without having to depend on the acoustics of the body to create a quality guitar tone, the solid body of the Fender Stratocaster guitar contained a device that utilized a series of springs that allowed the player to tighten or loosen the tension of the strings at a moment's notice using a detached handle known as a "whammy bar" that was screwed into place with a threaded end. This device did an exceptional job of keeping the strings in tune.





Since the development of the Fender tremolo system, the rest has been history. Similar spring-loaded tremolo systems have been employed in most other brands and models of solid-body electric guitars as well as hollow-body guitars. Many very famous rock-n-roll songs would not be the same if not for the spring-loaded technology of mechanical tremolo systems for electric guitars. From tremolo-heavy surfer rock hits of 1960s artists like The Ventures and Dick Dale to rock solos from Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Pink Floyd's David Gilmore, without springs that allow the players to augment the string-tension and pitch of their guitars to achieve proper tremolo, rock-n-roll would sound much differently. 




For more on springs and what they can do for you, EBSCO Spring Company is proud to provide Oklahoma and the world with the finest quality spring products and exception customer service.

Keeping Up With The Rockefellers

Though the spring has been around for ages, the use of the spring is constantly evolving and expanding. With innovation constantly demanding more from industry, EBSCO Spring C.O.O. Todd P. is always out to put a new twist (no pun intended) on the business of spring manufacturing. 

Looking for the latest and greatest ways to keep business functioning as smoothly as possible, Todd P. has put hours of his personal time researching books and other resources for some of the best ways to bring out the full potential of EBSCO Spring Company and allow the company to function as efficiently as possible. In his most recent read, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harish, Todd P. has been discovering how the industry greats got to be so great. Though there is a whole industry "what you must do to succeed" style books in the business section of your local bookstore, Todd P. concedes that he does not believe reading every one of these is exactly required; rather, they are sources for business ideas that can prove to be helpful depending on the business scenario. 


To read up more on business reads, check out Todd P's latest blog here. For the finest springs the market has to offer, trust nothing else but the quality springs from EBSCO Spring Company. 

More Walk and Less Talk

In the latest blog post of Todd P, C.O.O. of EBSCO Spring company, Todd discusses how the concept of lean cannot be blindly implemented for the betterment of company operations, but rather has to be a hands-on process that is custom fit to each company that implements it. Many companies that attempt to put lean to work for them without working on the process itself end up making disastrous decisions that actually fail to benefit from putting such practices in place. To learn more about where EBSCO Spring Company is headed and about the importance of team-building and getting everyone on board with such practices, check out Todd's blog for regular updates. To see how to make the best springs work for your company, visit the official website of the EBSCO Spring Company.