Dave and Natasha Odom recently opened Odom Metal Works at 3537 Hwy. 32 East, about three miles east of Salem. They moved here with their three-year-old son, Dillon, in November.
It’s a family business with Odom’s wife, Natasha, handling the paperwork and accounting for the new wholesale parts business. His dad, Sherman, provides the building for housing the machine as well as day-to-day assistance.
Dave is a Salem High School graduate and son of Minuen Odom of Springfield, and Sherman and Marsha Odom of Salem.
Odom Metal Works is a production design and machining company utilizing CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) equipment along with CAD (Computer Aided Drawing) and CAM (Computer Aided Machining) software. Currently they are producing front and rear sights for the 1911 handgun. Sights for other handguns such as Glock, Smith and Wesson M+P and H+K models are in the works. He uses specialized operating systems to create schematics needed to program the horizontal milling machine to cut the high-quality sights.
“We currently are producing 200 front sights or 100 back sights a day using a 400mm OKK HM4 horizontal milling machine. I purchased the used machine in California.” Odom said.
The high-quality precision-machined sights currently are produced for two gun specialty retailers, Heinie Specialty Products in Quincy, Ill. and Nighthawk Custom in Berryville, Ark.
Odom earned his associates degree in Machine Tool Technology with top honors in his trade from Ozark Technical College in Springfield, graduating in 2004. For more than six years he worked as a foreman/programmer at McGregor Manufacturing in Ozark, where he honed his skills in design and programming, set up of CNC mills, lathes and wire electrical discharge machines.
“After working in the industry for more than six years, I made a lot of contacts and found my niche in firearm parts manufacturing.” Odom said.
The horizontal milling machine runs non-stop. Odom says a typical day is 10-12 hours, and he operates six days a week and strives for perfection in what he produces. He buys alloy steel for his sights and has it shipped from a company in Texas. He designs and programs the milling machine to cut the sights and then ships the raw product to a company in Missouri that applies bluing to the parts. Odom then ships the finished parts to the two companies he contracts with.
“We enjoy the freedom of being in charge of our own business. It requires long hours and detailed work, but we love it,” Odom said.
The firearms industry shows a lot of growth and potential, he said.
“I hope to eventually expand and have additional machines and employees,” Odom said.
With new parts and projects waiting for their turn, it appears to be a growing business here in Dent County.
