The Royal Oak Tool & Machine Co. was established in 1925 to manufacture dies, tools and fixtures. The incorporators were Garrett Mouw, James B. Dunkel, and Albert Hazelaar.

Initial version of the tool grinder, from article in August 1946 Machinery

In 1946 Orlie W. Dawson, owner of the D-S Tap Grinder Co. of Ferndale, MI, invented and patented the form relieving grinder, which is a type of cutter grinder that provides great versatility in grinding and relieving cutters with straight or helical flutes. He licensed his invention to Royal Oak Tool & Machine Co., which created a new "D-S Grinder Division" to manufacture and sell this grinder. In 1954 the Royal Oak Tool & Machine Co. purchased the full rights to Dawson's invention, which would include further improvements patented by Dawson in 1956 and '59. The machine was manufactured by the newly formed R-O Division of the Royal Oak Tool and Machine Co., which was presumably a renaming of the D-S Grinder Division. In 1960 the R-O Manufacturing Co. of Madison Heights, Michigan, was formed to take over manufacture of the form relieving grinder.

In September of 1967 the R-O Manufacturing Co. was purchased by the Seneca Falls Machine Co., and relocated to Seneca Falls, NY. As of 2023 a modernized version of the R-O Form Relief Grinder remains in production.

Information Sources

• 1925 issue of Iron Trade and Western Machinist (Volume 76 page 1368).

  Royal Oak Tool & Machine Co. has been incorporated with $30,000 capital to manufacture dies, tools and fixtures by Garrett Mouw and James B. Dunkel, Royal Oak and Albert Hazelaar, Dearborn.

• 1931 Report of the Ways and Means Committee of the United States Congress, page 141, in a listing of "companys with which the Amtorg Trading Company placed orders in 1929-30": Royal Oak Tool & Machine Co., Royal Oak, MI".
• 1936 Royal Oak City Directories, page 385.

  Royal Oak Tool & Machine Co. (Inc 1925, Capital $30,000), Garrett H. Mouw Pres, Albert Hazelaar V-Pres, Henry J. Mouw Sec-Treas, Designs, Builders of Tools, Dies, Jigs, Fixtures and Special machinery 621 E. 4th, Tels Royal Oak 1080, Elmhurst 6580-6581

• August 1946 Machinery, page 208, article on the new cutter grinder from the D-S Grinder Division of Royal Oak T & M Co. The grinder illustrated in this article is identical to that shown in Dawson's 1946 patent, which confirms that Royal Oak was manufacturing Dawson's invention in 1946; the company's official history implies that they didn't start manufacturing it until 1954.
• 1951 Federal Supply Code for Manufacturers, page 99, lists "D S Tap Grinder Co Ferndale Mich".
• 1994-02-22 Tampa Bay Times, Obituaries, page 143.

  DAWSON, ORLIE, 101, of New Port Richey, died Saturday (Feb. 19, 1994) at HCA New Port Richey Hospital. Born in Detroit, he came here 21 years ago from Sun City, Ariz. He was the retired owner-operator of D-S Tap Grinder Co., Ferndale, Mich., and a member of Asbury United Methodist Church, New Port Richey. He was a member of Ferndale Lodge 506, F&AM, Ferndale; the York Rite Bodies, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; and the Moslem Temple Shrine, Detroit; was an associate member of Egypt Temple Shrine, Tampa, and New Port Richey Shrine Club; and was a life member of Elks Lodge 1588, Ferndale, and the Colonial Hills Civic Association. Survivors include a sister, Leola Sutliff, New Port Richey. Michels-Lundquist Funeral Home, New Port Richey.

• The Royal Oak Grinders website (link above) provided the history from 1954 onward.