Dexterous Mold & Tool

About the shop

The family behind the tool shop.

You deal with the people who build your tool, not a sales layer sitting in front of them. Bring it back in five years for a repair and it comes to the same shop, under the same owners.

Start a quote(812) 422-8046

Since 1979

How the shop got here.

Three generations, no outside ownership, no holding company. The shop has moved once since 1979, and it has never been owned by anyone outside the family.

  1. 1979

    Eugene Elpers founds C&E Mold in a small pole barn

  2. 1992

    The shop outgrows the barn, moves to Locust Creek Drive and takes the Dexterous name. 22,500 sq ft

  3. 2001

    ISO 9001 certification, first awarded 16 November 2001

  4. Today

    Eugene has retired from running the shop but is still in it daily. His sons Craig and Brian own it and sign off the work. Craig's son Ayden is on the floor

The building

Same address since 1992.

The building the family moved into from the pole barn, and what it has become since.

  1. Phase 1
    An aerial view of the Dexterous shop on Locust Creek Drive: one long building with a brick section at the near end, a gravel car park, and open graded ground beside it
  2. Phase 2
    An aerial view of the Dexterous shop on Locust Creek Drive after expansion: a second large building, a semi-trailer at the dock, a full car park and a steel frame under construction alongside
  3. Phase 3
    An aerial view of the Dexterous shop on Locust Creek Drive at full size, the company name on the front of the office and car parks on both sides

The machines and the certificate have their own pages: every model and count and the ISO certificate.

The family

The people who sign off your tool.

Craig and Brian own the shop, and they sign off the work themselves. If something is wrong with your tool, one of them decides what happens next. That is the whole escalation path. Their father Eugene started the business.

Craig Elpers, co-owner of Dexterous Mold & Tool

Craig Elpers

Owner

At the shop since 1994

Brian Elpers, co-owner of Dexterous Mold & Tool

Brian Elpers

Owner

At the shop since 1998

Eugene Elpers, who founded the shop in 1979

Eugene Elpers

Founder, retired

At the shop since 1979, still in daily

Three generations

The third generation is on the floor.

Ayden Elpers working at a CNC mill at Dexterous Mold & Tool, pendant in hand at the machine

Ayden Elpers

CNC machinist

Ayden is Craig’s son. He earned a degree in Precision Machining Technology from Vincennes University, the same school his father went to.

Design

Who draws your tool.

Nathan Schmitt at his desk at Dexterous Mold & Tool, a mold layout open in CAD on the monitor beside him

Nathan Schmitt

Mold designer

Nathan designs the molds from the office upstairs, one floor above the machines that cut them. He earned his mechanical engineering degree at the University of Evansville in 2008.

Looking for a job, not a mold?

This is a tool room, so the work is one-offs, not production runs. A toolmaker here takes a job from raw steel through to final fit instead of running the same operation all day. The owners are on the floor with you.

See what is open

Put 47 years of tooling to work.

Tell us what is in front of you. A description is enough to start.

Have CAD files?

Send the form. We will ask for them next.

Goes to the people who quote the work, not a sales queue. Ask for an NDA and you get one.

Rather talk it through?

(812) 422-8046
(812) 422-8046Request a quote