Small-Town Manufacturing Hits the Bullseye with the Best Barebow Risers
When one of our local customers reached a critical juncture in 2023, Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. saw an opportunity to purchase their company and ensure its continued success for years to come. Here’s the story of how we acquired CD Archery.
Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. Acquires CD Archery
Demand for CD Archery’s exceptional barebow risers was outpacing supply capacity, concerning not only CD Archery but also us because we’d been manufacturing their barebow risers since 2016.
So we asked ourselves an important question: “What happens if we don’t buy CD Archery?” The answer was clear. Someone else would. And our connection to this incredible product could be lost forever.
Was acquiring CD Archery a calculated risk? Perhaps. A natural progression? Absolutely. So we made it happen.
Bolstered by our production capacity, CD Archery immediately established a long-awaited partnership with Lancaster Archery Supply, the world's largest distributor of archery products.
For our woman-owned job shop, acquiring CD Archery is more than a business venture; it’s a tribute to small-town manufacturing, local innovation, and world-class quality.
Small Shop, Serious Manufacturing
We're proud to say that CD Archery’s barebow riser is the only one on the market that meets the rigorous demands of today's elite competitive archers. The riser serves as the foundation of the bow, setting the stage for exceptional performance. Archers attach limbs to the riser and string them to prepare their perfect shot.
At Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc., our expert-run CNC machining services make the magic happen. Unlike many competitors who rely on pre-made castings, we craft our barebow risers from premium US-sourced billet aluminum, 3D machining them from start to finish.
To ensure maximum quality, we stabilize the aluminum through a specialized heat treatment process before machining. This attention to detail delivers significant quality advantages and enables tighter control over the entire manufacturing process.
Our team employs CNC milling techniques for one of the riser’s critical components and uses a lathe to perfect three additional parts. Finally, we apply a durable, in-house Cerakote finish before assembling the riser with its stainless steel components.
Crafting Winners—Literally
Combine meticulous engineering, competitive insight, and stellar manufacturing, and you get CD Archery’s award-winning barebow risers. That’s right: the riser that won this year’s Lancaster Classic was designed by the brilliant minds at CD Archery and manufactured right here at Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc.
To be clear, CD Archery is no rookie on the archery range. Its founders, Calvin Smock and Dewayne Martin, along with product designer Kevin Smock (Calvin’s son), have poured years of archery experience into their risers. Beyond being successful business owners, they’re highly skilled archers who know the game inside and out. The culmination of their expertise is a product that stands toe-to-toe with industry giants—and takes home the prize.
In the 2017 Robion, France, competition, Team USA clinched the gold medal shooting with CD Archery’s barebow risers! One year after Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. began manufacturing these barebow risers, Dewayne Martin, Calvin Smock, and Dalton Richardson outshot teams from Hungary, Italy, and Spain to achieve the center podium.
The Future of Area Tool Manufacturing, Inc. and CD Archery
As you can see, we didn’t merely acquire a business; we acquired a vision. Calvin and Dewayne continue to work closely with us, adding layers of technical finesse to a product that’s already in a league of its own.
Beyond making the best barebow risers, we’re crafting a legacy of quality right here in our Pennsylvania machine shop. Our story, intertwined with CD Archery and now Lancaster Archery, is a testament to what small businesses can achieve through collaboration and a commitment to excellence. To every archer who shoots with a barebow riser manufactured by our team: know that you’re holding a piece of a much larger, beautiful narrative.
Whether you’re a design engineer or an archery aficionado, never underestimate the power of small-town America’s manufacturers. Sometimes, hitting the bullseye means going back to your roots.
