Our Story

7D Manufacturing started as a very, very humble precision job shop on the banks of Red River south of Boswell, Oklahoma. The pavement ended roughly 5 miles before turning onto our road that would take another 2 miles of traveling to reach our facility. A machine salesman arrived one day asking my father ‘what do you keep in the old barn over there?’. The reply of my father shocked this salesman, ‘that is our home’. After which the man began to apologize profusely, my father answered him saying ‘I know it’s an old barn, I promised my wife that if she would just hang with me then I would build her a nice home’. My grandfather, Herman Jack Dickson, used our home as a barn before my father and mother relocated to the farm. When they moved in the two bedrooms each contained a large load of corn used to feed the livestock and of course in-directly the rats and field mice. Upon my brother’s expected arrival in 1977 my father cleaned out one bedroom and upon my arrival in 1979 he cleaned out the other bedroom. Oh, and did I mention that our ‘barn’ did not have central heat and air, what we did have was a wood burning stove. Each winter morning when crawling out of bed we would make a mad dash to the old wood stove to warm up. In the summertime our ‘barn’ was equipped with a swamp cooler. To gain some relief from the Oklahoma heat we would spray water on the swamp cooler positioned in the window then run inside to feel the cool air. How is it that a precision machine shop was conceived and birthed in such an unlikely area? That is a question you would have to take up with the founder, my father, Raymond Dickson. I believe he was just crazy enough to believe that pig-headed determination along with a little bit of know-how was all it would take to develop a precision job shop to service the needs of customers around the world.

One may think there is some exaggeration to this story…would you believe that we also had an outhouse? Imagine having a permanent port-a-potty as your restroom, only this permanent port-a-potty is located 100 yards from your backdoor, positioned on the side of a hill. Next imagine utilizing said permanent port-a-potty when it suddenly begins to shake and rock side to side due to a 1,200-pound bull using it as his own person scratching post. Just imagine when that urge hits, knowing that you have 100 yards of pure torture to trek for relief, yep those were the ‘good ole days’ that I NEVER want to repeat, that is just how ‘good’ they were. So yes, we certainly do understand what it means to start with very humble beginnings.

During the summer of 1987 we left the old ‘barn’ behind, moving from the banks of the Red River where the pavement ended 5 miles before the turn off for our road to Boswell Oklahoma where we still have our corporate offices many, many years later.

7D Manufacturing is now located in what was originally a grocery story and tractor dealership. If you look closely in our 7D Manufacturing office area you will see some imperfections in the concrete that was poured decades previous to us taking up residence. The concrete was not poured the way things are done nowadays with a concrete truck…no it was hauled in from the railroad tracks with a wagon and team of horses. Based on what they had to work with then I say they did a great job giving 7D Manufacturing a foundation to continue building on so many years later. If those men and women could see the quality of precision job shop that exists due to their blood, sweat, and tears they would be very proud.

Looking back my father and mother had quite the courage to begin a precision job shop on the banks of Red River south of Boswell, Oklahoma in the summer of 1978. That same courage and pig-headed determination that began 7D Manufacturing still exists today, the facilities just look a little different.

At 7D Manufacturing we know what it is like to overcome problems along the way, turning them into opportunities. Allow us to take your problems and turn them into possibilities. For a great experience with a trusted company, reach out to us at 580-566-2284 or if you prefer email, send your request for a quote to rfq@7dmanufacturing.com.