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Frank T. Ricci learned the jewelry
tool making trade in his father's basement shop, methodically hand-filing dies the way his great-uncles had taught his dad.
But after graduating from electronics school and working briefly for a big defense contractor, Ricci knew there were things he could teach his father.
He knew there were machines that could do the work much faster, and he wanted to buy one.
His father, Fred Ricci, knew about the machines too - the technology had been around for awhile - and he wasn't impressed by anything except their price.
The younger Ricci prevailed, although his father remained skeptical. When the $30,000-piece of equipment arrived at their shop, then in Providence, in 1991, Fred Ricci told his son, "If it doesn't do what you say it will do, start running down Charles Street."
Frank stayed put.
"I had tears in my eyes, that's how good it ran," said his dad, who still has the first cutting. "That machine launched this business into the 21st century."
At a time when the jewelry industry in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts is in decline, the Fred Ricci Tool Co. has expanded. In January 1997, it moved to an industrial building in Cranston, where it occupies 7,000 square feet of space. It has nine employees, including president Frank Ricci and his father, and five "Electrical Discharge Machining" machines.
Four of them are state-of-the-art wire EDM machines that cost about $100,000 apiece. The computer-controlled machines - which are made in Japan - use an electrically charged strand of brass wire that slices through hardened steel to make trim dies and punches. These tools are used to produce everything from service medals to Christmas ornaments.
Large jewelry manufacturers have such machines, but small shops cannot afford them. That is where Fred Ricci Tool comes in. The company makes tools to their specifications. Frank Ricci said his company can make tools quickly and accurately so that small jewelry makers can compete against overseas manufacturers. The company can provide one-day service if required.
Said Ted Dion of E.A. Dion Inc. in Attleboro, Mass., a customer of Fred Ricci Tool, "Quality and speed are the only advantages we have left."
Despite the healthy Massachusetts and Rhode Island economies, jewelry layoffs and plant closings continue with depressing regularity. In Rhode Island, there were 23,200 jewelry manufacturing jobs in 1987, according to the state Department of Labor and Training. Last year, there were only 13,300, a decline of nearly 43 percent.
When Fred Ricci, 55, was growing up, Providence was the jewelry capital of the world. He had three uncles in the jewelry business who taught him the trade. He eventually wound up working for Fulford Manufacturing. After work, he would do small jobs in his basement shop.
"I got so busy," said the elder Ricci, "I had to make a decision on whether to quit my job or curtail my business. So I quit my job."
When his son was 6 or 7, Ricci taught him how to file dies. One day, the child, hunched over the bench with a man-size set of magnifying glasses on his head, was working so intently that he jabbed the file into his cheek. Father and son chuckled over the incident during a recent interview in the company's small office just off the shop floor.
Frank Ricci, 31, graduated from the former Rhode Island School of Electronics, now part of Johnson & Wales University. He then commuted to work at Raytheon in Marlboro, Mass. That lasted six months.
"I didn't like working for someone," said the younger Ricci.
He went back to work with his father, but one of his requirements was that the company acquire some advanced technology. They borrowed the money to buy their first EDM machine from the older Ricci's mother. The company has another family connection: the younger Ricci's wife, Debra, quit her job in a doctor's office to handle the clerical work.
Fred Ricci Tool fills a niche in a business that is a blend of technology and craftsmanship. Its products include dies that Joe Anthony at Aries Inc. in Providence uses to trim excess metal from the die-struck emblems he makes for pen companies. Ricci dies are used in making many armed forces medals, including the Purple Heart and Distinguished Service Medal.
One recent job involved replacing a sunburst die that had broken into three pieces. Filing the original had probably taken at least a couple of days. Cutting a replacement took about four hours. The image of the old piece was scanned into a computer, which controlled the cutting machine.
"It still takes a lot of preparation," Frank Ricci said. "What we've decreased is the cutting time."
Besides the four high-tech, wire EDM machines, the company also has another, less expensive type of EDM machine that can duplicate original dies, such as those used to stamp badges and medals. The
original still has to be done by an artist.
The company no longer has the first EDM machine it acquired. Frank Ricci said he works hard to ensure that his company keeps up to date. He also said he sees that his employees get trained to run a new machine before it arrives in the shop.
Frank Ricci declined to disclose his company's sales, but said he is confident that they can continue to grow. The company has diversified and does work for the automotive industry as well.
They have made a good team, the father with his years of experience in an exacting craft and the son with the ability to translate the old ways into the computer age. Frank Ricci said he can see himself eventually spending all day in an office running the company, but that his father will always want to be in the shop. "He's happy out here," the son said, "and this is where he's going to stay."
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