Family-Owned Palm Beach County Machine Shop Since 1968.
Three generations, no outside stakeholders, and nearly 60 years making the parts engineers can't afford to get wrong.
It started with one machinist, Rene LaCasse, who stayed close to the engineers. When they left ITT to build their own companies, he built their tooling. That's still the job: helping engineers make the thing they're trying to make.
Rene LaCasse built the first tool.
Rene came to Florida with ITT and spent his days close to the engineering groups. When the engineers he worked beside left to start their own companies, he was the one they called for tooling. So he started a shop on the side, went full time in 1968, and incorporated Micro Tool Engineering in 1972 as its founding president.
He spent Sundays quoting jobs at the kitchen table. He trained each of his kids in a different part of the business, because he always meant for it to be a family company. It still is.
Rene LaCasse
Nearly 60 years, one family.
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Origins 1960sFrom ITT to Florida
Our father, Rene LaCasse, worked alongside the engineering groups at ITT, and the company moved him to Florida. Over about ten years he got to know the engineers who had transferred from up north.
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Day one 1968Breaking away
As those engineers left to start their own companies, he built their tooling. He ran the shop on the side until it was busy enough to go full time, and in 1968 he left his other jobs to run it.
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Foundations 1970sFirst contracts, first quality system
Micro Tool Engineering was incorporated in 1972 with Rene as founding president: a couple of guys doing tooling and fixturing and staying close to those engineers as their companies grew. Our early contracts brought our first formal quality system.
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Home base 19827575 Central Industrial Drive
We moved into the Riviera Beach building we still work in today, just off I-95 at Blue Heron Boulevard. Look for the MTE letters over the bay doors.
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Kitchen table Early '80sSunday quotes and microfiche
Every Sunday our father quoted at the kitchen table. A friend from up north introduced us to government contracting, and we won our first contract working from drawings on microfiche, with every part made by hand.
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Computers 1980sThe first CNC machines
We went from manual Bridgeport mills to computer-controlled machines and learned to manage outside services like anodizing. We made stainless canisters for affordable liquid oxygen systems. The second generation came home and learned 3D milling on the job.
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Digital 1990sCAD replaces the drawing board
Prints moved from microfiche to the screen, and programming moved from the machine to the computer.
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Medical 1997–2004Sure-Point, Bard, and the FDA
From 1997 we built and serviced Sure-Point urology devices for Amertek Medical and Alton Design. When C.R. Bard acquired them in 2003, nine people came to inspect our shop. We passed, registered with the FDA in 2004, and kept building the devices for Bard.
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Refinement 2010sSolidWorks and production focus
We moved to SolidWorks for more refined design work and put our energy into production: repeatable processes, on-time shipping, and customers who reorder.
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Three generations TodayParts that help treat cancer
Still 100% family owned, with the third generation on the floor. We make components for reusable medical equipment, including devices that treat cancer, and we service and repair them for years after they ship.
It was never discussed.
We just knew.
Our father knew he wanted a family business, so he trained each of us in a different department. Like the plumber's kid who becomes a plumber, none of us really wanted to be anything else.
The shop floor
Two of us were on the floor from a young age, learning every machine hands-on.
Purchasing
Our father trained one of us in purchasing: materials, outside services, and the vendors who keep a job on schedule.
The office
Our mother ran the office, and one of us grew up filing beside her. It's how we learned the paperwork side before we ever quoted a part.
"I realized this is pretty cool, because it was not, for the most part, a job."
Second generation, on learning 3D milling in the early '80s
Sacrifice.
We've outlasted a lot of machine and tool shops. It isn't because we're the biggest, and there are no stockholders pushing us. It's because a family kept showing up and kept making what they promised.
You end up with calluses, and with a certain energy that carries over into every part and every customer we take on.
The day nine cars
pulled up.
We helped a urologist and his son get their device company started, and introduced them to Ted, a seasoned entrepreneur who built it up to sell. From 1997 we manufactured and serviced their Sure-Point devices for Amertek Medical and Alton Design, and we were just starting to learn about the FDA.
Then Ted called: "I've got somebody coming over." That was the only warning. Nine people from C.R. Bard arrived: attorneys, management, and quality. Without our knowing it, the whole acquisition depended on a qualified, active contract manufacturer. They were there to inspect our shop.
We passed. The next year we registered with the FDA, and medical devices have been at the center of what we do ever since.
Same family. Different tools.
A partner, not just a vendor.
Some customers want one component. Some want the whole thing built, assembled, and serviced for years. We fit in wherever you need us, and we'll help develop the product if you want a partner at the table.
- 01 Prototyping From a rough sketch to a first article you can hold and test.
- 02 CNC machining Milling, turning, Swiss, and EDM in aluminum, titanium, stainless, and plastics.
- 03 3D printing Fast form-and-fit parts before you commit to production tooling.
- 04 Component manufacturing Repeat production runs with the process already proven.
- 05 Assembly Components plus assembly, so a finished product ships from one source.
- 06 Service & repair We keep the equipment we build running for years after it ships.
Our parts end up in unexpected places. We machined the housing for a 360-degree camera lens made by our neighbors at Coastal Optical, one of the cameras in the Tree of Life.
Made by people who
sweat the tenths.
Real people
You talk to the family and the machinists who make your part, not a ticketing system.
Work that matters
Our parts go into medical devices that treat cancer. Knowing that is why we sweat the tenths.
Engineers first
We've grown up alongside engineers since 1968. We help develop products, and our names are on patents for work we've co-developed.
Straight answers
If a feature won't work, we tell you during DFM, not after the first article fails.
Riviera Beach, Florida.
7575 Central Industrial Drive, our home since 1982, just off I-95 at Blue Heron Boulevard. Come meet the family that makes your parts.
Plan a visit 
Work with a family
that's done this since 1968.
Our engineers review every drawing for manufacturability and return a detailed quote — typically within 48 hours. Confidential, with an NDA on request.
- NDA on request
- DFM feedback included
- Direct line to an engineer