Palmgren® -It All Started with Vises

Palmgren® -It All Started with Vises

Well, sort of.

Background

Palmgren has been producing all types of vises since 1919. In fact, our founder, Clarence Palmgren, is credited with the creation and manufacture of the first mass produced machine vises. That spirit of innovation and quality created the foundation of Palmgren and we still build upon it today.

At the start of the 20th century, there was a considerable amount of innovation with the development of new metalworking machinery but there were no standard work holding devices that could be bought off the shelf for them.

Third-party engineering companies built everything from scratch as needed and Palmgren originally started out as one and sold custom tooling. The reason Clarence chose to start making vises for Palmgren was because he received an angle vise to go on a new mill and thus the idea came from working on that project. Palmgren then decided to design and build different machine vises with replaceable parts, using the same concept that the Ford Motor company used to build cars. Replaceable parts were significant around this time because it made mass production more efficient and it ensured every product was made the exact same. By using this method, it made vises more affordable because customers could now buy these replacement parts instead of a new vise.

First Vises

The first vise Palmgren ever made was the angle vise. The vise was 100% made in America and underwent an extensive inspection process before being sold to the customer. The inspection process ensured that every single vise was identical to the last and that it adhered to Palmgren’s standards. Shortly after the creation of the angle vise, Palmgren introduced the standard drill press vise. From there, Palmgren was the first company to build and sell a standard line of different machine vises that could be used on drill presses, milling machines, grinders, and shapers.

Present Day

During the late 1980’s, Palmgren expanded its product offerings again to include industrial grade bench vises. Today, Palmgren continues to manufacture and provide user-friendly, high-quality tools to the metalworking industry so you can “Embrace the Work™”.

Palmgren currently offers drill press vises, angle vises, quick vises, milling vises, and cross slide vises. In addition, we sell a complete line of machinery such as mills, drill presses, saws, lathes and more. To learn more about our vises and other products head over to our site at palmgren.com.

Palmgren, “Embrace the Work™”

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