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Hanchett Mfg. Co.- 1948
Ralph V. Hanchett and 2 of his son-in-laws purchase electromagnetic chuck line and form Hanchett Magna- Lock.
1974 Hitachi Magna-Lock Corporation- Magna-Lock Corporation is purchased by Hitachi Metals American Ltd. and the Hitachi Magna-Lock Corporation name is now used
1978 Thompson Vacuum Company- Hitachi Magna-Lock Corporation acquires Thompson Vacuum Company in Sarasota, Florida
1985- Mattison Technologies, Inc
In 1985, Mattison Technologies, Inc., purchases all of the workholding lines expect the lift magnet and permanent chuck lines and moves them to Rockford, Illinois.
1985 ​Magnetic Specialties Corporation- Bruce Cocklin, former Hitachi Magna-Lock employee, enters into an agreement to purchase the lift magnet and permanent chuck lines to form Magnetic Specialties Corporation
1997 -Centro-Metalcut, Inc
Mattison Machine Works (Mattison Technologies, Inc.) closes its doors and is sold to DeVlieg-Bullard. In June 1997, Don Blachford, President of Centro-Metalcut, Inc. (CMI), purchases the Magna-Lock product lines from DeVlieg-Bullard, Inc
2007- Magna-Lock USA, Inc
Tri-CAM, Inc. sold out to its shareholders. David Nordman, Vice-President of Tri-CAM, Inc. purchased the Magna-Lock product line and formed the corporation Magna-Lock USA, Inc
2018 Obsidian Manufacturing Industries, Inc.- Magna-Lock USA, Inc. changed their name to Obsidian Manufacturing Industries, Inc. They are the OEM for spare parts, new equipment and service repairs of Magna-Lock USA, MagnaLift, Power-Grip and Arter Precision Grinding Machines
2010, Magnetic Specialties Corporation- Magnetic Specialties Corporation closes its doors; the product lines are sold to Magna-Lock USA, Inc. and moved to Illinois.
2018, Magna-Lock USA- When Obsidian Manufacturing Industries, Inc. name change was implemented, Magna-Lock workholding products became a brand of the company and is identified as Magna-Lock USA. This change was made to avoid confusion with the other brands at Obsidian Manufacturing Industries, Inc. The Magna-Lock USA logo was updated also at that time.
1970, Hanchett Magna-Lock- Hanchett Magna-Lock is renamed to Magna-Lock Corporation.
1975, Sundstrand Power-Grip- Sundstrand Magnetic Product Co. in Belvidere, Illinois sells their Power-Grip lift magnet and magnetic product lines to Hitachi Magna-Lock Corporation where they are joined with the current models.
1981, Brown & Sharpe- In 1981, Brown & Sharpe sold the proprietary rights, including all engineering documents, of their Micro-Mesh and Uni-Mesh Permanent Magnetic Chuck lines to Hitachi Magna-Lock Corporation. At that time the Micro-Mesh and Uni-Mesh chucks joined the other workholding products in the Magna-Lock brand.
1985, Mattison Abrasive Machining- Magna-Lock electromagnetic chucks have been sold on Mattison Machine Works grinders for over 50 years. Hanchett Magna-Lock worked closely with MMW key personnel to modify their designs to provide the best magnetic holding available.
1990's, Mattison Machine Works- Mattison Machine Works (Mattison Technologies, Inc.) developed a special line of vacuum chucks specifically sold for and used in woodworking.
2002, Tri-CAM, Inc.- Tri-CAM, Inc. is formed and purchases all product lines from Centro-Metalcut, Inc. (CMI) including Magna-Lock.
Our Brand History
The Magna-Lock USA brand began in 1948 when Ralph V. Hanchett and 2 of his sons-in-law purchased an electromagnetic chuck line and formed Hanchett Magna-Lock. Since that time, Magna-Lock chucks have been used on many machines including Mattison, Blanchard, Hanchett, and Arter grinders. The extensive collection of historical records assist in helping our customers with their current workholding needs.
