Irwin Industrial Tools

{{Infobox company

| name = Irwin Industrial Tools

| logo = Irwin Tools logo.svg

| type = Subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker{{cite web|last1=Fortier|first1=Christopher|title=Stanley completes $1.95 billion Newell acquisition|url=http://www.centralctcommunications.com/newbritainherald/article_8c4996c2-09e8-11e7-92aa-a7f95bd0fbfd.html|website=New Britain Herald|access-date=23 March 2017}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

| foundation = {{start date and age|1885}} in Martinsville, Ohio

| founder = Charles Irwin

| location = Huntersville, NC

| key_people = Charles Irwin, William Petersen

| num_employees =

| industry = Manufacturing

| revenue =

| products = Hand tools

| homepage = [http://www.irwin.com/ www.irwin.com]

}}

Image:Irwin Industrial Tools logo.png

Irwin Industrial Tools is an American manufacturer and distributor of hand tools and power tool accessories. It is owned by Stanley Black & Decker. It is best known for producing Vise-Grip locking pliers. Additionally, it produces clamps, drill bits, taps and dies, screw extractors, bolt extractors, saw blades, pipe wrenches, screwdrivers, snips, and other construction tools.{{cite web|author=Irwin Industrial Tools|title=About Us|url=http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/jhtml/aboutUs.jhtml|access-date=2008-04-06}}

History

Irwin was founded in 1885 in Martinsville, Ohio as the Irwin Auger Bit Company by Charles Irwin, a pharmacist. Irwin had bought the rights to a solid-center auger bit from a local blacksmith.{{cite patent|country=US|number=361522|pubdate=1887-04-19|title=Auger-bit|inventor1-last=Irwin|inventor1-first=Charles H.}}

In 1924, another blacksmith, Danish immigrant William Petersen of DeWitt, Nebraska, invented the first locking pliers{{cite patent|country=US|number=1489458|pubdate=1924-04-08|title=Wrench|assign1=Jules A. Sire & inventor|inventor1-last=Petersen|inventor1-first=William}} and named them Vise-Grips.{{cite web|last=Frechette|first=Leon|title=75th anniversary of the Vise-Grip locking pliers|url=http://www.asktooltalk.com/articles/toolhistory/vise-grip.php|access-date=2010-02-25}} In 1934, Petersen formed the Petersen Manufacturing Company to produce them.{{cite web|author=Nebraska State Historical Society|title=Made in Nebraska Exhibit, Petersen Manufacturing|url=http://www.nebraskahistory.org/sites/mnh/neb-made/visegrip.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030728090340/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/sites/mnh/neb-made/visegrip.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 28, 2003|date=2003-04-02|access-date=2010-02-25}} In 1957, Petersen added an easy-release trigger to the design, creating the modern locking pliers design.{{cite patent|country=US|number=2838973|pubdate=1958-06-17|title=Releasing means for self-locking plier type toggle wrench|inventor1-last=Petersen|inventor1-first=William}}

In 1985, American Tool Companies bought out Petersen Manufacturing.{{clarify |date=September 2016 |reason=?Petersens sold to American? merged? }} In 1993, American acquired The Irwin Tool Company, and in 2002, Newell Rubbermaid acquired American. In 2003, American officially changed its name to Irwin Industrial Tool Company.{{cite web|author=Irwin Industrial Tools|title=History|url=http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/jhtml/irwinHistory.jhtml|access-date=2010-02-25|archive-date=2010-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228053500/http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/jhtml/irwinHistory.jhtml|url-status=dead}}

In 2008, Irwin announced the closing of its DeWitt, Nebraska plant, ending 80 years of American production for Vise-Grips, citing a necessity to move production to China "to keep the Vise-Grip name competitive."{{cite web|work=The Associated Press|title=Workers sorry Vise-Grip plant moving to China|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26531610|date=2008-09-03|access-date=2010-02-25}}

In 2010, Irwin closed the customer service office in Wilmington, OH and moved the customer service department to Huntersville, NC.

In October 2016 Stanley Black & Decker Inc agreed to buy Newell Brands Inc.’s tools business for $1.95 billion. The acquisition was completed in March 2017.{{Cite web|date=October 12, 2016|title=Stanley buys tool division of Atlanta company|url=http://www.newbritainherald.com/NBH-New+Britain+News/252702/stanley-buys-tool-division-of-atlanta-company|access-date=February 3, 2022|website=New Britain Herald}}