IRWIN is a leading manufacturer of hand tools and power tools, primarily for the professional market. The company was founded in 1885 in Martinsville, Ohio. Fun fact: its founder was a pharmacist, Charles Irwin, who called it the Irwin Auger Bit Company, because it was primarily a bit and bit-making shop. Irwin had bought the patent rights from a nearby blacksmith for a flat wood bit with cutting lugs, making woodworking easier.
At the same time, and later in Nebraska, another blacksmith, William Petersen (descended from Danish immigrants), also had a bright idea: to create vise-grips with a more powerful grip, thanks to the famous Vise-grip design. He patented the invention and set up the Petersen Manufacturing Company; previously, he had sold his pliers from the boot of his car.
In 1993, the two companies merged: the Petersen Manufacturing Company, now the American Tool Companies, acquired Irwin Tool Company, before the group became part of the Newell Rubbermaid group, founded in 1903. Irwin has since moved its headquarters to Huntersville, North Carolina. In addition to Vise-Grip, Irwin boasts a broad portfolio of innovations, including Jack for its saws, Quick-Grip for its clamps, Speedbor for its flat bits... Since 1961, Irwin has sponsored the Irwin Tools Night Race, a stock-car race in the American NASCAR championship.
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