LMT Onsrud Celebrates 70 Years of Success and is Well-Positioned to Take On Future Challenges
When Onsrud Cutter Manufacturing Company was established in Libertyville, Illinois in 1946, few could have predicted the advances in technology over the next seventy years. However, the fact that LMT Onsrud continues to lead the high-speed cutting market in quality and innovation comes as no surprise. After all, it was Oscar and Rudolph Onsrud who invented the hand-held router in 1920.
In the 1940s, the focus was high-speed cutting of wood for furniture and the aluminums being used in the aircraft industry, by 1983 Onsrud developed a full line of tools to cut plastics, and in 1988, Onsrud became the first cutting tool company in the world to win the International Woodworking Fair Challenger’s award for a ceramic router bit. In 1994, the company won a second Challenger’s award for a solid carbide compression spiral router bit. 2007 marked the introduction of end mills to tackle Titanium, and the next year innovations were made to produce cutters to mill Aluminum.
Today, innovations continue as more and more users face challenges that come along with cutting complex composite materials needed to supply the aerospace and medical industries. As competitors line up to try to match Onsrud’s innovations, company president Leslie Banduch explains how his organization has stayed ahead of the innovation curve for so long. “What makes Onsrud so unique is that all of our innovations come from end-user feedback at the spindle. Our application engineers and our technical representatives are out in the field every day working with machinists to understand the cutting challenges that new materials are presenting. Our engineers are constantly working with end customers to figure out how we can extend tool life and achieve superior work-piece quality at the same time. Our customers are coming to Onsrud looking for that next advance in technology that’s going to allow them to win more jobs, expand their capabilities and ultimately make more money. We relish those opportunities and love the confidence our customers have in our products and our ability to solve problems for them,” Banduch said.
As they have done for seventy years, LMT Onsrud shows no signs of slowing down. Building on its history, the company has again won the IWF’s Challenger’s Award in 2016. This year the distinction goes to its all-new Polaris compression spiral. “Time and time again customers were coming to us looking to reduce heat buildup in the cutting process, protect the cutting edge, and extend tool life. The Polaris does that better than any tool we’ve ever made – and we’re pretty proud of that!” Banduch said with a smile seventy years in the making!
About LMT Onsrud LP
LMT Onsrud LP is a part of the LMT Tools Group. The LMT TOOLS Group encompasses the manufacturing companies of LMT BELIN (France), LMT FETTE (Germany), LMT KIENINGER (Germany) and LMT ONSRUD (USA), including an internationally operating sales organization.
With more than 1,100 employees and a network of specialized partners, LMT TOOLS offers its customers a comprehensive range of tools and tooling services for the most diverse cutting and non-cutting applications. LMT products are used by customers within the aerospace, automotive, medical, energy, and general machining industries, and help users maximize productivity, efficiency and performance.
For more information, visit www.onsrud.com.
