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History | Sutton Tools History
| Sutton Tools Pty Ltd established 1917, is one of the oldest Australian family owned 4th generation operated businesses in Australia.
With four manufacturing operations Sutton Tools is Australia’s only production manufacturer specialist and supplier of globally competitive quality cutting tools.
Over 17,000 line items including Drills, Taps, Endmills, Countersinks and Holesaws together with a wide range of power tool accessories to service Tool & Die, Aerospace, Automotive and General Engineering Industries.
Sutton Tools brands boast P&N, Diager, Lockjaw, Garant, Holex, Tapmatic, Frost, Lockjaw and Jaz.
Through continual aggressive reinvestment and Research and Development programs, Sutton Tools now provide product, surface coatings and regrinding specific to the many sophisticated and varied applications encountered by industry today. Sutton Tools comprehensive range of high performance, precision cutting tools now includes HSS, HSS-Co, HSSE-V, Powdered Metal HSS and Carbide ranges manufactured to ISO, DIN, ANSI, BS & JIS standards, which are complemented by TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, AlCrN, TiAlCN, TeClube, CrN & Ni ceramic surface coatings and state of the art Vacuum Heat Treatment.
| Timeline
| | William Henry Sutton at the age of 48 established the Sutton Tool and Gauge Manufacturing Co at Thompson’s Foundry in Castlemaine Victoria Australia. This was the start to an iconic Australian family tradition, manufacturing cutting tools as a wholesale distribution operation. With a staff of Henry’s two sons, Henry George and Leslie, and with rigid rules to produce tools of the highest quality, it soon became evident to manufacturers they could buy locally of equal or even better quality than those from overseas.
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| | Business in Castlemaine had quadrupled in size as more orders poured in, Sutton Tools moved to a 13,000 square foot factory in Northcote.
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| | Commenced the manufacture of Thread Tooling
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| | First Export was to New Zealand, consignment of reamers.
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| | Both sons of William Henry, Henry George Sutton and Leslie Sutton became managing directors of the business whilst William Henry continued to take an active interest until his death.
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| | William Henry Sutton, born 1863 - died 1950, profession leading tool engineer before the founding business owner of Sutton Tools. William was a pioneer of the Australian Engineering Industry.
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| | Purchased Industrial land at Thomastown to build a new factory.
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| | Northcote: With no expense spared, Sutton Tools sent a team of engineers to investigate the best method of producing the finest drill in the world. The method chosen was “Ground-from-Solid” where every part of the drill is ground from a solid heat treated high speed steel blank, the only method to produce drills which would match the quality and accuracy of the other products manufactured by the company. Hence the drill was marketed under the name of the “Silver Bullet” and all their endmills, slot drills and taps up to ½” diameter are produced by this method.
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| The Thomastown factory was purpose built and specially equipped for the manufacture of drills, and was considered to have state of the art machinery and one of the most modern facilities in the world.
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| | Thomastown Commenced Manufacturing Jobber Drills
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| | Acquired an adjoining factory in Thomastown which made it possible to transfer the remaining production units from Northcote. The Northcote building became surplus to the company’s needs. Hence was auctioned March 24th, 1970.
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| | Restructured operations by exiting products: hobs and thread rolling dies.
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| | Purchased Gamma Design Holesaw Company
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| | Purchased Surface Technology Coatings
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| | Strategic Expansion into Export Markets
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| | Purchased Patience & Nicholson New Zealand (Evacut)
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| | Opened Singapore office & warehouse
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| Acquired Scott, Young & Masters a distribution and import agent
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| | Sutton Tools purchased Patience & Nicholson (Australia)
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| Further investment of machinery in turn improved efficiencies, and raised the bar in quality levels of drills.
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| | | | Sutton Tools became exclusive national distributor of the Diager Brand, premium industrial quality masonry tools.
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| | Sutton Tools became the exclusive agent of the Jaz brand, an industrial quality brushware program, and also the Lockjaw brand, industrial and trade quality clamps and pliers.
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| | We sold our 5 millionth drill bit to Germany.
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| | Acquired Tapmatic exclusive agency in Australia for tap holders
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| Purchased Cuttertec (regrinding facility)
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| | Opened Hong Kong office & warehouse
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| Purchased new equipment - Innova Coating System, providing world class capabilities in PVD coatings
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