Who invented vise grips

You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Click to expand Vise Grip pliers were invented here in Nebraska in Dewitt. This is the story of two men, from the American Heartland, who shared a deep belief in the idea that with imagination and determination anything could be accomplished.

A local blacksmith who was a customer of Mr. IRWIN's came up with the idea for a solid center auger bit.

He sold the rights to this invention to Mr. About four decades later there was another blacksmith with an idea, this one in the small town of DeWitt, Nebraska. William Petersen was a Danish immigrant who invented the first locking pliers in his blacksmith shop, and began selling them from the trunk of his car to farmers and people in surrounding towns. He patented his new idea and called it Vise-Grip. It was the beginning of what would become two tool industry leaders, joining forces to create one industry giant.

Early sales were hampered by the stock market crash of and the harsh years of the Depression, but by a small family business had grown up in DeWitt—and Petersen Manufacturing Co. Bill continued his work on product refinement while two of his sons, Chris and Ralph, handled manufacturing.

Another son, Richard, concentrated on developing a network of sales agents together with Harriet, Bill's daughter, who left teaching for full-time work in the family business. By the DeWitt plant was operating at capacity to support the war effort. Consignments of tools were exported to England to help support the country's aircraft maintenance industry.

The expiration of the original patent in encouraged the development of competition. Design innovation and line extensions helped the company continue its brand dominance. In , two new ten-inch and two seven-inch models were launched with curved jaw configurations; and three years later, the first locking c-clamp, a derivation of the locking pliers design, was created.

He built several prototypes, first out of cardboard and then wood. Finally, he hammered one out of metal on his forge. It worked. He got his first patent for a primitive version in The patent for the locking lever was issued in He built an inventory and starting selling the Vise-Grip Pliers out of the trunk of his car to farmers and mechanics in the surrounding towns. Gradually, he built a business, but the Depression slowed its growth. In spite of hard times, the tool was popular.

In , the Petersen Manufacturing Company was formed, but it wasn't until that they opened their first official manufacturing plant in a defunct drug store in "downtown" Dewitt. That first plant had a staff of When the war started, Bill Petersen was still working on refining the product, two of his sons, Chris and Ralph, handled manufacturing, and another son, Richard, was struggling to put together a network of sales agents. This is the story of two men, from the American Heartland, who shared a deep belief in the idea that with imagination and determination anything could be accomplished.

A local blacksmith who was a customer of Mr. IRWIN's came up with the idea for a solid center auger bit. He sold the rights to this invention to Mr.