Kurt Workholding Celebrates 50th

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Kurt AngLock vise and Kurt industrial products, but it all began 50 years ago with one vise model – the D60 AngLock.

“The Kurt AngLock vise was designed at the same time computer numerical controlled machines became the new manufacturing technology of the day,” said William Kuban, CEO and son of the founder of Kurt. “It was truly a manufacturing revolution. Everything changed because CNC machines were smarter, faster, and more precise. The AngLock vise provided the workholding accuracy and repeatability for these automated, high-speed systems.”

Throughout the years, the company developed many vise and workholding designs.

For its 50th anniversary, Kurt displays a special logo labeled the Kurt “360° Product Advantage.” The logo represents today’s hundreds of Kurt workholding product options. These include multiple-station, CNC vises; five-axis vises; rotary table workholding; MultiChuck MMY static milling chucks; DockLock zero point clamping systems; a full line of tombstones for achieving maximum high density workholding; and accessories to complement every workholding setup.

Kurt also is the exclusive worldwide distributor of NEMI vacuum workholding.

Kurt’s 50-year milestone is underscored by a new facility that the company moved into two years ago. The facility includes an automated production system designed for eventual lights-out manufacturing of many Kurt vise product lines.

“What’s most impressive about this system is that it incorporates a wide variety of Kurt workholding products,” said Kuban. “We utilize standard Kurt workholding, custom-engineered workholding and towers, the DockLock system, and automated custom-engineered systems to put this cell together. We wanted to make this a showpiece of all Kurt’s technical abilities for present and prospective customers to see.”

Looking forward to the next 50 years, Kurt believes it has a very bright future.

“Machinists, process planners, and engineers, through continuous improvement programs, are continually upgrading workholding applications,” said Kuban. “That means a growing need for new, innovative workholding designs. Kurt will continue to be the driving force for these innovative workholding designs.”

For more information, visit www.kurtworkholding.com.