Lutco Marks 60th Anniversary

Lutco Inc. (USA, privately held; on the web here) is celebrating 60 years in business, the past 30 of which have been devoted to manufacturing unground ball bearings, mounted units, flangettes and other components. Founded in 1945 in Worcester, Massachusetts as Lundquist Tool & Manufacturing, the company was originally dedicated to supplying the war effort with various precision metal stampings. As with many manufacturers set up during wartime, when WWII ended, Lundquist Tool was sold; in this case to its current owners. Through the mid-1970's, Lundquist continued to leverage its military production expertise, translating it into high-precision metal stamping needed as a wide variety of consumer and industrial product components. In the mid-1970's, Lundquist abandoned the ultra-competitive world of contract metal stamping, transitioned to a new name -- Lutco -- and a new mission to focus on what had been a sideline, manufacturing semi-precision bearings and mounted units. Lutco now manufactures a wide variety of standard and custom unground ball bearings in both inch and metric sizes up to 1.25" ID: radial bearings, thrust bearings, flange units, custom ball bearings, stamped housed units, and stamped flangettes. Outers are available spherical or cylindrical, with a variety of set screw and oil hole options, hex bore, extended inners and other combinations. In its specialty line, Lutco has produced bearing and sprocket assemblies, brake assemblies, trunnion bearings, idler sprockets, cam followers, and sealed angular contact bearings. By 1991, Lutco's growth led it to build a second manufacturing facility, also in Worcester. Its original 1945 facility continues as the home office and primary manufacturing location. Bob Santoro, Lutco's Business Development Manager, told eBearing: "Lutco has contributed significantly to creating value for our customers through innovation and customer focus. The Lutco brand has earned the confidence and loyalty of our customers in markets that touch everyday life. We're very proud to have reached this milestone and look forward to the next sixty years."