In 1919 a group of tool and die makers in Highland Park, Michigan — all of them former employees of Ford Motor Co. — established Ex-Cell-O Tool & Manufacturing Co., with Newton "Woody" Woodworth as president and general manager. Over the next few years Ex-Cell-O found a niche in making parts and fixtures for aircraft, although they also made grinding machines and air-driven grinding spindles. In 1927 the company name changed to Ex-Cell-O Aircraft & Tool Corp. In 1937 Woodworth left the business, which reorganized as Ex-Cell-O Corp., the more general name reflecting their increasingly diverse lines of business, including machine tools such as grinders and milling machines. (Woodworth, meanwhile, went on to establish the N. A. Newton Co.)
In 1948 Ex-Cell-O acquired Robbins Engineering Co. of Detroit, whose primary line of business was jet-engine rotors and related components, but also had a machine tool business, including magnetic chucks, sine bars and sine plates. In 1958 Ex-Cell-O acquired the Bryant Chucking Grinder Co., of Springfield, Vermont, whose line of production grinding machines dovetailed nicely with Ex-Cell-O's line of special-purpose grinding machines. In 1963 they acquired honing machine maker Micromatic Hone Corp., and in 1968 they acquired woodworking machinery maker Greenlee Brothers & Co. of Rockford, Illinois. In 1977 they acquired McCord Corp., maker of automotive, industrial and agricultural products.
In 1986 Ex-Cell-O was acquired by defense-industry conglomerate Textron, and at some point the machine tool division became Ex-Cell-O Machine Tools, Inc.
Ex-Cell-O began laying off all employees on April 28, 2006. So far as we know, parts and service for Greenlee machinery are no longer available. Many of the Ex-Cell-O machine tool products are supported by Kenrie, Inc., of Holland, Michigan.
In Canada, Ex-Cell-O Corporation of Canada, Ltd., was located at 120 Weston Street in London, Ontario, where they manufactured a very successful line of heavy machine tools such as ram-type milling machines.
Ex-Cell-O's product lines varied over the years. In their early years they made grinding machines, including Carboloy branded grinders that were sold by Carboloy, Inc., a maker of tungsten carbide and tooling. By the early 1940s they were also making high-precision machinery including including boring machines, facing machines, thread grinders, and lapping machines. By the early '50s their machines had become progressively more massive and precise. Cylinder boring machines and vertical boring mills were among the machine-tool products that had been added to an increasing diverse product lineup. Ram turret milling machines joined the lineup and these were exceptionally heavy and rigid, and as with most Ex-Cell-O machines they were hand-scraped and fit to achieve the tightest possible tolerances.
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