In 1939 Lewis Krushel opened a general repair shop in Morden, just north of the border between Manitoba and North Dakota. Krushel was soon joined by sons Arnold and Walter, creating L. Krushel & Sons. After moving into a new and larger shop, they began manufacturing a cordwood saw. A 180 amp welder was also manufactured, a product that gained the company a reputation for quality and ruggedness. The cordwood saw and welder were soon joined by a line of power hacksaws, including saws using the "LKS Kwik Kut" name. Back in the 1920s, the "Kwik Kut" brand had been used on power hacksaws by E. C. Atkins & Co. of Indianapolis and the two should not be confused.

The manufacture of power hacksaws continued into at least the early 1980s but eventually manufacturing ceased in favor of retailing shop equipment. In 2015 the sons retired after more than 70 years, and the business was closed down.

Information Sources

• The YouTube channel "Hand Tool Rescue" featured a restoration of a Kwik-Kut power hacksaw.
• Seen on a local for-sale site: power hacksaw that appears to be of 1970s or '80s vintage, labeled as "Model 256 / Power Hacksaw / By: L. Krushel & Sons / Morden Manitoba Canada"
• According to online auction listings, a "L. Krushel and Sons Retirement Auction" was held on 2015-07-22. "Mr Krushel has decided after 74 years at LKS it was time to try something new in life..." The auction listings included an LKS band saw
• From 2015-08-19 Morden Times.

  L. Krushel & Sons Ltd. says goodbye

  MORDEN - After 76 years in business, L. Krushel & Sons Ltd. is closing its doors for good. “The only thing that’s permanent is change,” said Arnold Krushel at the L. Krushel & Sons Ltd. auction. Arnold and his brother Walter were the sons in L. Krushel & Sons. They’d help out after school and eventually took on their father’s company.

  “It was a very humble beginning,” says Arnold Krushel, son of Lewis Krushel. “Fixing things, machines when they didn’t work right. Not everybody could. The Krushels sort of had a knack for that kind of thing."

  Lewis Krushel started the company in 1939 out of a small coal shed that had originally been owned by the Great Northern Railway of North Dakota. After expanding the shop a number of times, Lewis purchased a quarter section of land a mile north of Morden and began producing a cordwood saw for cutting wood, his first product.

  Walter Krushel built the first 180 amp welder and sales grew substantially. “A fact about the LKS welder,” said Murray Krushel. “It was the bench mark used by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) in terms of comparing any other electric welders that were manufactured in Canada.”

  In recent years the focus had shifted from manufacturing to retailing an extensive line of welding and other related shop equipment. L. Krushel & Sons Ltd. held an auction on July 22nd which included all new stock and shop equipment as well as two buildings, rare tractors and lawn and garden equipment.

  A proud legacy
  “I think the future of LKS will only be in its legacy,” says Christopher Krushel. “Walking around at the auction I couldn’t have been prouder to be a Krushel. All the old timers swapping story’s about how great the products were and how they’re holding up just as strong today as when they rolled off the line.”