Ray Smith, Sr., was a son of Leonard F. Smith, Sr., who in 1928 had founded Powermatic Machine Co. In 1967 Ray Sr. and sons Ray Jr. and W. Douglas founded Smith Machine Tool Co. as a specialty fabricating business. The following year they introduced a line of arbor presses, and the following year they introduced a foot press under the TENNSMITH brand, quickly followed by a full line of sheet metal forming machinery: brakes, shears, slip rolls, benders, notchers and rotary formers. In 1977 the business incorporated as Tennsmith, Inc.
As of 2018, Tennsmith continues to manufacture all of their machines in the USA.
Information Sources
- The Tennessee government's corporate website provided the date of incorporation of Tennsmith, Inc. Their database does not have information on Smith Machine Tool Co.
- The Tennsmith website provided the basic history, and a couple of old catalogs had histories that provided some of the dates missing from the website.
- A patent search revealed no patents assigned to Smith Machine Tool Co. of McMinnville, and three patents—issued between 1986 and 2009—granted to Tennsmith, Inc.