The Pre-History of Aloris Tool Co.

In 1944 Frank Sirola obtained a trademark on "Aloris" (his surname spelled backwards) for use on lathe turret heads. We have found no direct evidence that he ever manufactured any such product but it seems likely that he did so, albeit in a small way. In 1945 Sirola applied for a patent on a lathe turret, and the patent was issued one year later.

By the early 1950s Sirola was president of a Long Island City manufacturer, the Uno Tool Co., Inc. Within a couple of years that firm had come to specialize in manufacturing fishing rods and fishing-rod components, but the company name suggests that their early product line may have been of interest to us. We have not been able to find any information on their founding or their early products other than fishing rods. Sirola was company president in 1953 but not in 1958.

The Aloris Tool Co. of New York and Flushing

By 1952 the Aloris Tool Co., Inc. was in business in New York, NY, with Sirola as president, and was manufacturing Aloris quick-change tool posts and holders. That 1946 turret-head patent contains some of the key ideas used in the early Aloris tool posts and holders, including the piston-type tool post. By 1954 the company had relocated to Flushing, NY.

In 1957 Sirola applied for a patent on a new tool post that improved on his piston-type tool post by using a wedge mechanism to affix the tool holder to the post. The patent was issued in 1961. This new tool-post design was somewhat more expensive to manufacture than the earlier piston type but was superior in operation. The Aloris model-number system assigned one- or two-letter codes to the piston type type posts (C, D, E, AX, BX, CX) and two- or three-letter codes ending in A for the wedge-type posts (CA, DA, EA, AXA, BXA). For many years Aloris sold both types but the piston-type posts have been discontinued; many of the less expensive offshore Aloris clones are piston-type.

The Aloris Tool Co. of Clifton, NJ

In about 1958 the Aloris Tool Co., Inc., relocated from Flushing, NY, to Clifton, NJ. Over the next couple of decades the company grew steadily as the merits of their tool posts and holders became more widely known. Eventually offshore copies of Aloris products began to appear on the market, and although those clones have improved somewhat over the years, the made-in-USA original Aloris products remain the benchmark for quality.

Information Sources

• 1944 Trademark filing, S/N 475,779, filed 1944-10-27, "Aloris" mark in a stylized crest shape. "For Turret Heads for Lathes. Claims use since Aug. 2, 1944." A search of Google Books did not turn up any mentions prior to 1952.
• 1950 Communist Activities Among Aliens and National Groups: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization of the Committee on the Judiciary / United States Senate / Eighty-first Congress First Session on S. 1832 Part 3, Appendix I, statement of The Honorable Pat McCarran, listing those on a Tanjug mailing list, page A67: "Mr. Frank Sirola, 363 W. 19th Street, New York 11, N. Y." He is actually listed twice—his name and address also appear on page A64.
• 1952 issue of Production Engineering & Management (Volume 31 page 205). "TOOLS CAN BE SHARPENED RIGHT IN TOOL HOLDERS 92 The Aloris Tool Company has developed a new tool post that will fit all lathes regardless of style of compound rest top. The new tool post comes with five quickly interchangeable tool holders, one for each of the following..."
• September 1952 Mill and Factory (Volume 51, page 152): "Aloris Tool Co., Inc., Dept. MF, 80-82 Fourth Ave,. New York 3, N. Y. Features: The rigid toolpost will not only handle cutting, turning, threading all the way from roughing to finishing, including parting, but it can also be used for boring, drilling, and geometric die work. Thus costly set-ups are not needed as in boring operations. No shimming or jiggling of the toolpost is necessary. While toolpost is single-bit in operation , it is a multi-bit unit."
• 1953 Industrial Directory of New York State page 3949: "Uno Tool Co., Inc., 21-02 Greenpoint Ave., Long Island City 1, Pres Frank Sirola, sec-treas John Cervenka. Fishing rods, mountings, (3599) machine parts. Emp. M-11 F-3, T-14." The 1958 Industrial Directory of New York State page 728: "Uno Tool Co., Inc., 32-02 Greenpoint Ave., Long Island City 1, Pres John Cervenka, sec John L. Cook. Fishing rods, mountings, (3599) machine parts. Emp. M-11 F-3, T-14." The 1962 New York Telephone Directory lists "Uno Tool Co Inc", according to a 2018 state government document, Environmental Data Resources, Inc.’s (EDR) City Directory Abstract.
• Ca. 1954 brochure, Aloris "Quick Change" Tool Post & Tool Holders for All Lathe Operations.
• 1954 Hitchcock's Machine and Tool Blue Book page 234. "Aloris Tool Co., Inc. / Flushing, N. Y. / Booth No. 1916 / Personnel: Frank Sirola, James Ford, Stuart S. Collins. / New Products: Aloris quick change tool post and holders for engine and turret lathes. Tool post is a tested and proven tools that fits all engine and turret lathes. It is sturdily constructed and easy to operate. All working surfaces are hardened and precision ground."
• In the 1950s and '60s there was a boxing referee named Frank Sirola. For example, from the Ottawa, Ontario Le Droit newspaper for 1962-09-26 page 26, in an article on the Liston-Patterson heavyweight title fight, (translated from French) "Patterson fell to his side, then slowly turned around. He tried to get up off the floor as referee Frank Sirola reached the count of six..." The referee is visible in a photograph and his apparent age is consistent with that of the Frank Sirola who founded Aloris but there was another Frank Sirola of about the same age who lived in Michigan and we suspect this referee was the Michigan Frank Sirola.
• 1985 George D. Hall's New Jersey Manufacturers Directory, page 41, lists "Aloris Tool Co. / Mail add: P O Box 1529 Clifton NJ 07015 / 407 Getty Ave P-O Box 1529, Clifton NJ 07011...Gross Sales - Between 1 and 10 Million / Pres Frank Sirola / Treas Andrew Safner / Product—Quick Change Tool Holders, Boring Bars, Cut off Tools; Lathe Accessories".
• A 1985 Trademark filing by this firm on the "Aloris" name for tool posts and holders claims a first use on 1944-10-27.
• Genealogy websites show Frank Sirola was born 1909-12-01 in Kastar, Yugoslavia and died 1993-01-13 in Verona, Essex County, NJ. His father was Frank Sirola and his mother's name is unknown. It is possible, though not very likely, that there was another person of the same name in the same part of the country as the Frank Sirola who founded Aloris. There was a Frank Sirola born 1907-02-07 in Michigan, died June 1984.