National Automatic Tool Co. (NATCO) began in Dayton, OH, and moved to Richmond, IN, in early 1910. In September, 1925, NATCO took over the drill press line of Minster Machine Co., the line consisting of "Hi-Duty" drilling machines capable of drilling 3" holes into steel.
By 1991, NATCO merged with the Carlton Machine Tool Co. to form NATCO/Carlton, which provides parts and remanufacturing of NATCO and Carlton drilling machines. At some point they part of Lucas Precision.
Natco serial numbers
Our machine serial numbers are built as follows:
the number and suffix represent the model number of the machine and the prefix represents the changes in the original model.
Example: Serial number C2B-1000, the 2B represents the machine model number; the "C" represents the changes from the original model, and the 1000 designates the particular machine of this particular model.
Information Sources
- The history page of the Minster Machine Co. website provided much of the information here.
- Thanks to Sergei R. Huffman of NATCO/Carlton for telling us about NATCO and Minster, and providing the serial-number information.
- The original NATCO logo (oval-shaped "NATCO" but no outline) was registered in 1912, with first use of 1911-08-15; on 1952-12-17 the mark was renewed by National Automatic Tool Company, Inc. The NATCO logo with outline was trademark registered in 1956. The NATCO/Carlton logo was registered in 1992.
- Palladium Item, July 27, 1909, Pg. 3.