Greenlee is an American industrial and electrical tool company headquartered in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

. It was founded in 1862 by

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brothers Robert L. and Ralph S. Greenlee to manufacture their invention called a hollow chisel mortiser, consisting of a

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a drill bit for making holes, or a screwdriver bit for securing fasteners. Historically, they were powered by hand, and later mains power, but cordless b ...

surrounded by four

chisel A chisel is a hand tool with a characteristic Wedge, wedge-shaped cutting edge on the end of its blade. A chisel is useful for carving or cutting a hard material such as woodworking, wood, lapidary, stone, or metalworking, metal. Using a chi ...

blades used in making mortises (the hole) for

mortise and tenon A mortise and tenon (occasionally mortice and tenon) is a Woodworking joints, joint that connects two pieces of wood or other material. Woodworking, Woodworkers around the world have used it for thousands of years to join pieces of wood, mainly ...

joints, for the furniture industry in Rockford. While no longer produced by Greenlee, hollow chisel mortisers are still used in

cabinetmaking A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a Bathroom cabinet, medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically mad ...

today from a variety of other manufacturer. The brothers later diversified into a variety of hand

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

tools as well as machinery for making wooden barrels. The company was acquired by

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

-based Ex-Cell-O Corporation in 1969. Industrial conglomerate

Textron Textron Inc. is an American industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Kautex, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft and Cessna b ...

acquired Greenlee as part of its acquisition of Ex-Cell-O and its subsidiaries in 1986. Greenlee purchased Fairmont Hydraulics in 1992 and German tool manufacturer Klauke in 1996. Greenlee expanded into data/telecommunications equipment with the acquisition of several companies in 1999 and 2000 which now fall under the Greenlee Communications brand. Greenlee expanded its DIY offering with the addition of Paladin Tools on December 17, 2007. In 2008, Greenlee acquired Utilux. In 2013, Sherman + Reilly, and HD Electric joined the Greenlee family of Utility brands. The Greenlee brothers were inspired into industrial work by their father who was a cooper. Their contributions to the railroad industry included an automatic tie and track laying and drilling machine that rolled right along behind on the track it had just laid. On April 18, 2018,

announced that it planned to sell its Greenlee brand to Emerson within 90 days. Greenlee is listed as a subsidiary and/or affiliate of Emerson Electric Co. as of September 30, 2019.

Products

greenlee.com *Cable Pulling & Fishing - cable pullers, wire fishing *Knockouts - Knockout sets, punches, dies, drivers *Power Tool Accessories - step bits, auger bits, drill & taps *Bending - electric conduit benders, hydraulic benders & pumps, mechanical benders *Wire and cable termination - Cable crimpers & cutters *Testing and measurement - Low & high voltage test and measurement tools *Storage and material handling - storage boxes, wire carts, stands *Utility hydraulic tools - pumps, breakers, impact wrenches *General purpose & Safety Tools - professional hand tool kits, manual bolt cutters, insulated hand tools

References

External links

*
Official Klauke website
Electrical tool manufacturers Tool manufacturing companies of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Illinois Companies based in Rockford, Illinois Manufacturing companies established in 1862 1862 establishments in Illinois 1986 mergers and acquisitions 2018 mergers and acquisitions Textron {{manufacturing-company-stub