Kennametal, Inc. is a manufacturer of high-performance cutting tools and engineered components used in the aerospace, defense, transportation and oil and gas drilling industries. Its customer base is global.[2]
History
Kennametal was founded in 1938 by Philip M. McKenna in the Latrobe, Pennsylvania area.[3][4] The company evolved from Vanadium Alloys Steel Company (VASCO), founded in 1910 by the McKenna family with its headquarters in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. While research director of VASCO, metallurgist Philip McKenna developed and received a patent for a tungsten-titanium carbide composition. McKenna formed Kennametal, Inc. for the purpose of marketing this alloy.[5]
The company's original flagship product, known as "Kennametal", was introduced in the late 1930s. It was described as "much harder than the hardest tool steel," which enabled high-rate steel cutting not possible previously.