The story
Kennametal was founded in 1938 by Philip M. McKenna in the Latrobe, Pennsylvania area. 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.
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.
In July 1940, Kennametal of Canada Ltd. was organized for the purpose of "manufacturing Kennametal, the new steel cutting carbide, for Canada and British dominions."
In November 1940, United States Steel Export Company reached an agreement to sell Kennametal tools, tool blanks, drawing dies and other Kennametal products in foreign markets.
During World War II, more than 50% of the artillery shells produced in the United States were machined with the Kennametal product. During this period the company developed a new type of anti-tank projectile made of tungsten with a hard carbide core.
The company has expanded through acquisitions, including the purchase of Widia Group (2002, 188 million Euros) Extrude Hone Corp. (2005, $137 million) and Allegheny Technologies' tungsten materials unit (2013, $605 million).
From Wikipedia’s article on Kennametal, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7