The Fafnir Bearing Company was a major American manufacturer of
ball bearings.
History
The company was founded in
New Britain, Connecticut
New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately southwest of Hartford. According to 2020 Census, the population of the city is 74,135.
Among the southernmost of the communities encompassed wit ...
on March 8, 1911, by Howard Stanley Hart. Fafnir was acquired by
Textron in 1968. In 1988, Textron's Fafnir Bearing division was acquired by the
Torrington Company
The Torrington Company was a firm that developed in Torrington, Connecticut, emerging as a rename from the Excelsior Needle Company. It used a "cold swaging" technique to create sewing machine needles and other needles from cold metal, and was th ...
, which in turn sold it in 1998 to the
Timken Company
The Timken Company is a global manufacturer of bearings and power transmission products. Timken operates from 42 countries.
Company history
In 1898, Henry Timken obtained a patent for an improved tapered roller bearing, and in 1899 incorporat ...
, which still markets ball bearings under the Fafnir brand.
During the Second World War, the 7,000 workers at Fafnir's 600,000 square foot factory in the center of New Britain turned out 100 ball bearings per minute. By 1946, Fafnir was the largest independent manufacturer of ball bearings in the United States, with exports to Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the South Pacific. Equipment manufactured at the Fafnir factory in New Britain traveled to the Moon on
Apollo 11.
References
External links
{{cite web
, url = https://nbindustrial.org/fafnir-bearing
, title = Fafnir Bearing Co.
, location = New Britain Industrial Museum
, access-date = 2023-04-17
New Britain, Connecticut
Rolling-element bearings
Companies based in Hartford County, Connecticut
Manufacturing companies based in Connecticut
1911 establishments in Connecticut
American companies established in 1911