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Home Machine Tool Hall of Fame Rudolph Bannow (1897-1962)




Rudolph Bannow (1897-1962)
Bannow was born in Sweden and came to the US at 13, learned the patternmaker's trade, and later became a foreman at the Bridgeport (Conn.) Pattern and Model Works. He bought the company in 1927 and took in Magnus Wahlstrom as a partner two years later. The partnership soon produced a high-speed milling attachment, followed by a version with a quill. In 1936, while delivering a pattern, Bannow got the idea for a machine built around the head the firm was producing. He sketched the Bridgeport turret milling machine on a paper bag while sitting in his truck. The first Bridgeport mill was shipped in 1938, and more than a quarter million have been built. This versatile machine became the foundation of the "tool and die" business of thousands of small job shops.

Elected 1992

Machine Tool

Hall of Fame

William Davenport (1861-1937)
William Davenport (1861-1937)
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