IDEAL is headquartered in a low-rise office building next to one…
IDEAL is headquartered in a low-rise office building next to one of the company’s plants in Sycamore, Illinois. There was nothing that special about the building so I did not even think to photograph it. Or maybe it was special and I didn’t notice because I was wondering about the blue dog statue in front of the company sign. It turns out the husky is the mascot of the local college, Northern Illinois University, and IDEAL is involved with the community—having been in Sycamore since 1924.
David Frane
One room in the plant is essentially a commercial bakery. But it…
One room in the plant is essentially a commercial bakery. But it doesn’t make bread or anything edible; it makes commutator dresser stones, abrasive blocks used to resurface the commutators of electric motors. The ingredients are mixed a commercial mixer and baked in forms as if they were bread. Commutator dresser stones were IDEAL’s first product, developed by its founder, Walter Becker, in his mother’s kitchen in 1916. The company now produces a broad array of tools and supplies, but still makes dresser stones.
David Frane
If you’ve done any electrical or electronics work then you’r…
If you’ve done any electrical or electronics work then you’re probably familiar with IDEAL’s Stripmaster wire strippers. They are just one of many hand tools (most oriented towards electrical and Datacom work) produced in the factory.
David Frane
The more complex parts of the Stripmaster are made by die-castin…
The more complex parts of the Stripmaster are made by die-casting zinc, a quick method of production that requires little in the way of machining. This zinc alloy will be melted in an 800-degree vat (
video here) with heating elements akin to those in an electric water heater and then injected into a mold.
David Frane
Die-cast parts come out of the mold with excess material attache…
Die-cast parts come out of the mold with excess material attached. Here you can see the handles and jaw assemblies for two Stripmaster wire strippers. This piece will be run through a trim press to remove the excess material (
video here). The parts will land in their respective parts bins and the waste will be sent back to the vat to be melted and re-used. The alloy melts at approximately 800 degrees; they never turn the heating elements off because it takes forever to re-melt a giant block of zinc.
David Frane
These die-cast handles are for Stripmaster wire-strippers.
David Frane
This progressive die metal stamping press is punching out steel …
This progressive die metal stamping press is punching out steel pieces for use in various tools—including wire strippers.
Click here to see it in action.
David Frane
Steel parts—fresh from the stamping press in the previous phot…
Steel parts—fresh from the stamping press in the previous photo.
David Frane
The machine operators in the plant could use any brand of tools …
The machine operators in the plant could use any brand of tools to keep the equipment running; they use SK tools because IDEAL owns that company.
The SK factory is located only a mile or two away from where this photo was taken.
David Frane
This worker is assembling 3/4-inch conduit benders; the wheels o…
This worker is assembling 3/4-inch conduit benders; the wheels on the assembly device spin the handle so it threads into the head.
David Frane
This fellow is assembling steel fish tapes. The steel arrives at…
This fellow is assembling steel fish tapes. The steel arrives at this station pre-coiled—having been coiled by the machine to the left.
David Frane
IDEAL claims to manufacturer 70% of the screwdrivers sold in the…
IDEAL claims to manufacturer 70% of the screwdrivers sold in the U.S. Some are produced in Sycamore; others come from Western Forge, a subsidiary with a plant in Colorado. Pratt-Read, a Connecticut company that began making screwdrivers in1830 went bankrupt in 2009 and was purchased by IDEAL. IDEAL closed the acquired company’s plants but continues to produce under the Pratt-Read label. It also private labels screwdrivers. I agreed not to disclose the names of the brands I saw being made. Let me put it this way, if a screwdriver bears the house brand of a hardware chain or big box store, and the label says Made in the USA, then there’s a reasonably good chance it came from IDEAL.
David Frane
This CNC lathe is making screwdriver blades from steel bar stock…
This CNC lathe is making screwdriver blades from steel bar stock. The stock feeds in from the right; the lathe is machine with the number “4” on it.
David Frane
These Phillips blades have just been machined in a CNC lathe. Th…
These Phillips blades have just been machined in a CNC lathe. They came down the chute at the top of the photo and landed in a kitchen colander—which allows the oil used in the machining process to drain off the pieces.
David Frane
This gal is assembling screwdrivers by using a press to push bla…
This gal is assembling screwdrivers by using a press to push blades into handles.
Click here for video.
David Frane
IDEAL has multiple plants in the area. This is a parts and suppl…
IDEAL has multiple plants in the area. This is a parts and supply storage area in one of them.
David Frane
The maintenance area is indicative of how well-organized things …
The maintenance area is indicative of how well-organized things are at any successful factory. Losing or misplacing tools costs time and money and will put you out of business. Whenever I come back from a factory visit I feel like cleaning and reorganizing my shop.
David Frane
If you’re an electrician you are no doubt familiar with Yellow…
If you’re an electrician you are no doubt familiar with Yellow 77, a popular type of wire pulling lubricant made by IDEAL. I was surprised to see it being made in the same plant where they make tools. But then IDEAL does not synthesize the chemicals; they buy the ingredients from various suppliers and then mix them in their own equipment.
Click here to see tubs being filled.
David Frane
This is the area where wire lubricant is mixed and packaged.
Cl…
This is the area where wire lubricant is mixed and packaged.
Click here to see video of the bottling line.
David Frane
Wire strippers machined, assembled, and ready for handles.
Clic…
Wire strippers machined, assembled, and ready for handles.
Click here to see video of over-molded grips being applied.
David Frane
This is the warehouse area of one of the plants. For more on how…
This is the warehouse area of one of the plants. For more on how the tools and materials you use are made see:
A Trip to Klein's Tool Factories in Texas,
A Trip to the Sawmill, and
A Trip to the Hand Saw, Plane, and Chisel Factory.
Last summer, during a trip to the Midwest, I arranged to spend a day visiting IDEAL Industries’ tool factories in Sycamore Illinois. The day began with a tour of the plant where their subsidiary, SK Tools, makes sockets and mechanics tools. Next I saw the facilities where the company makes wire nuts and other connectors—more on those in an upcoming story. Finally, I visited the plant where IDEAL makes hand tools, wire lubricant, and an unusual type of abrasive used to maintain and repair electric motors.
Click the slideshow on the left to see what I saw during my tour of the factory. Be sure to check out the captions; they explain what’s going on and contain links to videos that show things that couldn’t be captured in photos.
It would be impossible to list every product made or sold by IDEAL. There are more than 6,000 of them, most aimed at electricians and people who do network or DataComm wiring. IDEAL makes hand tools such as screwdrivers, pliers, wire strippers, cable cutters, crimpers, and tool bags. Some of this product (screwdrivers in particular) is OEMed for other brands and manufacturers. The company makes fish tapes, conduit benders, and offers test equipment such as multimeters, clamp meters, and circuit tracers. And IDEAL produces supplies—the best known being wire nuts and other connectors, and Yellow 77 wire pulling lubricant.
Like its competitor, Klein Tools, IDEAL is a family-owned company. The top managers are hired professionals but several descendants of the company’s founder sit on the board of directors. The company was founded by J. Walter Becker, who in 1916 developed an abrasive block known as the commutator dresser stone. Electric motors were the hot new thing and they needed to be maintained; dresser stones were used to smooth commutators which had become scored due to arcing or the friction from brushes riding against them. The company still makes commutator dresser stones because the large electric motors used to power elevators, escalators, subway cars, and the like are worth taking care of.
In 1924 the IDEAL left Chicago for Sycamore, Illinois and in the 1930s began to produce what has come to be known as the wire nut. Since that time the company has developed thousands of products and acquired companies in related industries, tool makers such as SK, Pratt-Reid, and Western Forge, and test-equipment manufacturers such as Casella, Trend Communications, and Wavetek. IDEAL Industries has facilities in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
