History of the Royersford Foundry and Machine Co. Inc.
The company was founded on June 11, 1890 as the Royersford Machine Company. Foundry operations were added in 1896. The Company was then incorporated as the Royersford Foundry and Machine Co., Inc. on February 1, 1904.
The Company was formed to produce a product line of Power Transmission Products. These consisted of mainly Shaft Hangers, Split and Solid roller Bearings, Shaft Couplings, Shaft Collars, Flat Belt Iron Pulleys, Solid and Split Journal Bearings, etc. These were produced in many sizes and styles up to 6" diameter shafting.
In the early 1900's, a line of Machine Tools were added to our products. These included Drill Presses, Pedestal Grinders, Punch and Shear Machines (now known as Universal Iron Workers), Arbor Presses and Foundry Tumbling Mills. During World War II, the Company worked to capacity producing over 2000 Drill Presses which were installed on Navy ships. At the present time, only Arbor Presses remain in our product line from the original line of Machine Tools. In 1986 we added our Type E Mounted Bearing product line exclusively using Timken tapered roller bearings, and in 2012 we added our R2000 Mounted Bearing product line exclusively using SKF spherical roller bearings.
Other Significant Milestones:
- August 1951 – Large portion of the Foundry operations destroyed by fire – Back in operation in two months
- June 1972 – The Foundry and basement of the Machine Shop were completely flooded by Hurricane Agnes – Back in operations in one month
- March 1978 – The Foundry was completely destroyed by fire – Decision was made to not rebuild and to purchase casting requirements from local foundries
- August 1982 – All operations were moved to current location – 835 Township Line Rd, Phoenixville PA
- January 2001 – Purchased Bard Manufacturing Company, Pottstown PA – A company specializing in the manufacturing of custom machined parts for the Mining OEM and replacement parts market
