A Special Message from Stace-Allen Chucks, Inc.

Company Profile

Stace-Allen chucks, a privately held corporation, was founded in 1946 by Mr. Joseph S. Allen for the purpose of manufacturing precision chucks: workholding devices primarily used on lathes at that time. He was assisted by Mr. Walter Stace, an engineer, in obtaining a patent on his invention, thus the name Stace-Allen Chuck, Inc. The original chuck was manually operated and had repeatability of .0002 inches tir which at that time was one of the best available. As the chuck became better known for its accuracy, the demand for automatic chucks increased, and a series of chucks with built-in air cylinders were invented. As manufacturing continues to create more demands on machine capabilities, such as speed, feed rate, and depth of cuts, the need for chucks with greater grip force and jaw travel became evident. Mr. Allen, Mr. Stace, and their chief engineer, James Shera invented a mechanical advantage and over 1/4 inch of draw travel. In addition, Mr. Allen and Mr. Larry Grimes, a Rose Hulman engineer who joined the firm in 1969, patented a chuck which has up to 1/2 inch of jaw travel, greater mechanical advantage, and is minimally affected by centrifugal force. During the past two decades the need for specialty workholding has increased tremendously. Stace-Allen has responded by designing and manufacturing the devices that meet the customers' demands. These include not only their patented chucks, but also special collet fixtures, clamps, swing arms, air sensing features, coolant through, and many more. Mr. James Timmons took on the responsibility of sales manager in the early 1980's after having been with the company since 1967 and experiencing every aspect of the manufacturing part of the business. His efforts and cordial relationships with customers, along with the known quality service provided by Stace-Allen, triggered another period of growth. The daughter of Mr. Allen, Marcia Grimes, assumed the position of president in 1992. She is involved in every aspect of the business on a daily basis. Tim Grimes, Mr. Allen's grandson, joined the company in 1988 and is being groomed to take the company into the next century. He is presently active in the design department, which uses state-of-the-art cad systems