Sunnen Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Sunnen Products Co. is celebrating its 100^th anniversary. In 1924, Joseph Sunnen saw the need for a tool to help repair cylinder heads without injuring his fingers, which drove him to develop a custom valve compressing tool for quicker and safer operation. Early success led Sunnen to develop and patent a manual cylinder hone for auto garages. This basic honing device has now evolved into a CNC machining process by his company, Sunnen Products Co. 

“As we celebrate our 100th anniversary, Joe Sunnen would be proud to see that his spirit of innovation lives on in our drive to develop products and techniques,” says Tom Dustman, Sunnen’s director of North American sales.

In 1928, Sunnen designed the first manual cylinder hone, establishing the company’s roots in precision bore solutions. Since then, Sunnen Products Co. has conceived, developed and delivered a continuing line-up of advanced honing systems, tools and abrasives. The company has also branched into lapping, deep-hole drilling and skiving/roller burnishing. 

The company’s latest generation of automated honing systems can be capable of controlling hole size with accuracy of ten millionths of an inch (0.000010"/0.25 µm), correct geometric errors in the bore and produce a specific surface finish to enhance lubrication and sealing properties. The results are said to produce gearboxes and transmissions that run quieter, smoother and longer; hydraulic systems that are more precise, responsive, efficient and leak resistant; chainsaws and weed trimmers that deliver higher power densities with lower emissions; and firearms that are more accurate and easier to clean. Sunnen controls all R&D, manufacturing, service and support of its products, including specialized abrasives and tooling. This dedication enables the development of end-to-end processing systems that are custom designed and single-sourced for customers’ required quality and production levels.  

In addition to its U.S. headquarters, Sunnen has operations in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, the U.K., China, India, Brazil, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Mexico and Canada. It also has a worldwide network of over 30 authorized distributors.