AL HUTCHINS THE FOUNDER:

Hutchins Mfg. Company exists because Al Hutchins was a man of conviction. A strong individual who knew things must be improved constantly because things change constantly. It’s almost coincidental that he was a mechanical genius.

Al Hutchins knew and loved tools. He knew metal and metal surfaces because he earned good money as a body-man in an era when how well your family ate depended on what kind of work you produced. And he envisioned changing "needs" as changes in automotive surfaces and finishes progressed - the need for new tools, new techniques… new methods referred to as "Advanced Technology".

Al spent his midnight hours creating new designs to improve old tools, and his daylight hours using his new ideas to make a living. These new ideas were offered to major tool manufacturers. "Too Advanced." They didn’t want anyone rocking the boat. So Al Hutchins, being a man of principle and vision, decided to do it himself… To build the best sanders possible, "from scratch".

Al sold his thriving body shop business, mortgaged his home, borrowed on his insurance, and began building. Sweat, heartaches, and half-soled shoes! Tough years for a tough-minded idealist, but Hutchins’ reputation for quality and exceptional performance gradually gained momentum all over the world.

Today, Al Hutchins’ visions and achievements in Advanced Technology for Surface Preparation are recognized standards worldwide. His first pneumatic sander the Model 800, (now known as the 3800) is still the most versatile sander ever built and even today is the largest selling "orbital air file". It also identifies the most imitated of all Al Hutchins’ original creations, the revolutionary "5-point Suspension System" for orbital sanders.

In 55 years, Al Hutchins' creations and innovations have proven so important to Surface Preparation techniques that all international competitive sanders incorporate at least one of his original benefits. Patent after patent, the parade is impressive - the 5-point Suspension System, Dust Free Sanders, the Vacuum Assist Program… on and on. All these fine achievements, the superb sanding equipment with health and safety advantages - it’s all happening because that "tough-minded idealist" was determined to "make it better" for the guy who makes a living with sanders.

One thing never changed; Al Hutchins was always a "nuts and bolts" man. Every Hutchins sander is put together the old-fashioned way: Working components precision-honed and machined, then hand-fitted with nuts, bolts, and screws to Al’s personal rigid specifications. No cheap production shortcuts are tolerated. Every single model represents Al Hutchins and the Hutchins Family. The equipment keeps getting better and better because Al passed on his ideals and passion to his two sons Alme & Don.

Al passed on his need for quality and a job well done to his son Alme Hutchins. He runs all the logistical portions of Hutchins. He passed his passion for inventing to his son Don Hutchins. Having worked side by side with his Dad from his teen years, he has been handed his father's torch. His bench is lined with tools and custom parts trying each tool and then taking it apart time after time to get it "just right". The designs and more advanced tools keep coming as Don strives to produce and create the same quality tools his father made.