History

William Henry Sutton, a British Immigrant, opened a tool room at Thompson’s Foundry at Castlemaine. He was recognised as one of the leading tool engineers in England before his departure to Australia.

The P&N brand was founded, providing cutting tools for the professional and serious DIYer in Australia.

Sutton Tool & Gauge commenced the
manufacture of Thread Tooling, expanding it’s product portfolio.

Both sons of W. Henry, Henry George Sutton and Leslie Sutton became managing directors of the business whilst William Henry at age 77 continued to take an active interest.

William Henry Sutton, born 1863 – died 1950, a highly regarded tool and gauge engineer prior to the founding business owner of Sutton Tool & Gauge. William was a pioneer of the Australian Engineering Industry.

A team of engineers were sent across the globe to investigate the best method of producing the finest drill in the world. They came back with the “Ground-from-Solid” process. All endmills, slot drills and taps up to ½” diameter were produced by this method. Sutton Tools purchased and installed specialised equipment and was considered to have one of the most modern facilities in the world.

Sutton Tool & Gauge acquired an adjoining factory in Thomastown. The third generation Suttons, Bill and Jim, consolidated and extended Sutton Tools’ position in the market, through their absolute commitment to quality, innovation and persistence.

Sutton Tools established Surface Technology Coatings and for the first time could offer physical vapour deposition (PVD) coatings on their products. Previously any coated tools sold in Australia were imported.

Sutton Tools achieved quality accreditation ISO 9001. The structure of controls and checks throughout the manufacturing process ensures that we continually manufacture products that will exceed customer expectations.

Robert Sutton was appointed Sutton Tools first Export Manager. His vision leads to rapid expansion into the ‘high performance’ product category to compete in the global market.

Sutton Tools became the exclusive agent of the Lockjaw brand, industrial and trade quality clamps and pliers.

Sutton Tools becomes licensee of the Australian Made campaign, reaffirming our commitment to Australian Manufacturing.

Sutton Tools Europe was established with an office and warehouse based in the Netherlands.

The Victorian Government, in partnership with the Victorian Industry Manufacturing Council, inducted Bill and Jim Sutton into the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Honour Roll for their outstanding contributions to manufacturing excellence.

Sutton Tools increases its cutting tool portfolio to include carbide inserts from AMEC (Allied Machine & Engineering Corporation). AMEC is a leading manufacturer of replaceable-tip drilling systems.

In conjunction with our 100th year anniversary, we were awarded Manufacturer of the year at the 2017 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

Iconic Australian tool brand, Patience & Nicholson celebrates 100 years in Australia. A fantastic milestone.