Sunnen Products Company

Sunnen Products Company makes machines and tools for precision metal finishing. Its main lines are honing, lapping, skiving and roller burnishing, and deep hole drilling. The company says it serves industries from aerospace to energy to engines.

The company reached 100 years in 2024. Its story starts in 1923, when Joe Sunnen was 22 and patented a valve lifter tool. He had designed it while working in his brother's auto garage. He moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1924. Short of funds, he turned an old car into a camper and sold the tool on the road to garages and job shops.

The tool sold well, so Joe Sunnen designed more. In 1928 he designed the first manual cylinder hone. A hone is a tool that smooths and sizes the inside of a hole. Today the company still makes honing machines, tools and abrasives. It names the SV-3000 vertical honing machine and the SVL-2115 vertical lapping machine on its home page.

Sunnen says it combines bore creation, sizing and finishing in one turnkey solution. A bore is a round hole cut into a part. The company sells through a distribution network. It says it has facilities in 15 countries across the world.

Sunnen has a global service team. The team works with customers to improve their operations, build custom solutions and give hands on training. The company also describes a research and development effort. It builds custom machines and writes its own software.

A customer quote on the home page comes from Daniel Defense. It credits Sunnen technology for bore consistency and surface finish. The company also announced a strategic alliance with TIBO Tiefbohrtechnik to expand deep hole machining solutions.

The Sunnen website has product pages, a list of locations and distributors, and an online store for in stock items. It also has a newsletter sign up and a contact form. Visitors can read an anniversary timeline that covers the company history.