Tweco/Arcair, A Thermadyne Company
In 1936, the Townsend Welding Equipment Company was born in the basement of Ray Townsend's Wichita home. Townsend was driven by the idea that improved ground connections would result in improved quality welds. That same year, Ray Townsend began selling his now-famous "Red-head" ground clamp. In 1937, the company name was shortened to "Tweco" and a national advertising campaign was launched. In 1938, Ray Townsend added electrode holders to his product line and he moved the company out of his basement to a store front. Within a year, continued growth led the Townsends to purchase land and build the first Tweco factory, which was occupied in 1940. World War II created a huge demand for arc welding for armament, tanks and ships, and for Tweco products. The product line was expanded to include new metal arc holders and a new line of carbon arc holders. Cable connectors with a "quick-connect" type feature were introduced. During the 1940's, Tweco adopted the slogan "If it goes on the end of a welding cable, Tweco makes it." Business continued to boom, and in 1950, Tweco moved into a new plant. During the early 1960's, Tweco began to study the GMAW market in an effort to produce a significantly better Mig gun. Finally, in 1968, Tweco developed the first Mig gun that it felt matched the quality of the Tweco product line. The new gun was introduced to the world at the 1969 AWS Welding Show. Spurred by the success of the new gun and the introduction of the highly popular, patented coaxial Cablehoz, Tweco emerged as an industry leader. Growth once again necessitated a move, this time to the company's current Wichita, KS manufacturing facility, covering 188,000 square feet on 21 acres.
Tweco Products was acquired by Pacific Lumber Company (Palco) in 1981. The company was then acquired by Thermadyne in 1987. Tweco has now produced more than two million Mig guns and is the industry leader in the production of Mig guns and cable, manual arc welding electrode holders, and accessories. Tweco also markets the widely recognized Arcair line of air-carbon arc products. Arcair, originally part of the Stoody Deloro Stellite wear resistance group, has now been fully integrated into Tweco's Wichita-based manufacturing operations. The Arcair line includes the unique Slice exothermic cutting systems widely used by the military and fire and rescue personnel.
Today, Tweco is a division of St. Louis-based Thermadyne Industries Inc., the world's largest supplier of welding and cutting products. The Tweco line includes an extensive array of products from the basic manual welding tools and accessories to Mig guns, Tig torches, consumables, and a complete selection of products for precision robotic welding applications. Tweco/Arcair is an ISO 9001 registered company.