History of Crucible Steel

The Crucible Materials Corporation’s roots were established in 1876 when the Sanderson brothers of Sheffield, England founded a steel manufacturing facility in Syracuse, New York. The Sanderson facility was one of the thirteen plants that formed the Crucible Steel Company.

Crucible, has since then, made its mark as a great technological innovator, when in 1883, it became the first steel mill in North America to use gas fired furnaces for the production of tool steel. Crucible continued to advance its manufacturing capabilities and in 1906 it became the first steel mill that installed an electric arc furnace. In 1907, Crucible created the first patented vanadium high speed steel. Crucible continued to invent and patent materials for the next one hundred years, including its commercial production of vacuum arc remelted steels; the creation of free-machining stainless steels; becoming the first company to develop P/M high-speed tool steels; and, patenting the proprietary process for making steel (The Proprietary CPM Process) that allows the final product to be of a much higher purity.

Because Crucible had become a leader in the development of innovative products, Crucible Research was founded in 1929 and became the primary center for research within the company. Crucible continued to research and develop new materials, including the world’s first commercial powder metal tool steel and development of a titanium atomizer.

In 1985, after a buyout from Colt Industries that was initiated by its employees, the Crucible Materials Corporation was founded. The Crucible Materials Corporation became an independent entity with a new focus, the production of high grade specialty steel. On May 6 2009, the Crucible Materials Corporation filed for Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code because of the resulting drop in demand for Crucible’s products, especially with regard to the automotive industry.

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