Cincinnati Incorporated has continuously manufactured metal fabrication machinery from Ohio since 1898 — through two world wars, the post-war industrial expansion, the CNC revolution of the 1980s, and the fiber laser transition of the 2010s. Over 68,000 Cincinnati machines are in active service today.
Founded in Cincinnati, Ohio as the Cincinnati Shaper Company — producing metal-cutting shapers for an expanding American industrial base. The first generation of machines is sold to local Ohio machinists and gun barrel producers.
Cincinnati builds its first large hydraulic press for U.S. Navy projectile forging during World War I. The monumental press program establishes Cincinnati's credential as a builder of heavy-capacity American machinery.
After World War II, Cincinnati introduces its first modern hydraulic press brake for the post-war industrial boom — automotive body panels, appliance housings, and building construction plate. The press brake becomes a signature Cincinnati product line.
Cincinnati introduces its hydraulic plate shear line — 6 to 20-foot blade lengths, 1/4 to 1-inch mild steel capacity. Steel service centers across the Midwest adopt Cincinnati shears as the industry standard. Many of these 1970s-era shears are still in service today.
Cincinnati launches the Autoform CNC hydraulic press brake, introducing CNC back-gauges, CNC crowning, and angle measurement. The Autoform line redefines American bend-quality expectations and becomes the reference platform for agricultural and heavy-equipment OEMs.
Cincinnati consolidates manufacturing at a purpose-built campus in Harrison, Ohio — 25 miles west of Cincinnati, on the Indiana border. The Harrison facility houses fabrication, assembly, test, applications lab, and the parts/service operation under one roof.
Cincinnati launches the CL series fiber laser cutting system — 2 kW to 8 kW, designed and assembled at Harrison. The CL series proves Cincinnati's ability to carry its American engineering discipline from press brake and shear into the fiber laser cutting category.
The CLX 12 kW and 15 kW fiber laser cutting series extends Cincinnati's fiber laser range into heavy-plate territory — 1-inch mild steel in a single pass, 6 by 20 foot beds, direct-drive linear motors on cast iron beds. CLX positions Cincinnati to serve heavy equipment and structural steel sectors.
Every Cincinnati machine is designed, fabricated, assembled, and commissioned at Harrison, Ohio. No off-shore sub-assembly, no split supply chain across time zones — the engineers who design the machines walk past the assembly floor every morning.
Cincinnati press brake rams, shear frames, and laser bed castings are deliberately over-specified against peak working loads. The result: machines that don't drift, don't sag, and don't lose angle accuracy over a 30-40-year working life.
Cincinnati Field Service maintains parts documentation, electrical schematics, and hydraulic drawings for machines going back to the 1960s. A 1972 Cincinnati shear owner can still buy genuine parts and retrofit packages from Harrison today.
Cincinnati has been a member of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) continuously since 1902 — a 123-year record of commitment to North American machine-tool standards, safety frameworks, and trade development.
We welcome customer visits to Harrison for application reviews, sample cuts on your material, and engineering deep-dives on press brake, shear, fiber laser, or powder metal compacting projects.