Almost 80 years ago, three engineers in a small town in Germany were experiencing extreme frustration. No one in Germany or beyond produced a hand drill that met their high standards of quality and reliability. So they started a company, called it "Metabo' (short for metal boring), and produced their own.
Their first workshop--now a modern factory complex-- was in Nurtingen, a small town near Stuttgart, Germany. Soon, Metabo was pioneering the new technology of electric drills, and produced thier first--the famous '750'-- in 1934. This was a 5.5lb tool which built a reputation for extreme reliability.
By 1936, Metabo had produced their first geared chuck (they're still the only major power tool company who design and build their own chucks) with a bench grinder following a year later.
Twenty years on, the company invented the world's very first hammer drill, along with a chuck that would reliably endure the furious beating delivered by the tool. The patented S-automatic safety chuck (which has saved hundreds of thousands of fingers and wrists, plus millions of bits and material) followed in 1966, and is now routinely fitted to most Metabo tools.
Over the next three decades, a series of patents and inventions established Metabo as technical innovators, as well as uncompromising sticklers for quality. These included the first thousand watt hammer drill, the first cordless jig saw with orbital action, the first armature protection grid and the first (and only) microchip controlled 10 minute cordless battery charger.
In 1990, the 'Quick' no-tool wheel change system for small grinders was introduced, followed by the world's first tools with the 'Impuls' feature. In 1998, hammer drills and rotary hammers were introduced with unique 'Contact' technology, shutting the tool down instantly should the bit strike grounded or electrically live material.
With computer aided design, more and more electronic sophistication and a research and development department which constantly creates new ideas, Metabo has an enviable reputation as an innovator. But an obsession with quality - the motivation for the company's very first product - is still paramount. AS one of Metabo's founder, Walter Rauch, was fond of saying "It's a lot cheaper to build it right in the first place."
