Studwell was originally founded by Fred Studwell, who was born in 1925 in Portchester, Massachusetts. Fred completed schooling and began a career as a bass player, playing with all of the big bands in the late forties and early fifties.  After the decline of the big band era Fred decided to migrate to California, where he started a tool and die maker apprenticeship in 1951 at Schroder Tool and Die. He completed the course in 1955 and worked there until 1958.

Fred began Studwell Tooling Company in 1958. It begun as a tool and die shop in a wood frame garage structure with a dirt floor. The machinery he owned consisted of a Logan lathe, a Bridgeport mill, and a hand operated 6” x 12” Sandford surface grinder. The industry was slow and the going was difficult. Gifted with natural mechanical ability, he began repairing small machines.  Business improved and by 1965 he was able to relocate to a larger building and hire two employees.

In 1968 Fred hired Jack Tobin. Jack arrived in California on April Fool’s Day in 1954 from Pennsylvania, where he had been an apprentice of Westinghouse Electric. Upon moving to the west coast, Jack worked as a re-builder with Marquardt Aircraft, and both Budweiser and Schlitz Brewery. Jack saw Studwell’s potential and encouraged immediate changes with company policy. He started a hiring and training program and the company prospered and grew to eight employees. In 1975 Fred and Jack became partners and incorporated, changing the name to Studwell, Inc. with Fred as president and Jack as vice-president. Jack bought Fred’s remaining stock in the company when Fred retired four years later.

During the 80’s the company expanded into aerospace and grew to 20 employees. By then the customer base included: Lockheed, Northrup, McDonald Douglas, TRW, NASA, and various fields including military bases, airlines and educational facilities. The ’91 recession forced Jack to reduce employees and facility size until the 1994 earthquake when the industry began to slowly improve.

In 1998 the company was sold to Greg Rockwood and Uptime Electronics, Inc. Greg became president and the name was changed to Studwell Engineering, Inc. With over 30 years experience in the machine industry, Greg was looking forward to running his own company.

Studwell continues to rebuild machines and has expanded services to include installation, plant layout and design and supervising machinery foundations in addition to selling machine shop supplies.  We do business in various industries including: aerospace and military, automotive, entertainment and musical instruments, sports, construction and forging, educational facilities, utilities, prisons and municipalities. Studwell’s future is bright and we look forward to continuing another fifty years helping American industries do what they do best.