The worldwide consolidation of metalworking fluid suppliers continues, as reported in Aerospace Manufacturing and Design. Wallover Oil Company, of Strongsville, Ohio, has acquired Commonwealth Oil of Harrow, Ontario, Canada. According to the company website, Wallover Oil was chartered in 1863, making it one of the oldest independent manufacturers of lubricants in the United States today . The company has three state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and nationwide distribution capability. Commonwealth Oil was founded in 1978, but was an attractive target due to the significant growth of the company in select metalworking fluid markets, the quality of its facility, and the Canadian presence that it provides. As of this report, the website for Commonwealth Oil was no longer functioning, and there is no independent announcement found on the Wallover website. That's enough for us to delete Commonwealth Oil from our Directories. The plan is for Wallover to keep all of the Commonwealth Oil employees. We certainly hope that happens.

Sidebar: The 2001 NIOSH report states that Metalworking fluids were first blended around 1900 [citing Newhouse 1982]. However, Jerry Byers' book reports that the use of metalworking fluids was significantly earlier, citing the 1868 publication A Treatise on Lathes and Turning, by Northcottt. Also, that the introduction of sulferized cutting oil dates to 1882. We know Houghton was formed about 1865, so they are predated by Wallover by at couple of years. Does anyone know who the true elder's of this industry are?