How a Legendary American Lathe Builder Lost the Digital Revolution

In 1887, a machinist named Richard K. LeBlond founded a small machine shop in Cincinnati, Ohio, then known as the Machine Tool Capital of the World. His company's machines would go on to manufacture crankshafts for the automotive industry, machine artillery shell casings during both World Wars, and equip U.S. Navy warships across the Pacific. The company became best known for the legendary LeBlond Regal lathe. Then, almost unnoticed, the name disappeared. This is the complete story of the R.K. LeBlond Machine Tool Company — from a one-man shop in Cincinnati to one of the most important names in American manufacturing history, and the slow, structural decline that ultimately brought it to an end. ---- Sources consulted and referenced in our research: Wikipedia — R. K. LeBlond Machine Tool Company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._K._L... LeBlond Ltd. (official company history): https://leblondusa.com/about-our-mach... VintageMachinery.org — R. K. Le Blond Machine Co. History: http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/... Library of Congress / Historic American Engineering Record (HAER OH-71) — R. K. LeBlond Machine Tool Company, Norwood, OH: https://www.loc.gov/item/oh1610/ HAER OH-71 Written Historical Data (PDF, National Park Service): https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services... Summit Machine Tool — American-Made Lathes (LeBlond overview): https://summitmt.com/american-made-la... Cincinnati Lamb Inc. / Encyclopedia.com (Cincinnati as machine tool capital): https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/po... Today's Machining World — Cincinnati machine tool industry decline: https://todaysmachiningworld.com/maga... Wikipedia — LeBlond Aircraft Engine Corporation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeBlond... ---- Music License: Industrial Revolution by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-... Artist: http://incompetech.com/ ---- Copyright © 2026 The Gear Archive. All rights reserved.