About Us

Stahl Specialty Company first opened its doors just after the end of World War II. Like most new businesses starting out after the war, the company began in one simple, rented room. Glenn Stahl was not only the owner, but the only employee. In fact, 1946 – the company’s first year of business – had a total payroll of just $45.86.

In the early ‘50s, Stahl was contacted about casting a mower deck for a new rotary lawn mover just developed. Unaware that the industry considered a casting of this size to be too big for the permanent mold process, Stahl simply built the mold and started pouring castings. The aluminum lawn mower deck quickly became one of the first high-volume products for the company.

In addition to the rotary lawn mower deck, another of Stahl’s first high-volume jobs was the gas outdoor barbecue grill housing. This product, which was developed in the mid ‘60s, is still in production today.

Stahl also had something totally unheard of at the time: Its own tool room. This enabled Stahl to not only build its own molds, but to make changes to these molds the same day – and better meet its customers’ needs in the process.

Stahl quickly discovered the enormity of the market for high-quality aluminum castings. Through the ‘70s and beyond, the company produced everything from simple, lightweight handles for construction tools, bases for computer terminals, and arrows for weather vanes to huge housing and cooling tower fan blade hubs weighing several hundred pounds.

Also in the ‘70s, the company opened an additional foundry in Warrensburg, Missouri. This foundry was set up to produce high-volume parts on a “rotary casting machine”. This unique machine was interfaced to a robot which automatically ladled molten aluminum, enabling a single operator to control up to eight casting stations.

In the ‘80s, Stahl Specialty Company was a pioneer in utilizing the “cell manufacturing” concept. The utmost in efficiency, castings are completely manufactured, processed, and placed on the shipping rack, all within a few feet of where the aluminum started as a bar of ingot.

Although the production machining department was initiated many years before, in the ‘90s the customer demands a completed product. Sophisticated part geometry is insured through the use of high speed CNC machining centers. Additionally, Stahl supplies the customer with sub-assembled castings ready for the assembly line.