History of Metal Finishing in Wisconsin

A local foundry here in Waukesha, Wisconsin saw a need for sanitary castings, (primarily Monel and Inconel) they set Lester Gascoigne up in the polishing business. With the advent of stainless steels, this was a natural extension of the business. In 1941, he purchased some land and moved the business out to its own property. Gascoigne Co. operated two plants for the next four decades. In the 1950’s the addition of the chemical side of the business began, where we began operating a pickling line, passivating line and a small electropolishing tank.

In 1974, Roy Cairns, a recent retiree from the foundry, was looking to stay active in the business community. He purchased the business from Lester Gascoigne and continued to service the stainless steel industries in Wisconsin.

In 1979, his son Allan Cairns came onboard and ran the business. In 1980, after putting an addition onto the West Ave. plant, the two locations merged into where we operate currently.

In 2000, Allan’s son A.J. came on board and has been running the business since Allan’s retirement. The business has continued to grow and expand to four different types of passivation lines. The electropolishing lines have also expanded to include all types of stainless steel and some types of aluminum. The mechanical polishing side of the business has branched out to not only sanitary casting, but decorative metal parts as well.