Andrew Labowsky Sr.

In 1951, Andrew Labowsky, Sr. founded International Abrasives, Inc. in Paterson, New Jersey to manufacture conventional grinding wheels for the steel foundry industry for the northeast To accommodate the demands of a technologically advancing postwar market -- one that saw the advent of tungsten carbide over steel in the cutting tool industry -- Labowsky, a chemical engineer and former Director of Research and Development at the Allison Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, saw this trend in the industry and had the ability to adapt existing grinding wheel manufacturing equipment.He used this to expand his company into the manufacture of industrial diamond abrasives within its first year of business.; The company's extension into the nascent diamond abrasives industry led to the formation of Diamond Productions in September, 1952.