In 1930 the ARO Equipment Corp. was established to manufacture farming equipment plus lubrication equipment for automotive service. By the 1950s they began manufacturing a line of handheld power tools, including belt sanders. We are, as yet, uncertain for how long they made handheld power tools. By 1960 the name had changed to ARO Corp. In 1990 the business was acquired by Ingersoll-Rand Co.

Information Sources

• A May 1965 report, Environmental Health Series: Water supply and pollution control, Issue 22, by United States. Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control, describes an experiment performed in Bryan, Ohio, to see how chromium from plating spread through the sewer system to the water treatment plant. "The industries in Bryan, Ohio, discharging metallic wastes into the municipal sewers include the ARO Corporation and a small-scale job plater. The ARO Corporation designs and manufactures pneumatic tools, industrial pumping units, lubricating equipment, and aircraft products and has a metal-plating department that plates the various components..."
• A 1977 issue of Furniture Manufacturing Management lists ARO Corp. as a supplier of multi-spindle drilling machines, air guns, glue brushes, and portable pneumatic sanders (and probably other products as well, which we cannot see through Google Books).
• A 2010 press release on the Ingersoll-Rand website provided the date of founding, the original name, and the year of the Ingersoll-Rand acquisition.