Benjamin F. Barnes of Rockford, Illinois had no idea when he started Barnes Drill in 1907 that 110 years later it would grow into the internationally respected leader of customized engineered filtration equipment.

The company started off as a drill and tapping company that serviced the automotive industry with a variety of equipment. In the late 1950s, Barnes was the first machine tool builder to apply numerical controls to metalworking drills and boring machines. With automotive finishing requirements becoming more exact for engine cylinder bores, Barnes developed an abrasive process of honing for machining all types of bores to very precise tolerance and surface finish. This innovation led the company to abandon the drills and push forth, and then in the 1980s under the Gollob family ownership, Barnes became involved in super abrasive honing with an alliance of a West German company. These honing innovations created finite metal particles, sending them into the coolant and a need arose for cleaner coolant during the machining process.

Clean coolant has always been a requirement dating back to the 1950s when Barnes introduced the magnetic separators to remove metallic sludge.

Due to the new issues presented by super abrasive honing, Barnes continued to improve the filtration products and added another alliance with Mosnic in Japan for the Kleenall filter line focused on chip removal.

This was also the time when Barnes changed its name to Barnes International to reflect the global reach of its products.

The decision to exit the honing business and focus solely on the filtration business was made in 2004.

Since that decision, through acquisition as well as internal development, Barnes International can deliver filters with gravity, vacuum, and pressure technologies. The company is unique in its ability to produce very large central systems for a whole plant in addition to delivering individual filters for an individual cutting machine.

Barnes International is the recognized leader in providing the highest quality coolant filtration products and services to the major US automotive companies as well as the aerospace, agriculture, and general machine tool industries.