Magnus Wahlström

Magnus Wahlström (October 28, 1903 in Surahammar Municipality, Sweden – January 30, 1972 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA), often Wahlstrom in English, was a Swedish American entrepreneur and later a philanthropist.

In his youth he worked on Surahammar's Mill, first in the office and then in the mechanical workshop.

In Chicago he met another Swedish American, Rudolph Bannow (1897–1962).

The American Precision Museum's biography of Rudolph Bannow[2] reports that he conceived the iconic Bridgeport ram-and-turret, knee-and-column design in 1936 as the logical machine on which to mount the milling head already being built by the company.

Wahlstrom donated a lot of time and money to charity.

A vertical mill of the form factor developed and made famous by Bridgeport Machines Inc. The head is mounted on the ram by joints that allow it to swivel in two directions. The ram can slide back and forth on the turret, which can swivel on the column. The table sits on the knee, and it can move horizontally in the X and Y axes. The knee rides up and down the column (one form of Z-axis movement), and the head contains a quill in which the spindle can slide up and down (another form of Z-axis movement or, when the head is swiveled, an additional axis).