A pair of brothers surnamed Van Norman were the founders of the company. Their names were Charles E. and Fred D. Van Norman. The Van Normans began their company as the Hopkins Watch Tool Company in Waltham, Massachusetts around 1874. Their first products were watch repairlathes and associated tooling. In 1883, they bought the name Waltham Watch Tool Company, as that company started watch production under the name of U.S. Watch Co. It was at that time that the move was made to Springfield. In 1890 the first Van Norman Milling Machine was built, and in 1914 the first of Van Norman's oscillating grinding machines was introduced. Oscillating grinders were sold to many of the world's leading manufacturers of ball and roller bearings.
Ram type mills
Van Norman was most noted for their "ram type" milling machines, which due to their swiveling head design could be converted quickly and easily from horizontal to vertical spindles. The ram type mills were produced for many years and in a wide range of sizes, from the home-shop-sized No. 6 up to the 9,000 pound No. 38. The company also produced heavy horizontal milling machines, as well as a small vertical milling machine for tool and die work.
Other tools
In addition to milling machines, Van Norman pursued several other machining-related lines of business. ;Automotive repair Van Norman pioneered a portable boring bar that could be used to bore the cylinders of automobile engines without removing the engine from the automobile. They also manufactured other automotive service machinery, such as brake lathes and crankshaft grinders. When Van Norman ceased to exist as an independent company, the automotive portion was purchased by , who still sell tools and machinery using the Van Norman name. ;Machine tools for grinding Van Norman's line of grinding machines became very important in the bearing industry. Oscillating grinders were sold to many of the world's leading manufacturers of ball and roller bearings. Van Norman sold its precision external centerless grinder line to Bryant in 1972.
Spindle tooling
In keeping with many manufacturers of the era, some Van Norman machines use a proprietary spindle taper. The No. 6, No. 12, and some of the No. 16 ram type mills use what Van Norman referred to as their "C" taper. This taper was also used in some of Van Norman's smaller dividing heads and auxiliary milling subheads. Some of the larger machines use Van Norman's "No. 2" taper, and some of the larger dividing heads and milling subheads use this taper as well. Larger machines used an assortment of tapers—earlier mills will most likely have either some size of Brown & Sharpe taper or Van Norman's "No. 2" taper. Later mills usually have NMTB milling machine tapers. It is probable that any machine could be ordered new with any taper the buyer desired.
