About us

The company was established in 1939 by Hallvard Foss, his brother and his cousin, under the name "Hallvard Foss & Co". The brother and cousin also administrated "Foss Slipeskivefabrik AS" (Foss Grindingwheel Factory AS). The factory is, and has always been, located in Fet kommune in Norway.

In the beginning, the company created ceramic dovs for mounting on gravestones. Because of it's proximity to the mounted wheels factory, "Hallvard Foss & Co" startet to produce grinding tools, primarily to the dental market.

The entire production process has always been conducted at the factory. The machine on the image to the left is used to compress grindingsand and cement to mounted points. These are burned in an oven, and then mounted on mandrills. They are then burned a second time, before being shaped. After this, they are packaged and sent directly to the customer.

In addition to regular grinding tools in silicium carbide and aluminum oxide, the factory started to produce galvanized diamond tools. This was a success, and deliveries abroad to (among others) the Volkswagen factory, led to plans for expansion in the end of the fourties.

Unfortunately, the founder Hallvard Foss became ill, and died in the beginning of the fifties. This stopped the expansion plans, and the company was administrated by "Foss Slipeskivefabrikk AS", and didn't have it's own administration.

In 1981 the company was registered as a joint-stock company (an "AS", or "Aksjeselskap" in norwegian), and in 1983 Ludvig Foss from the mounted wheels factory took over the administration, and has been responsible for the administration ever since. In 1997 the company changed its name to its current name "Foss-Viking AS".

Lately, about 50% of the production is exported abroad, mainly dental burs and engraving tools to glasswork factories. We have primarily exported within Scandinavia, but also to the Netherlands and Singapore.