The year was 1917, and the newly-developed rotary oil drilling technique caused a boom in the Oil Patch at Sour Lake, Humble and Goose Creek, Texas.  Towns filled with roughnecks sprang up overnight as people rushed to harvest the “black gold” which lay under the Gulf Coast marshlands.  For decades, drillers had utilized a cable tool method to bore into the earth – a method that was slow and broke down easily and often.  If cable tool drilling was the “horse and buggy”, then rotary drilling was the “Model-T”.  Rotary drilling was three to four times more efficient than cable tool drilling, and promises of faster drilling and faster payoffs caused quite a clamor throughout the region.

In the early days of rotary drilling, “fish tail” bits were popular among rotary drillers.  The Pearce family soon became flooded with requests to duplicate the standard design.  As the orders came in, one roughneck would say, “Hey, I need one with smaller wings”, or, “The last one you made for me was great, but I wonder if you could make one with larger fins”.

It was easy enough to make the modifications on the fish tail bits and it started a vital way of doing business for TIW – Listen to the customer and do everything possible to make them happy.  One day, the following saying was put on a sign and bolted to a wall at the Texas Iron Works machine shop in Goose Creek:  “Get the job done right, as fast as possible, whenever and wherever the call comes.  And if you find a better way, do it.”  There is no telling who actually made the sign or had it put on the wall – probably a member of the Pearce family – but it contains words which have become more than just a slogan at TIW throughout the years.  The words dramatically underscore the way the company does business.

When new oil fields were discovered in Pierce Junction, Barber’s Hill and Blue Ridge in the 1920’s, TIW employees began servicing the new area from Goose Creek - but the company roadster would not cooperate!  It frequently got stuck in deep tire ruts on the muddy roads.  Horse-drawn carriages could not keep up with delivery demands either.  So, in order to better serve these new customers, TIW shops were built in Pierce Junction, Blue Ridge, Conroe, Tomball, Victoria, and Corpus Christi - and that was just the beginning of the company expansion.  TIW today maintains offices worldwide to provide the products and services required by its customers.

      Early slips were manufactured in two separate pieces.  If roughnecks dropped them into the housing wrong, or if half of it slipped, the pipe could be kinked.  TIW developed the first unitized slips, with the sections joined together so that when set, the pipe was held with equal pressure on all sides.

     The weakest point in most early drill strings was the connection.  Torqueing stresses from pipe wrenches, combined with the slamming of the pin and box together, weakened the metal and threads.  As the hole was drilled, the joints took most of the abrasive rubbing from open hole and casing.  TIW developed the first string of tool joints ever made in the Gulf Coast to help rotary rig drill strings withstand the wear.

      As liners began to be used in casing programs, TIW introduced a wide range of liner packers and setting equipment.  When liners got too heavy to be set on the bottom, TIW developed liner hangers to support their weight.

      In 1932, the first unitized drawworks was designed and TIW was called on to produce it.  The resulting skid-mounted  unit saved seventy-five different operations each time a rig was assembled.

      In the early 1940’s, TIW was granted a patent on the first automatic bottom hookwall packer.  Well screens and screen setting equipment were also developed early in the company’s history, along with drill string Safety Joints and Kelly Valves.

      As the search for oil and gas pushed wells deeper and deeper, the TIW line of tools was improved, permitting them to operate in these new, harsh environments.  TIW liner hangers have been used to hang some of the heaviest and deepest liners in wells around the world, including three of the deepest wells in oil industry history.  In March of 1990, a TIW hydraulic set liner hanger was used in the Gulf of Mexico to hang the world’s longest and heaviest liner up to that time.  The 13,847 feet of thirteen and five-eighth inch casing weighed in at 1,201,708 pounds.

Steve Pearce’s grandfather and great uncles began TIW operations as a general oil field repair shop.  In 2007, TIW celebrates its ninetieth year in business, and persists as a leader in developing tools to help in the search for oil and gas.   As a leader in the industry in completion solutions and methods for well completions, TIW offers customized solutions to meet the customer’s needs.  TIW people know that to make a difference between their products and the competitor’s products, they must provide something customers cannot get anywhere else - they have to do whatever it takes to solve a customer’s problem.  TIW people also know that new product development is the key to sustaining TIW’s leadership in the industry and they are committed to the continuance of that innovative spirit established by the Pearce family so many years ago.