8-K

   1
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT
                       PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
                      THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


                        Date of Report: January 6, 1997


                          THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


          Ohio                       0-1402                      34-0359955
(State of incorporation)     (Commission File Number)         (I.R.S. Employer
                                                             Identification No.)

22801 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio                            44117
(Address of principal executive offices)                         (Zip Code)
   
                                 (216) 481-8100
              (Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
   2
                          THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY


Item 5.  Other Events.
         -------------

On January 6, 1997, the Registrant distributed the press release that is 
incorporated herein by reference and being filed as an exhibit to the report on 
this form.


Item 7.  Financial Statements and Exhibits.
         ----------------------------------

         (c)  Exhibits

              99.  Press Release from the Company dated January 6, 1997.
  
   3
                                  SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.


                                        THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY


/s/ H. Jay Elliott
- ---------------------
H. Jay Elliott
Senior Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

January 6, 1997


                                      2
   4
                                EXHIBIT INDEX
                                -------------

Exhibit         Description of Exhibit
- -------         ----------------------

99              Press Release from the Company dated January 6, 1997



                                      3

EX-99

   1
                                                                      Exhibit 99


For Immediate Release                            Contact:        Fred Buchstein
January 6, 1997                                  Phone:          (216) 241-0405

LINCOLN ELECTRIC STATES POSITION ON CONSTRUCTION IN SEISMIC ZONES

     CLEVELAND, Ohio (January 6, 1997) -- Anthony A. Massaro, President and
Chief Executive Officer of The Lincoln Electric Company (NASDAQ: LECO; LECOA),
responding to recent newspaper articles discussing the role of weld metal in
seismic zone applications, said, "Steel-frame buildings did what they were
supposed to do in the Northridge earthquake by preventing loss of life, avoiding
structural collapse and performing better than other types of buildings."

     Massaro further stated that the product mentioned in the articles, NS-3M,
is just one of several competing products commonly available, and that it fully
complies with the American Welding Society's standard for the E70T-4
classification of electrodes.

     "Construction in seismic zones is a developing science, and new evidence
gathered following the Northridge earthquake will further our knowledge of
seismic zone construction," Massaro said. "We urge the engineering and
scientific community to continue responsible research in the effort to make
steel-frame buildings even more resistant to earthquakes."

     The E70T-4 weld metal discussed in the articles met prevailing industry,
engineering and building code standards at the time of construction. News
articles suggest that E70T-4 measured relatively low in a technical property
called "notch-toughness." But neither prevailing codes nor the American Welding
Society's independent specifications for the product required high
notch-toughness. These codes and specifications were known to structural
engineers who chose to prescribe Lincoln's or other manufacturers' E70T-4
product for the buildings they designed.

     In addition, use of weld metal with high notch-toughness is not the
solution. It is significant that steel-framed buildings constructed with high
notch-tough weld metal experienced comparable cracking in the 1995 Kobe, Japan,
earthquake.


   2


     More broadly, weld metal should not be the focus of the inquiry into
cracked beam-to-column connections, Massaro said. The Structural Engineers
Association of California has concluded that the entire connection design
commonly used at the time of the Northridge quake was "fundamentally flawed."

     With respect to the lawsuit pending in Santa Monica, California, Massaro
pointed out that the suit, which has been disclosed previously in the Company's
public documents, was initially filed in January 1996 against various
defendants, including the contractor, the fabricator and the inspector. Lincoln
was added to the lawsuit in May 1996 as yet another co-defendant, as was the
structural engineer. Massaro added that the building involved in the suit was a
medical building, not a hospital, as was reported in some of the media.

         "The challenge to the engineering and the scientific community is to
improve the capability of constructing earthquake-resistant buildings, and
Lincoln Electric will continue to be in the forefront of those working to meet
that challenge," Massaro said.

         The Lincoln Electric Company, based in Cleveland, is a worldwide
manufacturer of arc welding products, and a major producer of premium quality
industrial electric motors, robotic welding systems, and plasma and fuel cutting
equipment.

                                      # # #