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Manufacturers Index - Hammond Machinery Builders, Inc.

Hammond Machinery Builders, Inc.
Kalamazoo, MI, U.S.A.
Company Website: http://hammondroto.com/
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery & Metal Working Machinery

History
Last Modified: Aug 17 2021 10:09PM by Mark Stansbury
If you have information to add to this entry, please contact the Site Historian.

The company was founded in 1881 as the William E. Hill Co., which became Hill-Curtis Co. In 1928 its general manager W.C. Hammond bought the firm and renamed it Hammond Machinery Builders, Inc. in 1929. The company is now known as Hammond Roto-Finish.

The Hammond "Glider" and "Ben Franklin" Trim-O-Saws were small precision tablesaws originally designed for metal, and were popular with printers for cutting metal type. Since not many people still use movable metal type, Trim-O-Saws have re-surfaced in woodworking shops. There was a Fine Woodworking article that discussed converting these saws to woodworking uses; be sure to read the discussion in the oldwwmachines mailing list first, e.g., this message from John Marotta. We hear that for a modest charge, Forrest will bore their blades to fit this saw.

In addition to saws, the company has manufactured metal grinding and polishing machines since the 1920s.

Information Sources

  • Hammond Roto-Finish A brief history of Hammond Roto-Finish.
  • Railway Mechanical Engineer, Vol. 103, No. 11, Nov. 1929, Pg. 703.
  • The Graphic Arts Monthly New Ship With an Old Pilot.
  • Numerous discussions in the OWWM forum have shed light on this company and their machines.
  • Past web searches for information on Hammond Machine Co. have been quite fruitful.
  • Hill-Curtis 83-page catalog, ca. 1920, titled "Hill Saw Mill Machinery". The title page also says "Catalog No. 1" and "The old reliable Hill line -- since '81." Batory's catalog list has an entry for "Curtis Saw Mill Machine Co. (see Hill-Curtis)".