Seneca Falls Manufacturing Co. - History

Manufacturers Index - Seneca Falls Manufacturing Co.

Seneca Falls Manufacturing Co.
Seneca Falls, NY, U.S.A.
Company Website: http://www.sftg.com/
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery & Metal Working Machinery

History

Last Modified: Oct 26 2019 1:35PM by Mark Stansbury
If you have information to add to this entry, please contact the Site Historian.

This maker of treadle-powered machinery was founded in 1864, and changed names in Sep. 1884 from Seneca Manufacturing Co. to Seneca Falls Manufacturing Co. The name was changed in the early 1900s (but after 1904) to Seneca Falls Machine Co., and recently to Seneca Falls Technology Group.

Ad from September 1894 "Carpentry and Building".

In about 1884 this firm bought out Lewis Bros., another maker of treadle scrollsaws based in Seneca Falls. Seneca Falls Manufacturing Co. subsequently made use of an 1877 patent granted to George E. Lewis; the patent covered a universal swivel mount for a scrollsaw table.

Seneca Falls Manufacturing Co. used the following brand names.

Empire. Scrollsaw, introduced 1884.
Victor. Scrollsaw, introduced 1886. Unlike most treadle scrollsaws of the era, the Empire and the Victor were light-industrial machines intended for factory use. The No. 1 and No. 2 Victor was a more upright design that could be comfortably used while standing; the No. 4 Victor clamped to a tabletop.
Diamond. Foot-power solid-chisel mortiser, introduced about 1887.
Challenge. Scrollsaw, with optional lathe attachment.
Rival. Scrollsaw, with optional lathe attachment.
Union. Lathes, tablesaw, combination machine.
Gem. Molding machine.
Crown. Lathe.
Star.Metal-working lathes. ("Star" branded scrollsaws were made and sold by Millers Falls Co., not by Seneca Falls Manufacturing Co.)
Acme foot- or hand-powered circular saw, seen in an 1886 issue of Manufacturer & Builder.
Wentworth. Saw vises, introduced circa 1880.
Adams Short-cut metal-working lathe acquired in 1920 from O. R. Adams Manufacturing Co. of Rochester, NY.

Information Sources

Ads in March, July, and October 1902 issues of Shop Talk. These ads show metalworking tools.
1904 catalog "No. 18-A."
Much of the information here was gleaned from the AmericanArtifacts.com web site.
Henry Ford Museum has ca. 1920 catalog, "Illustrated catalogue no. 20-B of foot power "star" screw-cutting engine lathes, "star" speed lathes, "star" wood-turning lathes, attachments and accessories".
Correspondent Ed Hobbs provided information on the use of the "Star" brand name.