TOC Wood Rim Makers Info

[filmonger]

Rim drilling 1897

Slightly more complicated rim drilling machine in 1897

The operation of the device is as follows: The rim to be drilled is slid over the ringtemplet G and caused-to rest upon the angledogs g. The clamping dogs B are then brought to bear upon the rim by a slight rotating motion given to the flat ring B, which, acting upon the clamping-dogs by means of the inclined slots in which the pins b I) travel, the rim is securely engaged in position to be drilled. Power is now applied to the pulley H, which causes the disk F to retate. The disk being brought into frictional engagement with the rubber roll by means of the spring E imparts motion to all the drills. Then the operator by means of the lever D gives a slight rotary motion to the disk D, to which are secured the links connecting the several drill-stocks, which imparts a reciprocating or feeding motion to the drill-stocks. The drills are thus forced to their work, and by reversing the motion the drills are withdrawn from the rim when the holes are bored. The rim is then removed from between the clamps and reversed and again clamped. A pin is inserted in one of the holes of the rim to serve as a guide for centering the holes to be drilled at the opposite angle, the pin serving as a guide for 10- eating the position of the holes to'be drilled. The rim is then clamped in position and the operation of drilling the holes repeated. It will thus be seen that every other hole is drilled at an angle corresponding with the incline of the spokes to be inserted. The vertical driving-shaft can be raised, throwing the operating-disk out of contact with the rubber rolls and thus causing the drills to stop by means of the foot lever I. A suitable locking'dog is provided on the foot-lever I to keep the operating-disk F out of contact with the rubber rolls or pulleys when so desired.

Another Drill from the Referee 1893

 

[filmonger]

Waddell Wooden Ware Works

After a fire burned his business in Chillicothe, John F. Waddell loaded his family on a B&O train and moved to the little town of Greenfield. Little did he know how that move would affect his new hometown. One of his sons, John M. Waddell, would later begin the John M. Waddell Company, later known as the Waddell Wooden Ware Works, makers of wooden products that would be sold all across the country.

Some of the first products that Waddell manufactured were wood rims & wood bicycle parts ....he also made coffee grinders and rat traps! Later, the company expanded their products to include egg testers, hammocks cash registers, discount wheels, games and even phonographs. The final products and the most lucrative were store showcases and post office furniture. The showcase line was the main line for Waddell until 1986 when the company was sold to Ghent Manufacturing of Lebanon, who continues production in Greenfield today.

Waddel Wooden Ware Works had the capcity to turn out 1,000 wooden rims per day, other wood products included chain and dress guards. Waddel Wood noted that “In the event of the bicycle combination being successful, bicycle manufacturers ..could rely upon supplying them with wood rims…”

Like a lot of the rim makers of the TOC they also produced gaming wheels / stimulators.

 

[filmonger]

Waddell Wooden Ware Works

5 Cent Early Countertop Bicycle Trade Stimulator, Oak & glass cabinet, Drop nickel in slot, pull lever, bell rings, and then the bicycle wheels rotate - numbers printed on the tires indicate points to receive rewards, Sun MFG. Co./Waddell c1898

The Company's name changed several times - the John M Wadell Manufacturing Company, the Wadell Postal Fixture Company, Sun Manufacturing Company, the Waddel Company.


The family's history in Greenfield dates from the early 1850s when John Freshour Waddel came here from Chillicothe. Born near Bourneville on June 4, 1820, he married Hannah Jones in 1843 and established a retail grocery business in Chillicothe. He lost his business in the great fire which swept the Ancient Metropolis on April 1, 1852, and shortly thereafter, he loaded all of his possessions on a Cincinnati & Marietta flatcar and moved to Greenfield.

Here he acquired extensive acreage just south of the railroad depot and built a long, low, rambling two-story home. In 1854 he incorporated, stock was sold, and built a large warehouse and elevator across Washington Street from the depot, and engaged in the buying and selling of grain. The original building is a part of the present main plant of The Waddell Co., Inc.
Mr. Waddel later engaged in the hardware business in the present Jones Hardware Co. location. He retired in 1889.

He always insisted on spelling the family name with only one "l", and made this request to his son, John M. Waddell, when the latter entered business for himself. And although John M. Waddell had reverted to the original "ll" spelling, he complied with his father's wish, and as long as John F. Waddel lived the family name in the firm's business title appeared as "Waddel."

One morning in 1888 the cook in John M. Waddell's home failed to appear, so he volunteered to grind coffee for breakfast. He discovered that the old box coffee mill was difficult to hold between one's knees, and hit upon the idea of a handle for the contraption.

He forthwith founded The John M. Waddell Manufacturing Co., and began manufacture of a new and improved coffee mill in the old elevator building, enlarging it and adding other buildings. The company also made a cash register called the "Simplex," on of which appeared in a setting of the epic motion picture, "Cimarron," in the early 1930s.

Eventually the company was incorporated, stock was sold, and a board of directors elected. When a disagreement arose among them, Mr. Waddell withdrew, and the name was changed to The Sun Manufacturing Co., which operated in a building still standing at Fourth St. and the B&O, until it was sold in 1904.

Meanwhile, Mr. Waddell organized The Waddell Wooden Ware Works, which manufactured Ki-O-Graph cash registers, Ideal coffee mills, Go Bang rat traps, Uwanta hammock swings, Nip & Tuck combination paper weights, and toys, games and novelties. The firm also made ink stands, folding clothes racks, bicycle rims and show cases which were turned in immense quantities. They also produced Postal furniture.

When Rural Free Delivery was established, Mr. Waddell obtained government orders for thousands of Post Office tables and cases.

On November 30, 1901 the firm's No. 2 factory building was destroyed by fire, but was promptly replaced.

Eventually, the company concentrated on the production of show cases and store fixtures, with an annual volume of between 18,000 and 30,000 pieces of furniture. Practically every city, town and hamlet in the United States has some Waddell products.

Following the death of John M. Waddell in 1922, The Waddell Company became The Waddell Co., Inc. In 1936, Dean T. Waddell purchased the stock held by his brothers, Lew P. Waddell and Neal P. Waddell, and now has his associates in the management of the business along with his sons, George M. Waddell and Dean M. Waddell.

The factory operates in 140,000 square feet of floor space, and has greatly increased its employees in recent years.

The company manufactures chiefly show and premium cases which are distributed to 30 wholesale trades such as bakers, beauty shops, confectioners, druggists, grocers and jewelers in every state in the Union.

The company uses its own original designs and construction which are protected by U.S. patents.

Interesting enough they also made Traps & even an Egg Xray machine!

I love this letter from Waddel in 1897!

Again here in 1897 they talk about producing 4000 rims a day!

 

[filmonger]

Laminated Rims 1895

In this article they are advocating lamination over single piece.

 

[filmonger]

Marion Cycle Co - wood rims

Unlike many of the big manufacturers it looks like Marion Cycle Co of marion Ind. made their own wooden rims. They produced the High quality Halladay bicycle.

These images are from the wheel in 1897

Marion's Expansion

 

[bricycle]

Awesome info sir!!

 

[filmonger]

Marion cycle co goes broke

The marion cycle co like so many of the big manufacturers goes broke .....

From The wheel 1896

Then after a week all is well!

 

[filmonger]

Lumsden and Ward - wooden bicycle rims and bars

Hamlin J. Ward
1863 -

Hamlin Ward was born in 1863 on a farm near Utica NY.

He remained there attending and later teaching school until the age of 18 when he left for Alma, Michigan, entering the employ of Pierce & Ward as a bookkeeper, where he stayed until their business was discontinued. He then accepted a position as assistant cashier in the bank of W. S. Turck & Co. In 1887 he organized the private banking firm H. J. Ward & Co., located near Shepherd, Mich., with associates A. W. Wright of Alma and W. S. Turck of W. T. Knowlton, Saginaw. He maintained successful business for three years, when he sold his interest to a partnership which soon after organized into an incorporated state bank.

A little more than a year following, Mr. Ward worked for a manufacturing enterprise in the East, in connection with D. H, Burrel & Co., Little Falls, NY, but decided that Michigan offered a better field, in 1892 he relocated to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, and formed a partnership with J. O. Lumsden under the firm name of Lumsden & Ward. Here they remained until 1895 engaging in the lumber business and the manufacture of material for wood rims and handle bars for bicycles, also operating a factory in Cadillac, Michigan, during a portion of that time.

Mr. Ward married in November of 1890 to a Miss Marie L. Johnson, daughter of Hugh Johnson, the carriage manufacturer of Detroit, Mich. Their son Eugene A. Ward was born 1894.

In Big Rapids, Mr. Ward served as one of 6 Superintendents for the 1906 Board of Public Works. He was also one of 15 Directors on the first Big Rapids Board of Trade.

Mt. Pleasant sits in the geographic center of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. In 1855 David Ward, a timber-cruiser, surveyor, teacher and physician, purchased land from the United States Government, much of it pine forest. He logged off a site along the Chippewa River in the winter of 1860 and upon completion of the operation concluded the land would be a fine spot for a town. He surveyed the area into lots, named the village Mount Pleasant and promptly sold the plat to investors from New York. The village was incorporated as the City of Mt. Pleasant in 1889.

While Mr. Ward was purchasing wooded lands for himself and wealthy investors, the United States Government was negotiating a treaty with descendants of the Chippewa Indians of Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River who were living in the Saginaw valley area under the terms of a treaty signed in 1836. According to theTreaty of 1855, the federal government set aside six townships in Isabella County (and two on the north shore of Saginaw Bay) from which forty-acre allotments were available to those covered by the Treaty.

 

[fordsnake]

Excellent research...thanks so much!

 

[filmonger]

Louis Rastetter & Sons

Louis Rastetter & Sons (Folding Chairs and Tables) .....Also made Bicycle rims!

Many area families are fortunate to own a set of matching card table and chairs manufactured by the Fort Wayne firm of Louis Rastetter and Sons. The furniture was made of fine hardwood in a variety of styles. All could be folded, and it was so well made that even 70 and 80 years later, many pieces are still in fine condition and in regular use. Indeed, a Rastetter set remains a highly collectable local antique and can still be found at many local garage and estate sales.

The firm began in 1882 in a small machine shop at the corner to Jefferson and Calhoun streets. Its founder, Louis C. Rastetter, a native of Baden, Germany, had arrived in New York in 1854, and after several years in that state, finally reached Fort Wayne and found work in the Wabash Railroad Shops. He manufactured clocks, including one for the 1860 courthouse, and by 1882 began developing a line of bent wood bows of various sizes for use as the framework for buggy tops.

The firm continued to grow. In 1887, Rastetter moved his business to Broadway, near the junction of the Pennsylvania Railroad, where he began making fuse and connection boxes for the Jenney Electric Light Company, the forerunner of General Electric. In 1890, he won a contract with the A. G. Spalding Company for making bent wood frames for tennis rackets. Spalding was so impressed that it bought all of Rastetter's tennis racket equipment and moved it to its own plant in Massachusetts.

The Rastetter Company remained innovative. It continued to make buggy tops but added to it the manufacture of bicycle rims to keep up with the new craze in cycling in the 1890s. The factory moved again in 1895 to Wall Street at the corner of Nelson, one block west of Garden Street. When Louis Rastetter died in 1898, he was succeeded by his son, William, who shifted the business focus from bicycle rims to wooden steering wheel rims for newly-manufactured automobiles. As these began to evolve away from horseless carriages with buggy tops to more substantial, closed-body vehicles, the company's business declined, and William began to look for something else for his company to manufacture. He then arrived at the decision that would transform the firm and make it well-known across America: the manufacture of folding furniture.

Folding furniture was a natural fit for a company with a long experience in making foldable buggy tops. The chairs were strong, durable, and were soon designed to accompany matching folding tables. By the 1930s, the company made the largest assortment of such card tables and chairs of any in the United States. A radio script on the history of local businesses from WGL in 1937 praised Rastetter's work and the diversity of its craftsmanship. "Such beautiful period types as Duncan Phyfe, Chippendale, New Classic, Sheraton, and Moderne are now included as standard in their line. Their folding tables have been immensely improved - tables without braces showing on the legs - that are far more rigid than the old type." Rastetter also won large contracts with cruise ship companies and manufactured folding chairs for ocean liners. Churches, businesses, and clubs all over the country also purchased many of the chairs. The standard label read the "Solid Kumfort Folding Chair." The company remained in business until the early 1960s.

By looking at the original label on a Rastetter chair or table, it is possible to tell the date of its manufacture. The company offered many different styles, coverings, and varnishes over its long history. Because the furniture was so widely distributed and associated with quality, each piece served as a kind of ambassador for Fort Wayne and the people who made it. Or as the radio script from 1937 stated, "Naturally, this reflects in no small way the increasing evidence of Fort Wayne as a diversified manufacturing centre."