There is more than meets the eye to these tools!

WOODEN CLAMPS

by Milt Boyd

For many years, I collected wooden clamps (also called hand screws), and used them on my various woodworking projects. Sometimes I like to use manual tools and methods just to see how things were done before tools were made of metal and powered by electricity. Some of the wooden clamps in my collection, I got as gifts and others I bought in flea markets and shops. I could tell from their condition that they were old, but nobody could really tell me how old. I was frustrated when I went to the library and found there were no reference books on this topic. So I talked to people, wrote letters, visited museums, joined societies, and read city directories and histories. I've had great fun finding information about the different companies that made wooden clamps in an industry that lasted almost a century.

AMERICAN MAKERS

For ease of reference, the chart on the following page is organized alphabetically by the maker's name rather than by the date of the beginning of the business. The earliest firms began in 1830 or 1832, and the last closed its doors in 1935. Some makers concentrated on a single group of products, just wooden clamps, bar clamps, and closely related items. Other makers exploited their skill in working wood to make a variety of wooden products or they made the full complement of tools used in woodworking.

For more information on wooden clamps and their distinctive styles, contact Milt Boyd, aka That Clamp Guy
E-mail: ClampGuy@aol.com
Phone /Fax: 978-469-0973
You can link to Milt's Web Site at http://theclampguy.info/.

BLISS MFG. COMPANY
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
This firm was in business from the 1870's to 1910's as a result of a reorganization of R. Bliss and Co. It made a variety of wooden goods, including sports rackets, croquet sets , dollhouses, and toy pianos. It ceased operations for a while because of financial difficulties, but reformed again from the 1920's to 1935.
DODGE MFG.
Mishawaka, Indiana
In the early 1890's, this firm made a variety of wooden products, including clamps. The soon specialized in power transmission systems, initially using ropes on large pulleys. The firm continues to this day.
GRAND RAPIDS HAND SCREW CO.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
This firm served the local furniture industry in the 1890's and eventually was absorbed into a furniture-making firm.
GR HAND SCREW See Grand Rapids Hand Screw Co. above.
GREENFIELD TOOL
Greenfield, Massachusetts
This firm operated for a while in the 1860's, making a wide variety of woodworking tools. After a disastrous fire, they ceased operations.
HOOD AND RICE
Valley Falls, Rhode Island
This firm was a successor to William Hood, formed in 1892, and continuing until 1902 when it was taken over by Narragansett.
J. H. ONEIL
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
This firm operated from 1915 to 1918, and described itself as "the successor to Bliss Mfg. Co."
M. ALDRICH
Lowell, Massachusetts
This firm operated from the 1840's until 1918, when a great fire destroyed the premises and killed the owner. Founded by Milton Aldrich, it was taken over by his son William in the 1880's. The firm focused on hand screws, bench screws, bar clamps, and wooden jacks until its last decades, when it included metal clamps among its offerings.
NARRAGANSETT
Providence, Rhode Island
This firm was actually located in Pawtucket and made clamps along with a variety of other wooden goods, such as folding gates and bowling alley floors. In 1902, it took over Hood and Rice, shortly after the death of Hood. It ceased to make clamps in the 1920's, and went out of business in the 1940's.
NATHAN BUTTRICK
Carlisle, Massachusetts
The dates for this firm are unknown. They could be from the mid-1830's to 1849, or from the mid-1850's onward.
R. BLISS AND CO.
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
This firm was begin in 1830 or '32 and continued until the 1870's when it reorganized. It initially served the piano making industry between Providence and Boston.
SANDUSKY
Sandusky, Ohio
This famous company was making clamps until it closed.
SARGENT
New Haven, Connecticut
A wide variety of woodworking tools was made by this famous company, including clamps.
STANLEY
New Britain, Connecticut
This famous company made a wide variety of woodworking tools, including clamps.
WEBSTER & BUTTERFIELD
Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
This firm was in operation in the early 1870's, but no other dates are known.
WM. HOOD
Valley Falls, Rhode Island
This firm began in 1890 and its main product was clamps. At some point, Hood took on a partner and formed Hood and Rice.