Established in 1876, registered 1906 and employing 200 people by 1912, Charles Wicksteed & Co. made a patented power hacksaw that used hydraulics to lift the blade on the return stroke. The patented hacksaw designs were made in the US by West Haven Manufacturing Co.
Information Sources
- The Grace's Guide page on Charles Wicksteed & Co. provides good information on the earlier history of this maker.
- The lathes.co.uk page on Wicksteed hacksaws provides quite a bit of information on the machines themselves.
- A Wikipedia page on Charles Wicksteed, Sr., father of the founder of Charles Wicksteed & Co., provides a bit of information on the company.
- 2002 book, A History of the Wicksteed Park Railway, by Peter Scott.
Charles Wicksteed and Company was registered in 1906 and by 1912 was employing 200 people. His two sons were also engaged in the company. In 1907 Charles suffered an industrial loss when his invention, a semi-automatic gearbox for cars, proved a failure... However, he followed this with a hacksaw that had a hydraulic lift on the return stroke, which he patented and was a great success. A sideline until the First World War was wooden toys.