Do-All (or DoALL) is the brand name for machines made by Continental Machine Specialties Co., also known as Continental Machines, Inc., of Minneapolis, MN. The name Do-All Appliance Co. was also used.

Do-All is best known for their large and well-made metal-cutting bandsaws. Over the years they also made surface grinders, wood-cutting bandsaws and a combination scrollsaw, drill and filer.

In 1927 Continental Machine Specialties Co. was established by Julius C. Wilkie and sons Leighton A., Robert J. and James W. Julius and Leighton were practical men with considerable experience in fabrication, automotive repair and modification, machining, plus tool and die work. Both men proved to be able machine designers. In 1933 Leighton developed the first practical metal-cutting bandsaw plus the metal-cutting blades and, in addition, an abrasive band that could be used for "filing". The first version of the saw came with both sawing and filing bands and hence the saw was promoted as being dual-purpose; "dual" inspired the brand name of Do-All. Leighton's work was initially aimed at providing an improved saw for use in die making. Compared to wood-cutting bandsaws, Leighton's new machine used a much lower blade speed, a heavier frame and wheel bearings that allowed higher blade tension, and sturdier guides that helped keep the blade straight under higher cutting pressure. From the beginning the saws came with a built-in blade brazing accessory to allow the blade to be cut, threaded through a hole in the workpiece and then rejoined so that the saw could cut an interior hole as is often required in die work.

An early obstacle in Leighton's work on metal cutting was that even the finest-tooth wood-cutting blades were capable of cutting about 23 square inches of mild steel—in other words, such a blade could make a 23-inch long cut in one-inch thick steel before the blade was dull and had to be replaced. Modern blades last thousands of times longer and Wilkie's improved blades were responsible for much of this improvement.

Further refinements to the Do-All bandsaws followed, including blade welders, automatic feed, variable speed, and three- and four-wheel versions to provide higher cut capacity.

1941 marked the country's entry into World War II. Continental Machine was kept very busy supplying bandsaws for the tremendous surge in manufacturing required for the war effort. In addition, when the US government identified a shortage of precision gauge blocks, the company added a production line for gauge blocks. That line would continue long after the war ended. Another wartime shortage led to Continental Machine's expansion into the manufacture of surface grinders.

Toward the end of the war the company expanded into new factory space in Savage, Minnesota. Leighton disliked the left-leaning government of Minnesota and shortly after the war, moved the company headquarters to Des Plaines, Illinois, where they had been manufacturing sawblades since 1939.

In later years Leighton's son, Michael L. Wilkie, rose through the ranks and would become president and chairman, positions he would hold until his death in 2021. Under Michael's leadership the company arranged distribution arrangements with other manufacturers such as milling-machine manufacturer Fenlind Engineering Co.; Fenlind's "Rockford" style mills were sold under the DoALL brand. See our Fenlind entry for more information on those mills.

More research is needed to determine the various companies that owned the Do-All brand. Continental Machine Specialties is the earliest. We do not know the timing and relationships of Do-All Appliance Co. and DoAll Co. One name used on some 1940s publications, Wilkie, was from company executives R. J. and J. W. Wilkie. We have also seen the name Savage Tool Co. as the makers of DoALL surface grinders. Leighton Wilkie's 1993 obituaries mention that he had founded no less than 70 companies, and it seems likely that many of these were under the Continental/DoALL umbrella.

Information Sources

• A 1925 catalog from Woodworkers Tool Works shows machines from this company.
• 1926 "Motor driven bench machinery" catalog from "Do-All Appliance Co.", 24 pages, showing jigsaws, drill presses, grinders, lathes, spindle shapers, and buffers. A combination jigsaw and filing machine is clearly the same machine as the "Do-All" offered by Continental Machine Specialties Co. of Minneapolis.
• The USPTO trademark database shows a Do-All logo that was first used in 1935. Their product was a combination jigsaw, drill press, and filer that was also available in jigsaw and drill press single-use configurations. Another trademark belonging to Continental Machine, "Speedmaster," was transferred from that company to DoAll Co. of Des Plaines, IL.
• Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Aug. 15, 1941, page 9.
• Findagrave.com entries for Julius C. Wilkie (1872-1932). James William Wilkie (1912-1982) was a son. We have not found entries for Leighton Wilkie or R. J. Wilkie.
• Leighton Wilkie (1900-1993) was interviewed in the late 1970s; the hour-long video is available on YouTube. Leighton had a particular interest in human origins and in the development of technology, which led him to sponsor Jane Goodall's research expedition to the Gombe Reserve in Tanzania. In his honor the Stone Age Institute sponsors the "Leighton A. Wilkie Memorial Lecture and CRAFT & Stone Age Institute Award for Outstanding Research into Human Origins". More information is available on the SAI web page on these awards.
• 1993-12-16 New York Times obituary.

  Leighton Allyn Wilkie, founder of the international DoAll Group of companies that make and distribute machine tools and other industrial equipment, died on Monday at his home in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 93.

  He had a brief illness, said a spokesman for DoAll, of Des Plaines, Ill. Mr. Wilkie was a former chairman of the company and a senior vice president at his death.

  Mr. Wilkie also was an inventor, author and student of anthropology. His enterprise embraced more than 70 companies, including plants in Minnesota and Illinois and DoAll industrial supply centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, Britain, Germany, Belgium and Sweden.

  Born in Winona, Minn., he attended the University of Minnesota in the early 1920's. Moving to Minneapolis, he turned to manufacturing and developed an improved process for stamping parts out of metal. He founded Continental Machines Inc. and devised a metal-cutting band saw that became a standard tool in industry.

  Through a family foundation, Mr. Wilkie supported anthropological expeditions and sites overseas. He also benefited other scientific study groups as well as museums. He was a director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

  He sponsored educational exhibits in museums, including a "Civilization Through Tools" display and the Julius C. Wilkie Steamboat Museum in Winona, named after his father and featuring Robert Fulton documents and steam-driven equipment and plants.

  Mr. Wilkie wrote books about machine tools and the industrial revolution. He was the co-author, with Richard S. Rimanoczy, of "The Principles of American Prosperity" (Devin-Adair, 1975).

  Mr. Wilkie is survived by his wife of 58 years, Adele Mearns Wilkie; a son, Michael L., of Chicago, now president and chairman of DoAll; a daughter, Bonnie Henricks of Lake Forest, Ill.; a brother, Robert J., of Escondido, Calif.; six grandchildren, and one grandchild.

• 1993-12-17 Chicago Tribune obituary of Leighton A. Wilkie.
• 2021 Obituary of Michael L. Wilkie (1941-2021).