From March 1914 Canadian Carpenter and Builder

In 1912, Mackintosh Hutchinson patented a motorized sliding crosscut saw. This saw, a precursor to the direct-drive radial arm saw, was intended as a job-site saw for carpenters. The design evolved fairly quickly as Hutchinson manufactured his saw. A competitor, Elliot Woodworker, Ltd., appeared in the same city at about the same time and we are not certain which was first but it seems likely that one was copying the other. Skirmishes erupted in both trade journal ads and in the courts as each company accused the other of patent infringement.

By mid-1915, Hutchinson ads, which up to that time usually gave the name as M. Hutchinson, did not give any company name at all. Then, in 1916 the name was Hutchinson Woodworker Co.

In 1918 an Elliot ad declared that "the Hutchinson Woodworker, which was claimed to be an infringement on the Elliot, has been taken over by them." Hutchinson, presumably bound by some sort of non-compete agreement in Canada, moved to the USA and by 1921 was again making his machines, this time under the name of Hutchinson Manufacturing Co.

Information Sources

• From ad in a 1915 issue of Carpenter and Builder. Strangely, the ad does not mention a company name, but shows the "Hutchinson combination woodworker," which appears vaguely like a radial arm saw, except that the arbor is mounted on a vertical turret. The ad mentions a patent date, which corresponds to a 1912 patent issued to one Mackintosh Hutchinson of Toronto. A 1921 ad to Hutchinson also gives his location as Toronto, but three patents during 1925-1932 all give his location as Philadelphia.