DeWalt Products Co. was founded in 1924, two years after Ray DeWalt invented the radial arm saw, which he originally called the "Wonder-Worker". This saw was targeted at home builders. The saw was a success and over the next couple of decades the company diversified its product line to cover a range of sizes: blades between 8 and 24 inches diameter, and arms between 12 and 30 inches long.

Ray DeWalt was the first to use a motor directly driving a saw arbor, the motor suspended in a pivoting and tilting yoke attached to a carriage that slid on a horizontal arm. His key innovation was directly powering the sawblade from a motor. Earlier saws, e.g., from Toronto makers Elliot Woodworker, Ltd. and Mackintosh Hutchinson, were otherwise similar but used belts to transfer power from a motor to the saw arbor.

With DeWalt's success, various competitors attempted to improve on his idea and/or circumvent his patents. Several patents were issued for saws where the carriage was attached to the end of the arm, and the whole arm slid back and forth with the carriage. DeWalt himself jumped on the bandwagon when he patented such a saw, but the original DeWalt design proved to be the winner. Despite the efforts of various competitors, DeWalt dominated the rapidly growing market for radial arm saws.

During World War II many GIs got their first exposure to DeWalt saws. DeWalt saws were used in the US to to build barracks, housing, crates, and so on. And especially in the Pacific Theater, DeWalt saws were standard issue at military bases to handle all sawing tasks: ripping, cross-cutting, miter and bevel cuts. After the war DeWalt discovered considerable demand for home-shop machines, which had not previously been a major market for them. DeWalt introduced new smaller and lower cost saws as well as a series of booklets and magazine articles on how to use your new DeWalt saws in a variety of tasks around the home. By modern standards, some of their ways of using the saws are startlingly unsafe.

DeWalt Products Co. was reorganized in 1947 as a subsidiary of the newly-formed DeWalt Inc. In 1949, American Machine & Foundry Co. Inc., purchased DeWalt Inc. AMF is more famous for making bowling equipment and for owning Harley Davidson from 1969 to 1981.

From April 1954 Popular Mechanics

In 1951, AMF bought most of the "Monarch" line of woodworking machinery from American Saw Mill Machinery Co., which had recently ceased operations. Those Monarch machines were sold under the DeWalt name over the next few years. Sales of these DeWalt/Monarch badged machines were modest.

In 1960 AMF sold DeWalt to budding conglomerate Black & Decker, whose reputation for quality handheld power tools had, at that time, only been slightly sullied by their value-engineered line of homeowner tools. DeWalt was operated as a subsidiary of B&D until 1970, when it became the Lancaster Machinery Division. Still owned by B&D, DeWalt now operates as DeWalt Industrial Tool Co., headquartered in Hampstead, MD.

One curiosity of the B&D-era DeWalt is that some radial arm saws were built in Italy and imported here. We have seen a model 7170 10" radial arm saw marked "Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc., Hunt Valley, MD... Made in Italy".

In 1989 the industrial radial arm saw line was sold to two of its former executives, who founded Lancaster Machinery Co. Within a short time Lancaster went under and the rights to the DeWalt saw designs went to The Original Saw Company, which moved production to Britt, IA. For many years, rebuilt saws and DeWalt parts were available from Wolfe Machinery, which wound down their business in 2016. Their next door neighbor, Bradley Tools and Fasteners, has taken over the business of rebuilding DeWalt saws and providing onsite repair and service for all woodworking machines. They also have an inventory of DeWalt parts.

Other DeWalt Woodworking Machines

In the late 1920s or early '30s DeWalt manufactured and sold a 6" jointer and a hollow chisel mortiser, both of unusual and distinctive designs. The examples we have seen are clearly marked as manufactured by DeWalt. These machines are exceedingly uncommon.

As mentioned above, in October 1951 DeWalt purchased the woodworking machinery line of American Saw Mill Machinery Co., including a radial saw, planer, tablesaw, mortiser, jointer and 20" and 36" bandsaws. It would seem that this acquisition was unsuccessful for DeWalt because we have only seen a few surviving examples of DeWalt-made 20" bandsaw, and none of the other machines from this acquisition.

In 1960, DeWalt acquired the rights to the Bennett Two-way panel saw from Richard C. Bennett Manufacturing Co. During World War II plywood was perfected and production of plywood was greatly expanded; after the war this new material became very popular, especially for building construction. DeWalt had introduced a couple of models of radial-arm-saw-based panel saws in response to this new market but they were not particularly successful. DeWalt failed to make much headway with the Bennett saw either, which seems to have primarily been a failure in marketing.

In early 1961, shortly after DeWalt had been acquired by Black & Decker, DeWalt and B&D purchased the designs and tooling for Atlas Press Co.'s lineup of home-shop and light industrial woodworking machinery: 6" jointer, tablesaw, 15" drill press, sander, lathe, 24" scrollsaw and 12" bandsaw. These machines were produced in modest quantities for a few years but the DeWalt brand continued to be strongly associated with their radial arm saws.

Dating your DeWalt Radial Arm Saw

A very good estimate of the production date of your saw can be obtained from Rick Antrobus' analysis of serial numbers versus date of manufacture. Also helpful is a timeline of DeWalt radial arm saw models. For pre-1945 machines the timeline is generally more reliable than the serial-number analysis. After that time, both approaches are quite accurate.

For many makers, variations in company name are useful in dating machines and publications. DeWalt was often inconsistent in its naming, and in the early years we see De Walt Products Co., DeWalt Products Co., DeWalt Products Corp. (earliest use April 1929), and, often, just "DeWalt". In 1949 DeWalt Products Co. was made a subsidiary of the new DeWalt, Inc., so the presence of "DeWalt, Inc." indicates that a machine or publication is from 1947 or later. AMF owned DeWalt during the years 1949 to 1960 so the presence of "AMF" is hard evidence of being from that era. The Black & Decker era began in 1960.

The following data is also available in PDF form.

Other Resources

• There is more DeWalt information in the Wiki, including articles on replacing motor bearings.
• DeWalt Power Tools - Home page to the modern day company.
• History of DeWalt - From the DeWalt site, archived in 2008. To see the current version, go to the DeWalt home page, scroll to the bottom, click on "Company Information" and then click on the tab for "DeWALT History".
• A YouTube video, DeWalt Saws In The War Program is a fascinating look at mass-production of barracks, housing, hangars, etc., using a variety of DeWalt saws.

Information Sources

• Most of this information has been gleaned from patent information and old catalogs.
• 1960 issue of The Investment Dealer's Digest, Vol. 26 p. 55 (the volume covers roughly August to December 1960).

  Black & Decker Acquires DeWalt
  THE ENTIRE capital stock of DeWalt, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Machine & Foundry, has been transferred to Black & Decker Mfg. Co. in exchange for 120,000 shares of the latter's stock. DeWalt is to be operated as an independent subsidiary of Black & Decker and operations will continue at the Lancaster, Pa., plant.

• May 1961 Precambrian (Mining in Canada), Vol. 34 p. 46.

  Manuel V. Nodar named product manager
  Robert C. Tyo, president of DeWalt, Inc., announced today, the appointment of Manuel V. Nodar as product manager of stationary power tools. In the newly created position, Mr. Nodar will have full responsibility to co-ordinate all marketing plans for a new line of individual purpose, stationary power tools, which DeWalt recently obtained from The Atlas Press Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The new line will be manufactured by DeWalt, and after June 1, will be sold under the DeWalt brand. The additional line will add eleven tool models to DeWalt's existing general product line of radial arm woodworking and metal cutting machines. Before joining DeWalt, Mr. Nodar was associated with the Porter-Cable Machine Company in Syracuse, New York, for eight years as director of advertising and sales promotion. From 1950 to 1953, he was an advertising executive with Bausch and Lomb, Rochester, N. Y. A native of Camillus, New York, he graduated from Syracuse University in 1950, with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and journalism. He will make his permanent headquarters at the home office of DeWalt, Inc. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

• November 1961 Popular Science.

  New tools for Black & Decker:
  In two swift moves, Black & Decker, a leader in the portable tool field, has taken over DeWalt's popular radial-arm saw and the entire line of stationary woodworking tools formerly made by Atlas. This new three-way lineup now gives B & D a full stable of power tools ranging from small drills to giant lathes and drill presses.

  Atlas will continue its metalworking and industrial lines, but will no longer make any home-shop woodworking tools. The distinguished DeWalt label, purchased from American Machine and Foundry, will be retained by B & D for use on eight of the former Atlas tools. These will include the 12" bandsaw and combination disk-belt sander shown at left, plus a 10" table saw, 24" jigsaw, 12" wood lathe, 15" drill press, 6" jointer, and a grinder-hone.

  No major changes are planned for the new DeWalt-label Atlas tools. Replacement parts and accessories will also be available to fit earlier-sold Atlas machines. The only noticeable difference will delight buyers: They will no longer have to put together their own purchases. All of the new DeWalt versions will come completely assembled, ready to plug in. Prices are expected to remain about the same.

  Black & Decker, which surprised the tool world this summer with its introduction of the first cordless electric drill, continues to make news on its own by adding a new conventionally powered saber saw this fall. Chief talking point: An unusual nylon blade guide acts as a pressure pad to prevent splintering of plywood and fine veneers. The saw will sell for about $40. It, along with all of Black & Decker's portable tools, will continue to wear the B&D label.

• The Henry Ford Museum has a 1944 catalog, "Tools and attachments for DeWalt woodworking machines"
• The Henry Ford Museum has a 1951 catalog, "The De Walt model R-2 with receding arm : the woodworker for greater production and low woodcutting costs in construction, industrial plants, lumber yards, woodworking plants."
• Thanks to Erik Strombom for bringing to our attention a Craisgslist ad (San Francisco) for an Italian-made DeWalt saw. The saw is of conventional 1970s DeWalt design.
• Information on Wolfe's shutdown and Bradley Tools and Fastener's resumption of that business came from an owwm.org forum discussion.