The G. M. Diehl Machine Works were founded in 1909 by George M. Diehl in Peru, IN, but soon relocated to Wabash. By 1955 the name had become the G. M. Diehl Machine Works, Inc.
This manufacturer Introduced the first straight-line ripsaw in 1913. They also made glue jointers, which planed both edges of random width stock; these machines would be made obsolete by subsequent improvements in ripsaws by Diehl and others.
In 1999, Diehl merged with Wisconsin Automated Machinery Corporation (WAMCO). In 2019 Diehl Machines was acquired by Mereen-Johnson.
We have also seen the name Diehl Industries, Inc., of Charlotte, NC, which was perhaps a marketing subsidiary of the G. M. Diehl Machine Works.
The DiehlMachines.com website has good information on buying a used Diehl machine.
Information Sources
- The 1980 book Planers, Matchers and Moulders in America, by Chandler W. Jones, says that Diehl started making molders in 1949, when they bought Vonnegut's molding machine line; machines were labeled "Diehl Vonnegut" for some time.
- Ad in 1955-56 Hitchcock's Wood Workers' Digest Directory. Machines pictured in the ad bear the "Diehl Vonnegut" name.