C. E. Lipe was founded in 1882 by Charles E. Lipe to manufacture patented universal and heavy milling machines. He sold the line and patents to Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co. in 1885, but continued in business making the heavy vertical milling machine. Lipe partnered with A. T. Brown to form the Brown-Lipe Gear Co., but apparently continued to operate under the "C. E. Lipe" name as well.

Information Sources

• American Milling Machine Builders: 1820-1920 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2007 page 132
• The 1916-04-27 Iron Age has an article on labor unrest in Syracuse, which says, "The Brown-Lipe Gear Company's plant is also affected by the strike as well as those of the Lipe Machine Company and the LeFevre Arms Company."
• The 1916-05-11 Iron Age has a brief article on the establishment of a "Metal Trades Association" in Syracuse. Charter members included Brown-Lipe Gear Co. and C. E. Lipe.
• The January 1917 issue of Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers carried the following obituary of Clifford E. Lipe believed to be the son of Charles E. Lipe:

  Clifford E. Lipe was bom December 23, 1887. Securing his earlier education in the public schools of Syracuse, N. Y., he entered Cornell University and graduated from the school of engineering of that university in 1911. On a year's trip abroad he studied the automobile business from an engineering and manufacturing standpoint, and on return was engaged immediately to look after the engineering work of the Brown-Lipe Gear Company. He became chief engineer of that company, having charge of experimental engineering, including developing and testing new transmission devices, testing accessory devices brought to that company by designers and inventors, and designing or developing the company's line of four-speed transmissions. As engineer and designer with the C. E. Lipe Manufacturing Company, he designed a great variety of special devices, tools, jigs and fixtures, including a special automatic machine for drilling and reaming solid steel ball retainers. He became vice-president of the Brown-Lipe Gear Company, being a member of the Board of Directors and very instrumental in dictating the business policy of that company.

• A 1924 issue of Automotive Trade Journal has the following snipped, obtained through Google Books: "Charles E. Lipe A founder of the Brown-Lipe Gear Co., was a partner of Alex. ... CE Lipe died before the formal organization of the company in 1905. His brother, Willard C. Lipe, took charge of his interests and died in 1924."