1886-1900: Eames Brothers, Eames Pulley Co., and the first G. T. Eames Co.

Prior to 1887, brothers Charles B. Eames and Gardner T. Eames had a half-interest in a business in Racine, Wisconsin (Stecker, Webber & Huetton) that manufactured a patent wooden split pulleys. That business failed, and in late 1889 the brothers plus George W. Miller, Horace G. Haines and George S. Foster, established the Eames Pulley Co. in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to continue manufacture of the wooden pulleys. In 1893 or shortly before the G. T. Eames Co. was established and began manufacturing the "Yankee" drill grinder for which Eames was granted a patent. In 1900 the G. T. Eames Co. was succeeded by the Fuller Manufacturing Co. which continued manufacture of the drill grinder for a few years.

1911-1919: A new arbor press, the first G. T. Eames Co., and the Atlas Press Co.

In 1911 Eames had an idea for an improved arbor and mandrel press but felt he did not have the capital to properly exploit his invention. He found a partner in another Kalamazoo resident, Herbert H. Everard, trained as a printer but who had made his money in a family business that manufactured regalia for the Masons and other fraternal organizations. In late 1911, Eames and Everard organized a new company with the same name as before, the G. T. Eames Co., to manufacture the new press. Company ownership was shared equally between the two men, with Eames running the design and manufacturing side of the business and Everard managing the commercial and financial side. The press was an immediate success, and was awarded a patent in September of 1912.

In June 1913, Everard was injured in a stair collapse while visiting a paper plant in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. He died from his injuries a few days later, age 55. His half of the ownership in G. T. Eames Co. fell to his daughter and her husband, John H. Penniman. Penniman took over business management of the company and soon the formerly thriving business was beset by strife and financial difficulty. Eames sold his share of the business to Penniman, who moved the business to new quarters and renamed it to Atlas Press Co. Eames took over the old premises, running a machine shop business and manufacturing some of his other inventions. In 1914 he patented an improvement on the table for his arbor press, and this improvement was assigned to Atlas Press Co., in accordance with the original business agreement. Meanwhile, Penniman was learning from his mistakes as he returned the Atlas Press Co. to success and financial stability.

1916-1923: The third G. T. Eames Co., the Kalamazoo Arbor Press Co. and the Evansville Arbor Press Co.

In 1916, Eames patented another improvement to the arbor press (the addition of gears and ratchet between the lever and the rack on the ram). He then organized a new corporation under the abandoned name of his former business, G. T. Eames Co., and began manufacturing "Eames Presses"—same product name, same old company name, same old location. As we might expect, there was confusion in the marketplace and misdirected mail. Penniman's Atlas Press Company filed for an injunction barring Eames from making an arbor press and demanding that rights to the improved press be transferred to Atlas Press Co. The court ruled that the agreement in place gave Atlas Press the rights to any improvements on the original patent, and the 1916 patent was exactly that. This appears to have been the end of the G. T. Eames (1916) Co. In 1919 Gardner T. Eames established Kalamazoo Arbor Press Co., which soon relocated to Evansville, Indiana and was reincorporated as the Evansville Arbor Press Co., which disappeared after 1923.

During the 1920s Atlas Press added drill presses and metalworking lathes to their product lineup. During the early 1930s they began making wood lathes. In 1934 they began making drill presses and wood lathes for Sears, Roebuck & Co., which marketed them under the Craftsman, Companion, and Dunlap names. Around that same time they established a reciprocal relationship with Portable Power Tool Corp./Power King Tool Corp. (the company changed its name in about 1940), where Atlas Press made drill presses and lathes for Power King, and Power King made a wood shaper for Atlas Press.

Following the end of World War II, Sears moved toward having their woodworking machinery made almost exclusively by King-Seeley which hurt both Atlas Press and Power King Tool Corp., although Atlas Press was in a solid financial position as a result of their war production. In 1947 Atlas Press acquired Power King Tool Corp. outright. In 1950 they purchased the higher-end machine tool maker Clausing Lathe Co., and this move into metalworking machinery would signal a permanent shift in the company's focus. At some point Atlas Press began selling milling machines that were made by I. O. Johansson Co. and badged with the Atlas Press name.

1955-Present: Focus on metalworking machinery

By the mid-1950s Atlas Press's efforts were increasingly focused on the industrial and commercial metalworking markets. In 1961 they sold their woodworking machinery line to Black & Decker, who had just acquired DeWalt Products Co. The former Atlas Press woodworking machinery lineup was manufactured by DeWalt and sold under the DeWalt name.

In 1964 the Clausing Division of Atlas Press Co. acquired the business of I. O. Johansson Co., makers of the vertical and horizontal milling machines that were resold under the Clausing label. These machines were, and continued to be, a successful lineup for Atlas-Clausing.

In 1969, the Atlas Press Co. changed its name to Clausing Corp., and some time later, to Clausing Industrial, Inc.

Address (1949 Popular Mechanics): 1819 N. Pitcher St, Kalamazoo 13D, Michigan.

Summarizing the G. T. Eames Co.

There were three distinct incarnations of the G. T. Eames Co. All were located in Kalamazoo and all were established by Gardner T. Eames. The first was in business from 1893 to 1900, and primarily made drill grinders; this first incarnation became the Fuller Manufacturing Co. The second incarnation was created in 1911 by Eames and Herbert H. Everard, and this is the incarnation that became Atlas Press Co. after Everard died and Eames sold his interest in the business. The third incarnation was created in 1916 to manufacture Eames' improved arbor press, and this one was forced out of business by Atlas Press Co. because Eames had signed an agreement giving Atlas Press rights to improvements on his press.

Information sources

• 1893-07-16 issue of The Age of Steel, Vol. LXXXIV No. 3, page 9, article on the Yankee Twist Drill Grinder from the G. T. Eames Co., Kalamazoo. This is a pedestal-mounted grinder powered by flat belt from a lineshaft.
• 1894-06-14 The Iron Trade Review, in a list of new new enterprises.

  Kalamazoo, Mich—G. T. Eames & Co.; capital, $15,000; to manufacture and sell twist drill grinders ; incorporators : Wilfred Eames, Ann Arbor, Mich; Gardner T. Eames, F. V. Eames, Kalamazoo, Mich. Address letters care of G. T. Eames, Kalamazoo, Mich.

• 1896 NorthWestern Reporter, Vol. 66 (decisions of the Supreme Courts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota), page 338, Eames v. Miller et al., Supreme Court of Michigan, 1896-02-26, describes the appeal of a lawsuit surrounding the dissolution of the Eames Pulley Co. The history of the company is summarized.
• 1898-06-16 The Iron Trade Review, page 23, full-page ad for The Yankee Twist Drill Grinder from G. T. Eames Co., 100 Michigan Ave., Kalamazoo, MI. It sharpens twist drills in sizes from 1/8 inch to 2¼ inches. In the same volume, 1898-12-08 issue, page 16, brief illustrated article on the Buckeye Twist Drill Grinder from the Wilfred Eames Co., 11 Allen St., Rochester, NY. The Wilfred Eames No. 0 sharpens bits from No. 60 (0.04 or 1/25 inch) to 3/8 inches; the No. 1 model sharpens bits from 3/8 to 2¼ inches. The illustrated machine is distinctly different from the G. T. Eames Co. grinder and the name and product resemblance seem to be coincidental.
• 1902-07-10 American Manufacturer and Iron World, Vol. 71 No. 2 page 52.

  Gardner T. Eames, formerly of the Belmer-Eames Tool Company of Cincinnati, O., together with John P. Hely and William W. Green, of Niles, O. have organized the Eames Pulley Company, with $30,000 capital stock to manufacture pulleys and power transmitting machinery. The plant will be located in Niles, O.

• 1902-10-23 The Iron Age, page 35.

  The Eames Pulley Company have located at Three Rivers, Mich., where they expect soon to begin the manufacture of pulleys. The company have rented a building, adding to it additional floor space, and are installing new machinery. The company expect to manufacture 50 pulleys a day.

• 1902-10-25 The Age of Steel (Vol. XCII No. 17), page 30.

  The Eames Pulley Company are to remove their factory from Niles, Ohio, to Three Rivers, Mich. It is understood the plant will be moved at once. The Eames Pulley Company located in Niles only a short time ago. It is a corporation, and Gardner T. Eames is president and John Power secretary.

• 1904 biography of Gardner T. Eames.
• Information on Everard was found in a book on Freemasonry. A book on the history of Detroit has an excellent biography of Everard that includes broad descriptions of his business interests and of his death.
• 1906 Ihling Bros. & Everard's Kalamazoo City and County Directory, page 50, lists, at 410 Asylum Av., Kalamazoo, "Eames Gardner T, office". His residence was at 775 N. South St.; his spouse was Fannie V.
• 1911-10-21 Michigan Manufacturer, (Vol. 7, No. 17) page 11.

  NEW KALAMAZOO INDUSTRY. Articles of association have been filed by the G. T. Eames Company of Kalamazoo. The company will manufacture and trade in machine tools, machinery and power equipment. It was organized by Herbert H. Everard, Gardner T. Eames, John T. Penniman and Fannie V. Eames. The capital stock is $15,000, all of which has been subscribed. A specialty to be manufactured by the concern is a mandrel press, the invention of Mr. Eames, letters patent for which have been applied for.

• October 1914 Mill Supplies.

  The Atlas Press Co. is successor to the G. T. Eames Co., manufacturer of Eames compound mandrel presses, 314 North Park street, Kalamazoo, Mich. A year ago the interest of G. T. Eames was purchased by J. H. Penniman, secretary and treasurer.

• 1914-10-29 The Iron Age.

  The G. T. Eames Co., Kalamazoo, Mich., manufacturer of Eames compound mandrel presses, has changed its name to the Atlas Press Co. The corporation was organized about three years ago, and one year ago the Atlas Press Co. purchased the interest of G. T. Eames.

• A 1919 lawsuit, Atlas Press Co. v. Eames, gives a lucid outline of the early history of the two incarnations of the G. T. Eames Co. and the Atlas Press Co.
• The Atlas Press Co. web site gives a company history. Another history appears on an archived version of an old AOL personal web page.
• More information related to this maker is available in the Wiki, including paint colors, a jointer-guard template, and belt replacement data.
• Thanks to Wayne L. Carter for reporting the existence of a Companion-badged drill press made by Atlas (model number 101.03541).
• 1939 catalog that includes sections on drill presses and wood lathes.
• 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952 catalogs of "Power King" woodworking tools.
• An ad in the 1955-56 Hitchcock's Wood Workers' Digest Directory, published in 1954, shows Atlas Press's woodworking machines.
• A correspondent reports a machine label saying, "Atlas Power Tools Ltd. / St. Thomas Ont. / Canada". The style of the logo is identical to those for Atlas Press, and they were very likely Atlas's Canadian subsidiary. See the entry for Atlas Power Tools Ltd.
• 1960 ad for Atlas tablesaw, jointer, and drill press. This ad contradicts earlier information we had received that Atlas Press sold their woodworking machinery line in the mid-1950s.