This company was founded in 1906 by George F. Newman; the first product was a lath mill. Newman purchased Baxter D. Whitney & Son, Inc. in 1955, and still makes industrial planers under the Newman-Whitney name.

Advertisement from the September 1912 issue of "Wood Craft"

In early 1970 Newman Machine Co. attempted to reduce noise levels in its planers. They were unsuccessful in their attempts until they partnered with the Center for Acoustical Studies at the North Carolina State University. Subsequent research found that the primary noise source is vibration of the board as it is being planed, and that that vibration could be considerably reduced by using a shearing cut and by keeping at least two knives cutting at any instant. These insights led to the development of the Quietcut cutter-head, which used segmented carbide cutters in a tightly-wound helical arrangement. The Quietcut achieved a tremendous 15 to 25 dBA reduction in noise levels. The Quietcut was very successful in commercial shops.

Newman Quietcut cutterhead, introduced in about 1974

Other Information

The Newman section of the VintageMachinery.org wiki contains additional material on Newman, including how to date your Newman machine based on its serial number, plus there is a history of the Newman Machine Company reprinted from the January, 1957, issue of The Wood-Worker.

Information Sources

• An ad in a 1920 issue of The Wood-Worker shows their tenoning machine and circular resaw.
• An ad in a 1957 issue of Canadian Woodworker shows their new 10" planer-matcher, which could feed 250' per minute.