Porter-Cable Machine Co. was founded in 1906 as a machine shop by Raymond E. Porter, George G. Porter, and Frank E. Cable. Their first manufactured product was an electric pencil sharpener, and soon afterward they introduced an attachment for horizontal milling machines to adapt them to vertical milling; Porter-Cable sold various versions of horizontal-vertical mill attachments for over four decades.

In 1914 the company introduced an engine lathe that would prove to be quite successful. In 1916 Walter A. Ridings, a Syracuse businessman with a background in manufacturing, purchased the company and became its president (a position he would hold for over 40 years). The company was kept extremely busy with manufacturing during World War I. In 1919, with the war over, the machine tool business entered a prolonged depression. Regardless, in that year Porter-Cable acquired another Syracuse manufacturer, Mulliner-Enlund Tool Co., Inc. which had been established a few years before to manufacture toolroom lathes. This acquisition doubled the size of Porter-Cable's workforce, but as the post-war depression in machine tool sales only deepened, Ridings acted aggressively by introducing a line of portable power tools in 1921, then taking a contract to manufacture vises for the Atlas Vise Co., of Lowville, NY, and then in 1922 acquiring the assets of the Syracuse Sander Manufacturing Co. Over the next few years the stationary belt and disk sanders acquired from Syracuse Sander would be P-C's most successful product line. In 1926 the Porter-Cable Take-About portable belt sander hit the market, and in 1927 they introduced the Kwicksaw, a lightweight circular saw with a then-novel automatic retracting guard.

From 1922-12-07 American Machinist

In 1933 the Syracuse Toolelectric Manufacturing Corp. was formed by Porter-Cable and others to manufacture items such as electric hedge trimmers. In 1938 the Syracuse Guild Tool Co. was formed as a Porter-Cable subsidiary to manufacture portable power tools and bench grinders that were lighter weight and less expensive than their equivalents carrying the Porter-Cable name. In the following year Porter-Cable acquired Sterling Tool Products Co., makers of pneumatic and electric handheld sanders. In 1952 Porter-Cable sold their line of floor sanding machines to Clarke Sanding Machine Co. The following year they sold their abrasive stationary machine line to the Engelberg Huller Co., also of Syracuse. This was the end of their manufacturing of stationary machinery, at least in North America. They sold bench and pedestal grinders that were made by Brown-Brockmeyer Co. until 1960 and then by Wissota Manufacturing Co.. Meanwhile, Porter-Cable had grown to become one of North America's largest makers of portable power tools.

Porter-Cable was purchased by Rockwell Manufacturing Co. in 1960, and operated as Porter-Cable Machine Company, subsidiary of Rockwell Manufacturing Co. From 1966 to 1981, the Porter-Cable name was replaced by Rockwell on tools and in advertising, with a "PC" prefix on catalog numbers. In 1981 Porter-Cable was sold to Pentair Inc. It appears that the company then became Porter-Cable Corp., but we have not confirmed the timing of this name change.

In 2004 the power tool divisions of Pentair were purchased by Black & Decker.

For some period of time, Porter-Cable had a Canadian subsidiary, Porter Cable Power Tools (Canada) Ltd. We currently have very little information on this part of P-C's history.

Part Sources

• James Huston, who specializes in the history and restoration of Porter-Cable power tools and machines, has put together a Porter-Cable field guide and historical review on the forum site owwm.org.
• Porter-Cable's line of stationary belt grinders was sold to Sundstrand Machine Tool Co. then subsequently sold to other concerns. The current location for parts and service is Acme Manufacturing Co.
  4240 N. Atlantic Blvd.
  Auburn Hills, MI 48326 USA
  (248) 393-7300
  248) 393-4060 (fax)
  www.acmemfg.com
• A Porter-Cable enthusiast, collector and parts dealer (primarily portable equipment) is Dick Jarmon, 38217 Huron Point, Harrison Township, Michigan 48045, phone: 586-463-5556.
• Porter-Cable's 'Bux" drill-press stands were manufactured by O. S. Walker Co.
• Porter-Cable's line of floor sanding machines was sold to Clarke Sanding Machine Co.

Information Sources

• 1921-12-29 The Iron Trade Review.

  COMPLETION of the organization of the Atlas Vise Co., Inc., Lowville, N. Y., is expected shortly... The company will manufacture and sell vises... The Porter-Cable Machine Co., Syracuse, N. Y., now is manufacturing for the Atlas company but the new organization contemplates erection of a factory of its own.

• A 1925 catalog shows sanding machines and a 20" bandsaw from "Syracuse," but does not mention Syracuse Sander Mfg Co. or Porter-Cable.
• Catalogs from 1931, 1933, and 1934. The 1931 catalog is for "Porter-Cable-Hutchinson Corporation".
• A 1931 brochure and letter from "Porter-Cable-Hutchinson Corp." of Syracuse. The letterhead says "The Porter-Cable Machine Co." but the title under the signature says "Porter-Cable-Hutchinson Corporation".
• A 1931 brochure and letter from "Porter-Cable-Hutchinson Corp." of Syracuse feature the Ever-Ready combination machine; Take-About handheld belt sander; Speedmatic floor sander and handheld circular saw; various belt and disk sanders; Beaver Woodworker combination machine; small 10" tablesaw; Handy Hutch combination tablesaw and jointer; 12", 14", 16" and 20" bandsaws; 4" and 6" jointers; 14x36 lathe; spindle shaper.
• The 1931-1934 catalogs show products labeled Syracuse, Hutchinson, Beaver, Ever-Ready, Speedmatic, and Take-About. See also the entries for Hutchinson Manufacturing Co., Syracuse and Engelberg, Inc.
• The book Forty Years of Porter-Cable History.

  ...in 1922 Porter-Cable bought Syracuse Sander Mfg. Co., thus acquiring a line of belt sanders and a partially developed" spindle sander. [In fact, the spindle sanders were being advertised as early as 1918 and look to be complete, shipping products, plus several Syracuse spindle sanders have surfaced. Porter-Cable seems to have introduced a dual-spindle model and a benchtop model, neither of which was successful. The original Model S-1 stand-mounted oscillating spindle sander was very successful.] The sander line was developed rapidly and in a short time P-C introduced both spindle and belt sanders which won immediate acceptance in factories, foundries, and even book binderies.

• 1946 booklet of 36 pages, Four Decades with Porter-Cable, provides a nice summary of the company history to that date.
• Address (1949 Popular Mechanics): 1984 N. Salina St, Syracuse 8, New York.
• 1952 issue of Woodworking & Furniture Digest, Volume 54, Issue 1, page 186.

  Porter-Cable Sells Floor Sander Line—The Porter-Cable Machine Company of Syracuse, New York, announces the sale of the firm's floor sanding machine line to Clarke Sanding Machine Company, of Muskegon, Michigan. The Clarke Sanding Machine Company, established in 1920, has long been a leader in the field of rental floor sanders. The purchase of the Porter-Cable patent rights, tools, and fixtures will broaden Clarke's line so that they will now have a full line of floor finishing and maintenance machines for both the professional and rental dealers.

• A 1953 issue of Plant Operating Management has the following snippet (via Google Books): "The industrial abrasive-belt grinder division of the Porter- Cable Machine Co. became the property of the Engelberg-Huller Co., Inc., recently. Transfer of ownership became official upon ratification by the stockholders of ..."
• In the Photo Index you can see pictures of a Porter-Cable 12" bandsaw that is labeled, "Porter-Cable / London, Canada / Craftmaster Tools". This bandsaw was manufactured for Porter-Cable by the Canadian firm Henry Power Tools, Ltd.
• Thanks to correspondent Kristian Wild for bring the existence of Porter Cable Power Tools (Canada) Ltd. to our attention.
• Directory of Metalworking Machinery, 1951, pg. 35