The beginnings of Walker-Turner are murky, but the business was founded sometime between 1927 and 1929 by Ernest T. Walker and William Brewer Turner. They were located in Jersey City until 1931 when they relocated to Plainfield. In 1948 the company was purchased by machine tool maker Kearney & Trecker, and they operated as the Walker-Turner Division of Kearney & Trecker. The division was purchased by Rockwell Manufacturing Co. in 1956. The Walker-Turner name lived into the early 1960s as the Walker-Turner Division, Rockwell Manufacturing Co.

In their earlier years, Walker-Turner made the "Driver Line", a collection of inexpensive machines sold through department stores. In later years they also made larger and sturdier light-industrial machines.

Advertisement from the December 1935 "Popular Science"

For More Information

The Vintage Machinery Wiki has several articles related to Walker-Turner and their products. For more on the company history, see the Walker-Turner General Timeline in the wiki.

Parts and Service

Some parts and service are still available from

Walker Turner Serviced Machinery, LLC
PO Box 711
Coventry, CT 06238
Email: WTSERVICE@walkerturnerllc.com

Dating Walker-Turner Products

Early Walker-Turner products did not have serial numbers. Beginning in 1939, products were given "serial numbers" but these were more like model numbers because they were not unique for each machine. In 1950 they introduced a system where the "serial number" identified the type and model of machine plus the year and quarter of manufacture. That system was replaced in 1953 with true serial numbers starting from 0000001. Then in 1956 they added a two-digit model-number prefix to the serial numbers.

Also helpful in assigning a date to your Walker-Turner machine is the type and color of label. For more information on both serial numbers and labels, see the wiki article on Walker-Turner serial numbers.

Information sources

• A 1926 patent was granted to William Brewer Turner for a socket set. The patent was assigned to New Britain Machine Co., who went on to manufacture it.
• 1931-02-26 American Machinist, in a section on "Machine Requirements and Industrial Construction".

  N. J., Plainfield — Walker Turner Co., 66 York St., Jersey City, tool manufacturers, acquired the Bosch Magneto Co. plant and plans additions and alterations at South Ave. and Beekman St. here. Estimated cost $40,000.

• We have seen Driver Line catalogs or catalog pages from the following department stores:
  • S. S. Kresge (1932 catalog)
  • Neisner Brothers, Inc. (1932 catalog)
  • W. T. Grant Co. (1932, 1933 catalogs)
  • Sears, Roebuck & Co. (1933 catalog of Sears Companion tools).
• All mentions, up to and including a 1947 catalog, use the name "Walker-Turner Co., Inc." An small old tablesaw and a separately auctioned wooden blade guard seen on eBay were marked, "Walker-Turner Co., Inc. / Jersey City NJ"; the blade guard also said, "The Driver Line".
• A 1940 phone book shows Walker-Turner Co., Inc. 639 South Avenue in Plainfield, with their shipping department at 768 North Ave. A February 1949 issue of Hitchcock Wood Working Digest carries an ad for "Walker-Turner Division, Kearney and Trecker Corp., Plainfield, NJ." A 1955 phone book has an entry for Walker-Turner Division of Kearney & Trecker Corp., at 900 North Ave. in Plainfield.
• In a discussion on the owwm forum Bruce Johnson provided the information on availability of parts and service.