Date your Delta/Rockwell machine by the serial number, an article that demystifies the complex web of Delta/Rockwell serial number systems.

From the early 1920s, Delta Specialty Co.'s "American Boy" scroll saw. Photo: David Sampar

Restored 6x48 belt sander from 1959. Photo © Martin King Photography

Early Beginnings

In 1919, Herb Tautz started Delta Manufacturing Company in his garage. In 1923 he started manufacturing a small scrollsaw based on a design licensed from its inventor, Carl Moberg. The saws were sold through a subsidiary, Delta Specialty Co., and wore the "Delta Specialty Co." name.

In the late 1920s and into the early '30s, Delta rebadged a 12" bandsaw made by Heston & Anderson. Beginning in 1929, Tautz started identifying Delta Specialty Co. as "a subsidiary of Delta Manufacturing Co." In early 1932 the "Delta Specialty Co." name was dropped.

A Period of Ownership Changes and Acquisitions

In 1939, Tautz sold the company to a partnership consisting of Marshall Field, Charles G. Cushing, and H. Campbell Stuckeman; Tautz went on to run TAUCO Export Corp., which rebadged and sold Delta products overseas. The Delta name was difficult to trademark in other jurisdictions so the Tauco name was used instead. We are uncertain of the ownership of Tauco and it is possible that it existed before the 1939 Marshall Field buyout.

Tauco label from a scroll saw that was exported to South Africa

In 1942, Marshall Field and partners sold it to Timken Detroit Axle Co., part of an early conglomerate controlled by Willard Rockwell.

In 1945, Delta was sold to Rockwell Manufacturing Co., originally known as Pittsburgh Equitable Meter and Manufacturing Company created in 1927 by the merger of two meter companies (which relocated to Brooklyn in 1941). About the same time Rockwell also purchased Crescent Machine Co. Delta Manufacturing became Rockwell's Delta Power Tool Division. Shortly thereafter, Delta tools were labeled Delta Rockwell.

In late 1945 or early '46, Rockwell purchased Arcade Manufacturing Co.; although both Arcade and Rockwell/Delta had a "Homecraft" line of machinery, none of Arcade's Homecraft designs were ever sold by Rockwell/Delta; they did, however, use Arcade's foundry and machining facilities.

Label from a Delta Homecraft machine.

In 1948, Rockwell/Delta purchased Red Star Products, Inc., makers of a line of turret-arm radial arm saws that competed well against DeWalt radial arm saws. It appears that the saws and their motors were manufactured for Rockwell by A. O. Smith Corp., which had already been making motors for Rockwell, and possibly for Delta before the purchase by Rockwell.

In 1953 Rockwell/Delta purchased the Callander Foundry and Manufacturing Co., a Canadian company that made the Beaver Power Tools line that dominated the Canadian hobbyist market.

In 1956 Rockwell/Delta purchased Walker Turner.

In 1960 Rockwell/Delta purchased Porter-Cable Machine Co.

In 1961 Rockwell/Delta purchased an 18" wood planer from Yates-American.

In 1963 Rockwell/Delta purchased Buckeye Tool Co., maker of pneumatic tools.

In 1968 Rockwell/Delta purchased a router-shaper and belt sander from Duro Metal Products.

In the early 1970s, Delta manufactured the Penncraft machines for department store chain J. C. Penney.

The Rockwell International Years

In 1973, Rockwell Manufacturing Co. merged with North American Rockwell Corp. to become Rockwell International Corp. The former Callander Foundry continued to operated as Rockwell International of Canada, Ltd.

The Rockwell International era was marked by an emphasis on corporate financial performance and quality suffered on some products. In 1981, the line of handheld power tools was sold to Pentair Inc. of St. Paul, MN, which operated it as the Porter-Cable line—a name that had disappeared shortly after Rockwell bought the Porter-Cable Machine Co. On April 12, 1984, Rockwell International sold the "machine tool" (woodworking and metalworking machinery) division to Pentair. Pentair operated it as the Delta International Machinery Corp., which included the Canadian operations.

Wikipedia article Rockwell International.

The Pentair Years and Black & Decker

In the early '90s, Delta bough the Acme National subsidiary of R. A. Ness & Co.; their main product was an edge sander that remains the basis for Delta's edge sander. Also beginning in the early 1990s, Lindquist Machine corp. of Green Bay, Wisconsin, manufactured all of Delta's American-made drill presses, an arrangement that continued for about fifteen years. In 1995, Delta bought rip-fence maker Biesemeyer Manufacturing Corp. In the late 1990s, Pentair merged Delta's and Porter-Cable's manufacturing operations in Jackson, Tennessee. In 2000, the two divisions were formally merged.

On July 19, 2004, Black & Decker Corp. announced that it would purchase Pentair's power tools group, including the Porter-Cable, Delta, DeVilbiss Air Power, Oldham Saw, and FLEX brands. B&D already owned the DeWalt brand.

In January 2011, Stanley Black & Decker sold the Delta brand to a Taiwanese power tool manufacturer, Chang Type Industrial Co., Ltd., that was already manufacturing benchtop tools for them. The new company is Delta Power Equipment Corp. The CEO has said that the Delta products currently manufactured in the United States will continue to be made there.

Delta/Rockwell Resources

• The above history was cribbed from A Brief History of Delta by Keith Bohn. Keith's history article also provides information on specific product: when they were introduced, and how they changed over the years.
• The history of Delta in South Africa.
• Delta/Rockwell Serial Numbers, an article that demystifies the complex web of Delta/Rockwell serial number systems.
• Other Delta articles in the wiki. Paint colors, how to rebuild a scrollsaw air pump, a type study of Delta cast-iron stands, information specific to bandsaw, lathes, Unisaws, and more.
• Keith Bohn's Delta miter gauge type study.

Keith Bohn's 1939 Unisaw, S/N A-100—the earliest Unisaw known

Parts and Manuals

Delta provides owners manuals and parts lists for a variety of machines, including many of those from the Rockwell and Homecraft lines. Check the Delta website first; some manuals are available there for free download. To request a manual and/or parts list, call the Delta Hot Line at (800) 223-7278. Be sure to have either a model number or serial number handy. If you are calling from Canada and need information regarding Rockwell/Beaver machines, you can call Delta in Canada toll-free at (800)463-3582. There is a small fee for manuals sent by mail.

Be sure to check out the "Publication Reprints" tab, above, where you will find a list of over 500 manuals and catalogs covering the entire history of Delta, from the 1920s to the present. Well, there isn't much information past the mid-1980s but Delta can provide information on those more recent machines.

Resources from other web sites

• Delta Machinery—The home page for the modern Delta Machinery Company.
• Delta History—History of the company from the Delta Machinery web site. Some of these facts are in dispute.
• Plaza Machinery—Delta Accessories and Parts.
• The Saw Center—Delta Parts and information on rebuilding a Unisaw.
• Rebuilding A Rockwell Tablesaw—A nice article on just just what the title says.
• Ace Tool Repair—Has lots of parts list on-line for Delta, Rockwell and Beaver machines.

Delta-branded Products from Other Makers

Delta mostly made their own products, but especially in the early years they sometimes OEM'd machines from other makers. For example, Delta's No. 385 12" bandsaw was manufactured by Heston & Anderson/Blue Star Products for Delta back in the late 1920s to early 1930s. And the Model 23-600 6" old-style bench grinder was made by Doerr Electric Corp.

Information Sources

• Thanks to Keith Bohn and many other members of the Old Woodworking Machines forum for contributing almost all of the information here.
• A search of Google Books provided a few snippets from 1925 to 1930 mentioning Delta Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee, Wis.
• The earliest mention we have seen of Delta Manufacturing Company in an ad is from the December 1929 issue of Popular Science: "Delta Specialty Company / Division of Delta Manufacturing Co. / 1661-67 Holton St. Milwaukee, Wis."
• The "Delta Specialty Co." name appeared in the April 1932 issue of Popular Mechanics: "Delta Specialty Company (Division of Delta Mfg. Co.)". The following month, the ad read, simply, "Delta Manufacturing Co."
• Information on the Marshall Field partnership comes from patent records; click on the "Patents" tab and then search the page for Marshall Field.
• Information on the January 2011 sale of the Delta brand came from the Popular Woodworking Editors' Blog.
• Further information on the January 2011 sale came from an article on the Fine Woodworking website. The buyer is Chang Type Industrial Co., Ltd., of Taiwan, a company also known as TOTY. "The new company has been renamed Delta Power Equipment Corp."
• A 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics gives an address for the company: Rockwell Mfg Co, Power Tools Division, 600 E Vienna Ave, Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin.
• Joe Potter provided information from his notes, including the exact 1984 date for the sale of the woodworking machinery line to Pentair.
• An archived history page on the old Delta website claims that Pentair bought Delta from Rockwell in 1981. This assertion is contradicted by the evidence above. Please contact us if you can provide more solid evidence one way or the other.
• Information about Rockwell Lathes and Milling Machines is available at Tony Griffith's web site.