This company was only around for a few years, but they were very eventful years. The business began in 1916 as Pioneer Dustless Disc Co. of Syracuse. So far as we know, the only product made under that name was a disk sander with integrated dust collection, a machine that would be later known as the D-1 and was introduced no earlier than August 1916. We have found only a handful of mentions of the Pioneer Dustless Disc name, plus we have a report of a surviving D1 sander with the Pioneer Dustless Disc name on it. But it seems that the company disappeared by the end of 1916. In February of 1917, a new corporation was registered: Carter & Buchholz Co., Inc., also of Syracuse. Machine designer Ray Carter and patternmaker Louis Buchholz were co-assignees of the patent that was eventually awarded for the D-1 sander design; Carter was the inventor. We have seen articles from the latter half of 1917 on Carter & Buchholz Co., Inc.'s 9-inch and 15-inch disc sanders of the D-1 design. A May 1918 article introduces that firm's new oscillating spindle sander.

However, that May 1918 article was already out of date: in March of that year, the company name had been changed to Syracuse Sander Manufacturing Co. That company lasted for four years under that name, filling out their line of spindle sanders and introducing belt sanders, bandsaws, and wood lathes, all aimed at pattern shops.

From December 1918 Woodworker's Record

In 1919, Ray Carter and some other partners established a Canadian branch, Canadian Sander Manufacturing Co. That firm shut down a couple of years later due to problems getting a timely and cost-effective supply of motors.

In 1922 Porter-Cable Machine Co. purchased Syracuse Sander. Syracuse Sander may have been short-lived, but its line of sanders lived on. As detailed in our Index entry for P-C, the Syracuse sanding machines were made for several years by P-C and then the line was sold to Engelberg Huller Co., which changed its name to Engelberg, Inc. The line passed through the hands of Sundstrand Corp., and then to Acme Manufacturing Co. Although Acme is still in business, the sanding machines are long discontinued and support is no longer available.

Ray Carter, the co-founder, chief designer, and president of Syracuse Sander, went on to greater fame as an early inventor of the hand-held general-purpose router, manufactured by R. L. Carter Co., Inc.

Information Sources

• Report of Proceedings of the Convention, Parts 1909-1930, by Pattern Makers' League of North America, lists members of Associations of Pattern Makers' League of North America, including Louis O. Buchholz, secretary of the Syracuse association.
• Article in the 1916-09-28 Iron Age on Pioneer Dustless Disc Company's "vacuum-cleaner disk grinding machine".
• Article in the 1916-10-05 American Machinist on Pioneer Dustless Disc Co.'s dustless disk grinder.
• The following extract is from the November 1916 issue of Machinery.

  Disk Grinder: Pioneer Dustless Disk [sic] Co., Syracuse, N. Y. A motor-driven disk grinder especially adapted for use in wood and metal pattern shops, although it could be used with satisfaction on many other classes of disk grinding. The most noteworthy feature of the machine is the provision of a self-contained vacuum dust removing system which collects dust as fast as it is formed and carries it away from the machine through an exhaust pipe into a sack or out of the window. The back of the disk is made in the shape of a fan, and a guard encloses the whole back of the disk and lower portions of the front part of the disk, thus forming a complete exhaust system so that there is practically no dust permitted to accumulate on the work.

• The New York State list of incorporations filed in 1917 includes an entry under February 6 for "Carter & Buchholz Co., Inc., Syracuse. $10,000. Mill Supplies. Ray L. Carter, Syracuse, N. Y."
• The 1917-09-20 American Machinist has a writeup on the 15" disc sander from Carter & Buchholz Co., Inc.; the sander was also available in 9" size.
• The November 1917 Machinery has this item.

  Disk Grinding Machine: Carter & Bucholz Co., Inc., Syracuse, N. Y. A 15-inch disk grinder which is particularly adapted for use in wood-working shops such as those engaged in pattern-making, cabinet-making and other classes of fine wood working. The machine is suitable for use in making Joints, fitting bevels, grinding the draft on patterns and for similar classes of work.

• The May 1918 edition of Machinery has the following.

  Sanding Machine:Carter & Bucholz Co., Inc., 1245 S. State St., Syracuse, N Y. An oscillating spindle sanding machine adapted for use by pattern-shops and wood-working plants. It is equipped throughout with New Departure ball bearings and is driven by a 1/2 horsepower enclosed ball bearing motor. The table is 20 inches in diameter and it tilts 45 degrees downward or 15 degrees upward.

• The Standard Corporation Service, Daily Revised for January-April 1918 has this item.

  CARTER & BUCHOLZ CO.
  March
  Name Changed to Syracuse Sander Manufacturing Co.—On March 15, 1918, this company, Syracuse, N. Y., filed notice at Albany, N. Y., of a change in name to Syracuse Sander Manufacturing Co.

• Ad for oscillating-spindle and disk sanders in the December 1918 issue of "Woodworkers Record". The company address is given as 1234 State Street, Syracuse, NY.
• Ad for an oscillating spindle sander in 1920 issue of The Wood-Worker.
• The 1922-06-15 The Iron Trade Review reported that "The Syracuse Sander Mfg. Co. has increased its capital stock from $10,000 to $50,000."
• The September 1922 The American Machine & Tool Record has an article on the "Carter Electric Hand Shaper".

  The Syracuse Sander Mfg. Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., is putting on the market the new electric hand shaper illustrated herewith, a simple little machine that was designed to save hours of labor, in rouding edges and corners on straight and curved woodwork...

  The "hand shaper" is very similar to a modern trim router, albeit somewhat shorter and fatter.
• The November 1922 The American Machine & Tool Record has the news item.

  Porter-Cable Machine Co., Syracuse, N. Y., manufacturers of lathes and vertical milling attachments, has purchased the Syracuse Sander Mfg. Co., and expects to move the business into its own plant, and sell the building and machinery of that company. The Syracuse Sander Mfg. Co. has been manufacturing disk sanders, oscillating spindle sanders, belt sanders, band saws and wood lathes, all of which were motor-driven and designed especially for pattern shops.

  The identical article appeared in the November 1922 Machinery.
• Ad for an oscillating spindle sander in the 1922-12-07 American Machinist from Porter-Cable Machine Co., "Successors to The Syracuse Sander Mfg. Co."
• 1931, 1933, and 1934 Porter-Cable catalogs show Syracuse sanders and bandsaws. P-C seems to have used the Syracuse name on the machines inherited from Syracuse Sander Manufacturing Co. The same designs have also appeared under the names Engelberg, Sundstrand, and Acme.
• Thanks to Tony Bradley, who uncovered some previously unknown Ray L. Carter patents granted between 1917 and 1920. Dave Potts identified the sanding machines in the patents as being Syracuse Sander designs. The patents were assigned to Ray L. Carter and Louis O. Buchholz, from which we tentatively infer that those men were the owners of Syracuse Sander.