In 1889, Charles Erskine Wright was working for machine tool maker Cross & Speirs Machine Co., of Waterbury, CT. He designed an innovative new bandsaw guide that was manufactured by Cross & Speirs. In 1892 Wright was secretary of the company, but by 1896 he was on his own and manufacturing his bandsaw guides as Charles E. Wright Company of Waterbury.

Advertisement from January 1901 "The Wood-Worker"

In 1901, Wright moved his company's factory to larger quarters in New Orange, NJ. He incorporated the business in 1903. In 1907 the community of New Orange changed its name to Kenilworth. At some point, Wright added bandsaws to his product line. Meanwhile, he continually improved his bandsaw guides, which were proving to be extremely successful. By 1908 he had sold 60,000 guides, and by 1914 he had sold some 150,000 guides, which were installed on Wright bandsaws, sold to other bandsaw makers to install on their new machines, and on the retail market as aftermarket replacements.

The later history of the company remains somewhat murky. They discontinued operations somewhere between 1919 and 1931.

Throughout their years of operation, the company specialized in bandsaws and bandsaw blade guides. Various other Wright-badged machines have shown up but they are machines actually manufactured by someone else. For example, a Wright tablesaw was identified as a Crescent No. 2.

Jasper Parts bought out Wright Bandsaw and Black Diamond Guides. They take care of all the parts needed for the old Jones Superior band saws. They make most of the parts in their shop. They also can provide blades, tires and wheel assemblies for most older saws.

     Jasper Parts
     PO Box 1041
     19740 NE Sunnycrest Rd
     Newberg OR 97132
     (503-554-5415.

Information Sources

• The March 1901 issue of Building Age had the following "Trade Note":

  CHARLES E. WRIGHT COMPANY, manufacturers of special band sawing machinery, have removed their establishment to New Orange, N. J., where with newly improved machinery and ample accommodations for handling the special line of product, they are in a better position than ever before for making prompt delivery and also for maintaining the high standard of excellence of their machinery. We understand that the New York and Waterbury offices will be retained and that all orders should be addressed to the factory at New Orange, N. J.

• The July 1906 edition of Modern Machinery mentions "Charles E. Wright Company, New Orange, N. J." as one of several companies supplying machinery for the Allis-Chalmers Company's new factory for producing "steam turbines, gas engines and large electrical units".
• A 1908 catalog says that they had been in business 12 years, but also give testimonial letters going as far back as 1895. Those letters may have been for the version manufactured by the Cross & Speirs Machine Co.
• A 1908 edition of Woodworkers Review has this note in its "New Tools" section:

  The attention of woodworkers in general is called to the fact that unscrupulous persons are making and putting on the market a very poor imitations of Wright's patent non-friction roller guides. These spurious guides are of very poor workmanship and inferior materials. It is to the interest of all users of guides that they see stamped upon those they buy, right on the wheel, the following impression, "Wright's Non-friction Saw Guide," and to take no other. The Charles E. Wright Co., Kenilworth, N. J., has made and sold about 60,000 guides and has always aimed to make each guide as nearly perfect as human ingenuity can accomplish. The reputation that has thus been secured for the Wright guides should not be taken away from it by anyone. It is a property that belongs of right to the originator and manufacturer of these well-established devices. The maker has a pride in the reputation the guides have won, and it is especially exasperating now to run the danger of being credited with the defects that develop in unauthorized substitutions. The genuine guide bears the above name and title on the wheel, and it is well worth while to see that you get this guarantee of quality.

• The May 1914 issue of Wood Craft has a note that Charles E. Wright Co., Kenilworth N. J., had made "some 150,000 non-friction roller guides."
• Undated 50 page catalog.
• We have a report of a Kenilworth Burkhart Machinery 28" bandsaw that is identical to the C. E. Wright bandsaw. It is possible that there was a short-lived successor to C. E. Wright Co., or they may have been a reseller.