Henry Havelock Cummings reportedly began in business in 1881 at age 23, in Malden, Massachusetts. In 1883 Albert J. Crombie joined the firm as junior partner and the business became H. H. Cummings & Co. In 1905 the business incorporated as the Cummings Machine Works. In 1914 Cummings bought out Crombie and became sole owner of the business.

The company seems to have done a diverse business, Over his lifetime Cummings was granted about 125 patents across a wide range of items, including button sewers, seed packers, torsion meters, drilling machines, and shoe lacers. It seems likely that much of the company's business was as a consulting design firm, and, prior to 1900, as a low volume manufacturer of small machines, especially related to garment manufacture.

An 1899 Cummings patent is for a drill press. The design appears to be thoroughly thought out. But we can find no evidence that this invention was manufactured by Cummings Machine Works; perhaps it was developed on behalf of an as-yet-unidentified machinery manufacturer.

Cummings Machine Works is listed on this Vintage Machinery website because in the 1940s and '50s they made an unusual predecessor to the chain saw: a handheld gasoline-powered annular saw. Several examples have been seen so it clearly achieved some success, but to modern eyes the saw appears to be very dangerous.

Information Sources

• Although this company's Wikipedia entry says they were established in 1881, a claim repeated from the 1922 Who's Who in Engineering. The evidence suggests that the name "Cummings Machine Works" was first used in 1905.
• 1892 book Boston, Its Commerce, Finance and Literature, page 212.

  H. H. Cummmings & Co., Machinists, No. 120 High Street.—This now eminent industrial business was founded in a small way, at No. 264 High Street, by Mr. H. H. Cummings in 1881, and so rapidly has it grown in the estimation of manufacturing houses in New England and throughout the United States, and so greatly has its scope been enlarged, that it now has premises at 120 of the same thoroughfare, consisting of over seven thousand square feet of floor space, and gives eployment of from twenty to thirty expert machinists and fitters, in the construction of every conceivable description of small machines, a specialty, however, being made of shoe machinery. Assisting inventors in giving practical shape to ingenious construction for utilitarian purposes, the firm itself is provided with the most modern types of lathes, shaping machines, screw cutting machines, drilling and boring machines, vises, implements and tools, nothing being omitted from its equipment which can facilitate and expedite the construction of beautifully finished and smooth-working machines, and special tools. Of the two partners, Mr. H. H. Cummings, who initiated the enterprise, is a resident of Malden, while Mr. A. D. Crombie lives in the same neighborhood. Both are men of Massachusetts birth, deservedly and highly respected. Mr. Cummings' latest invention is a very high speed compound engine, adapted particularly to dynamos. As it attaches directly to the armature shaft, it does away will all the pulleys and belts, thereby making it the most compact and complete apparatus for the purpose ever put on the market, the space required for the engine and dynamo to produce one hundred lights not exceeding 6½' x 2' x 2½'.

• 1900 Report on Factory Inspections lists, under Malden businesses, "H. H. Cummings / [goods manufactured] Machinery / [male employees] 4 / [female employees] 0 / [sanitary conditions] Fair / [orders given] Guard set screws / [compliances] Completed."
• The 1902 The Malden Directory lists "Cummings Henry H (H. H. Cummings & Co. 11 High, B.), b. 15 Webster". The "b." indicates "boards". Also listed as employees of H. H. Cummings & Co. are Albert D. Crombie and Albert J. Crombie (bookkeeper). The above-mentioned Who's Who biography of Cummings says that he was partnered with Crombie from 1883 until Cummings bought out Crombie in 1914, at which point Cummings became sole owner.
• The Massachusetts corporate registry database lists Cummings Machine Works' first registration as 1905-02-21.
• A Sally Saw manual was reported, with a copyright date of 1945.
• The patent for the Sally Saw was applied for in October 1945, and issued in December 1949.
• A correspondent reports a machine labeled as
  "Sally Saw"
  Manufactured by Cummings Machine Works
  9-11 Melcher St. Boston, Mass.
• You-Tube video of a Cummings Sally Saw restoration.
• Wikipedia entry for Cummings Machine Works.