Stanley Elias Matias Standal (1901-1958) was a Spokane, Washington inventor who patented a variety of items, primarily for industrial woodworking. Standal was a naturalized US citizen born in South Africa, and most of his patents were received in the early 1950s. His executrix, Elizabeth V. Standal, continued to apply for and receive patents for his inventions into the 1960s. For example, one patent was for an “inserted saw tooth with chip deflecting lip”.
Standal, Inc. was manufacturing the Stand-All 6-in-One Automatic Saw Sharpener as soon as Dec., 1949. Stanley Standal filed for a patent November 5, 1951 for a “saw tooth forming and sharpening machine”, and patent number 2,675,717 was awarded April 20, 1954. The reason for beginning manufacturing almost two years before applying for a patent is not known.
Examples have been found for a Model 6 and Model 7 Stand-All. They used a 1/16-inch grinding wheel on a pivoting arm that simultaneously oscillated as it spun so that both faces of a hand saw's tooth were sharpened in one operation. According to a comment from a former employee on the blog, Foley Filer, the Stand-All spun the thin grinding wheel so fast that testing of each batch of wheels was necessary to ensure that they did not explode at operating speed.
A patent application gave Standal’s business at 902 Normandie St., Spokane, a former industrial area near the Spokane River. Later production of the Stand-All was by Smith-Neilsen Co., also known as Middco Tool & Equipment Inc., of Spokane. Manufacturing dates are not known.
A similar saw sharpener with a thin oscillating wheel was invented by Bryon G. Daggett of San Diego, CA, with patents awarded in 1943 and 1959. While manufacturing information is not known, there are at least two surviving Daggett machines, including one on YouTube.
Information Sources
- Popular Science, Vol. 155, No 6., Dec. 1949, pg. 57
- The blog article The Stand-All Saw Sharpener provides more history and comments from relatives and a former employee.