During the 1930s and '40s the Sampson Tool Co. of New York City sold shapers, bar benders, lathe chucks and machine vises. They shared an address with A. Klingelhofer, Inc., and the two businesses were closely connected in some way, e.g., Sampson Tool may have been a marketing name for the Klingelhofer business. We have some suspicion that under either name, they were actually importers rather than manufacturers but we do not know this for certain. There was a German firm that made Samson branded shapers and the Sampson shapers bear some resemblance to the Samson shapers.

Information Sources

• 1936 issue of Modern Machine Shop (volume 9, p. 103).

  Precision Shaping Machine—The illustration shows the Sampson No. 0 10-in Stroke Precision Shaping Machine which is now being marketed by Sampson Tool CO., 101 Walker St., New York, N. Y. The machine has several outstanding features, such as a totally enclosed reduction gear box and...

• 1947 Directory of Metalworking Machinery, a publication of the United States War Assets Administration, lists "Sampson Tool Co. ( See A. Klingelfofer, Inc.)" The listing for A. Klingelhofer, Incorporated, 103 Lafayette St., New York City, N. Y., has them supplying "Bar Bending Machine, Hand Operated", models 63/10 and 60/30, with bar capacity of 3/8 inches diameter or 1 3/16 inches diameter, respectively; "Bar Bending Machine, Mechanical", models 40 and 50, with capacities of 1.5 inches and 2 inches diameter respectively; "Bar Shear, Hand Operated", models 50-16, 50-23, and 50-26, with capacities 5/8 inch, 7/8 inch, and 1 inch diameter bar, respectively.