We have seen a large tilting table saw with "Manufactured by Oakland Machinery Exchange" cast into the base. The saw appears to be of roughly 1930s vintage. Other than this cast iron evidence of manufacturing, everything we have found on Oakland Machinery Exchange indicates that they were a machinery dealer. It is, of course, possible that the "Manufactured by" meant that they contracted a lesser-known machinery manufacturer to make "house brand" machines for them.

The tilting table saw mentioned above is substantially similar to the #1 Variety Saw made by American Wood Working Machinery Co. We have heard that American offered "white label" (unbadged) machinery and castings and it is plausible that they would make castings with the seller's name cast into it. It is very unlikely that Oakland Machinery Exchange had foundry facilities but most larger machinery dealers of that time had an in-house machine shop to repair or rebuild used machinery. Oakland Machinery Exchange could easily have acquired castings from American (or someone else) and then machined and assembled the saws themselves.

Information Sources

• September 1922 The Timberman has an ad from Parks Ball Bearing Machine Co. Among the dealers listed is Oakland Machinery Exchange, 301 Clay Street, Oakland, California.
• 1935 Polk's Oakland (California) City Directory: "Oakland Machinery Exchange (woodworking) 416 Webster".
• A ca. 1947 Delta 14" bandsaw bears a decal, "Sold by Oakland Machinery Exchange".
• We learned of this maker from a Photo Index entry submitted by member Erik Strombom.