D. A. Hinman & Co. manufactured bench bar benders beginning in 1910 after they purchased the business of Estep & Dolan. They continued in this line until sometime before 1950 when the building was sold to James Knights Co.; that firm was established to manufacture crystal oscillators for the war effort and that business continued to be their focus. But the Knights company is also known to have manufactured benchtop benders, so it seems likely that they acquired the Hinman bender line as well.

Information Sources

• 1910-03-10 The Iron Age.

  D. A. Hinman & Co., Sandwich, Ill., recently purchased and have taken over the hand bending tool business from Estep & Dolan, who have been manufacturing and selling such tools for the past 10 years.

• American Machinist, Vol. 53, No. 15, Oct. 7, 1920, Pg. 157
• 2016-04-15 Sandwich Record, in an article on the Stone Mill Museum building.

  The Stone Mill first housed a steam grist mill until 1900. Then Lee Kellam and D. A. Hinman ran a machine shop in the building, with Hinman continuing the business, alone, from 1919 to 1940.

  Repair parts for Enterprise Equipment were made there for a while; and L. R. Evans moved into the building to manufacture hydrants and pump parts in 1946. It was 1950 when James Knights bought the building for storage for his crystal manufacturing business, James Knights, Inc. ...