This company was founded in about 1943 as Brantford Power Tools by Harold Sutton, Tony Materich, and George Scrimgeour. They designed and built a small tablesaw, the Whiz Jr. Scrimgeour, who was an engineer who left Cockshutt Plow Co. to go into business, designed a die casting machine for the aluminum parts, including the blade guard. Materich was bought out by the other two partners. The business operated out of various locations around Eagle Place in Brantford, and then failed in about 1947. In 1948 Scrimgeour moved to Winnipeg to work for a farm equipment company.
In the late '40s or early '50s Harold Sutton started Reliance Tool & Die Casting Co. out of his basement on Gordon Street in Eagle Place, and resumed production of the Whiz Jr. Morris Honsberger may have been a partner.
The company eventually graduated to a small industrial building. A later version of their tablesaw, larger and with bent steel replacing the cast base and fence, was sold through department stores, perhaps Simpsons-Sears. They also produced some accessories such as the steel tables that came with Simpson-Sears' radial arm saws. The business is believed to have lasted until the 1970s.
See also the entry for Sutton Tool & Die Manufacturing, Ltd..
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Information Sources
- Most of the information here came from Wayne Joslin (Morris Honsberger's nephew), with some memory assist by Ernie Coombs (Harold Sutton's nephew). Wayne and Ernie both worked for the company as teenagers.
- Wayne Joslin relayed information received from Barry Scrimgeour (George Scrimgeour's son) about the pre-1950 history.
- Harold Sutton may been involved in another company, Brant Engineering & Tool Co. Ltd. Perhaps this was the business referred to as "Brantford Power Tools", above?