The Wahlstrom Tool Co. manufactured Verner J. Wahlstrom's drill chuck that was patented in 1912. Over a century later this drill chuck is still in production. We have seen examples explicitly labeled as a Wahlstrom chuck and made by Wahlstrom Tool Co., by American Machine & Foundry Co. (AMF), and by Wahlstrom Float-Lock Product Co. (of LIbertyville, IL).
The above-mentioned American Machine & Foundry Co. is remembered as a conglomerate that owned Harley-Davidson, AMF-Voit sporting equipment, DeWalt Products Co., and manufactured bowling machinery. But at the time of Wahstrom's heyday, AMF was more specialized, being a very successful manufacturer of tobacco machinery. The Wahlstrom Tool Co. and the American Machine & Foundry Co. shared several senior executives and directors. By 1937 the Wahlstrom Tool Division of American Machine & Foundry Co. was manufacturing the Wahlstrom chucks and tapping heads.
Information Sources
- 1915-16 Directory of Directors in the City of New York lists several executives of the Wahlstrom Tool Co., including Bernhard T. Burchardi (president and director), Charles B. Goldsborough (secretary, treasurer and director), and Rufus L. Patterson (director). All three men were also executives and directors of American Machine & Foundry Co.