In the 1880s and '90s, Frank E. Beardsley, doing business as F. E. Beardsley, manufactured a patent axle cutting machine. This portable device trimmed a wagon or carriage axle to length and cut a shoulder near the end for the wheel-hub to rest against. An 1891 patent updated the original design to provide improved clamping and to also cut threads on the end of the axle.

Information Sources

• The one reported example has the following text cast into it: "F E BEARDSLEY TRAVERSE MICH BYERS SPECIAL J L BYERS AGENT NO.2".
• In the late 1880s and early '90s Beardsley was granted two US patents and two Canada patents for axle cutters. He was also granted a couple of unrelated patents.
• A 1909 patent was granted to Orlando J. L. Byers of Santa Rosa, California, for an "Adjustable Axle Cutter" that bears a strong resemblance to the Beardsley axle cutter. The improvements in the Byers patent are related to improved centering and clamping on a tapered axle.
• 1912 Annual Report of the Michigan Department of Labor and Industry, in a table of factory inspections, page 94, lists F. E. Beardsley of Traverse City, in the business of "Repairing", 2 males employed.
• The 1916 Report of the Michigan Department of Labor, page 153, lists F. E. Beardsley of Traverse City as a maker of violins, 1 person employed, business established 1900.
• Genealogy page on Frank Eugene Beardsley (1861-1932).
• Searches have failed to uncover any ads or articles about Beardsley's axle cutter, only information on his patents.