In 1944 Olen L. Miller applied for a patent for a core-box cutting machine. Core boxes are cylinders, split up the middle to form two half cylinders, that are used in creating hollow castings in iron and other metals. Miller's invention was a router jig. He began manufacturing his device under his own name. The patent was awarded in 1948 and at some point Miller relocated to Cleveland and organized as The Wellman Products Co., which continued to manufacture the device, which it labeled as the "Miller-Wellman core box machine Pats. Pending."