From 1860 through to the 1870s, John Waugh of Elmira, NY, manufactured a patent machine for cutting strips and circles from sheet metal. He also patented and manufactured a machine for trimming wallpaper. He patented a boring machine but we have not found evidence that it was ever manufactured.

After the patent circle-cutter patent had expired and Waugh was no longer manufacturing it, an updated version of his machine was manufactured by Niagara Machine & Tool Works.

Information Sources

• 1862 Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society, page 486, reports on premiums awarded at The Twenty-Second Annual Fair, held at Rochester, September 30th to October 3, 1862. John Waugh of Elmira had two entries: a metallic plate cutting machine won
• 1869 Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society, page 147, reports on premiums awarded at that year's State Fair. John Waugh of Elmira had three entries, all of which won a Certificate of Merit. Waugh's Patent Paper Trimmer, 2½ x 10 in., selling price 15; Waugh's Patent Metallic Plate Cutting Machine, for power, 250 lbs., 4 ft x 6 in., price $75; Waugh's Patent Metallic Plate Cutting Machine, for hand, 85 lbs., 2 ft. 4 in. x 6 in., price $48.
• 1868-0 Hamilton's Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chemung and Schuyler Counties, N. Y., page 143, under Elmira City: "Waugh, John, machinist and manufacturer of circular shears for tinners' use."
• 1871-72 Boyd's Elmira Directory, pages 199-200, lists "Waugh John, metallic plate cutting machine, 83 Second, house 71 Second", and "WAUGH & GIBSON (J. Waugh and W. L. Gibson), kerosene stove manufacturers, 3 Stancliff Hall".