In 1918 John A. Edlund, who was already a partner in milling machine manufacturer Gooley & Edlund, established Edlund Machinery Co. to make heavy-duty drill presses primarily intended for production work. They apparently did contract manufacturing for drop-hammer maker C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc. During World War II the company was very busy making drill presses for various Army and Navy maintenance depots and for various manufacturers as well. Edlund also manufactured fuses, bombs and gun mounts for the war effort.

In 1949 the Edlund Machinery Company merged with hammer maker C. C. Bradley & Son, becoming the Bradley-Edlund Corp. In 1952 Bradley-Edlund was acquired by Precision Castings Co., of Fayetteville, NY. After a year or so, Bradley-Edlund had become the Edlund Division of Precision Castings Co. In the late 1850s it was the Edlund Machinery Co., Division of Harsco Corp. Edlund remained in Cortland; Harsco was based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania In 1963 the Edlund division was acquired by Monarch Machine Tool Co., and became the Edlund Division of Monarch.

Information Sources

• An owwm.org posting by George Hoelzeman, about a drill press badged only by reseller C. H. Gosiger Machinery Co., but was actually made by Edlund, as explained in the Photo Index entry for George's drill. Another example of a Gosiger-badged Edlund drill turned up in a separate owwm.org discussion.
• 1924-08-21 American Machinist, page 90: small display ad from Gooley & Edlund, Inc., Cortland, NY, for their "Briggs Heavy Duty Miller".
• 1958 Souvenir Book: Courtland County Sesquicentennial Celebration, page 71.

  Edlund Machinery Company—This business was founded in 1918 by John A. Edlund, who was a partner in the former Gooley & Edlund Co., for the purpose of manufacturing drilling machines. The original officers were: John Edlund, president; Alfred Barnes, vice-president; Leland Davis, secretary; E. W. Ott, treasurer.

  Operations first started in the Cortland Wagon Works building on East Court Street with an employment of five men and one woman. The present building located on Huntington Street was completed late in 1918.

  The firm has devoted its efforts to manufacturing a line of drilling machines, with the exception of a brief period during World War II, when the manufacture of such war items as fuses, bombs and gun mounts was undertaken. During this period the company made significant contributions to the war effort and was three times awarded the Army-Navy "E" for outstanding production of drilling machines and war material. The machines produced in this plant were found on every air base throughout the world and were used in the repair and maintenance of aircraft wherever they were based.

  The present products of the company are used in the manufacture of automobiles, household appliances, electrical equipment, airplanes, missiles, ships, textile machinery, farm machinery, and many other similar items. Sales are on a nationwide basis with some machine being exported to Canada and South America.

  The company is one of eight divisions of the Harsco Corporation.

  Present officers of the Edlund Machinery Company division are: Emery A. Dunning, vice-president and general manager, and Willard K. Ghent, treasurer. Normal employment is about 90 people.

• 1963 issue of Western Machinery and Steel World (Volume 54 page 111).

  Monarch Machine Tool Buys Edlund Machinery Company—The sale of Edlund Machinery Co., Cortland, N. Y., Division of Harsco Corp., Harrisburg, Pa., to Monarch Machine Tool Co., Sidney, Ohio, was announced recently.

  In recent years, Monarch has very active in the research and development of numerically controlled lathes. These techniques can be adapted to other types of machinery, such as the Edlund line of drilling machines, with its numerically controlled models and automatic tool changers. In combination, this acquisition will add a new dimension to the Monarch line in the machine tool field. Monarch is reportedly the largest manufacturer of high quality precision metal turning lathes.

• Some details on the acquisition by Monarch come from a history page on the Monarch website.
• We have seen a drill press labeled "Edlund Machinery Company / Division of Harsco Corporation".