In the new shop of the John Steptoe Shaper Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, there is an old gear cutter that seems oddly out of place among the other modern machine tools, but is only kept as a relic, its work now being done by a modern automatic machine.
This cutter is of the type built along in the forties and fifties by the Putnam Machine Co., of Fitchburg, Mass., but whether they were the makers of this particular machine is not evident since there is no maker's name on it. The index plate is fixed upon the vertical work spindle on which were mounted the blanks to be cut, which might be both spur and level, since the machine was originally adapted for both. The index plate is about three feet in diameter and contains fully 18,000 holes, all of which were probably laid out, and drilled without the aid of a jig. The outer row contains 'M holes and there are 51 circles in all. The number of holes and the arrangement differ somewhat from the old Putnam gear cutter of the same type illustrated in the October, 1897, issue of Machinery. That machine had 468 holes in the cuter circle and 52 circles, making a total of 15,690 holes. As stated, the machine is retained as much for its association with the past as any other reason, the John Steptoe Shaper Co. being the oldest machine tool builders west of the Allegheny Mountains. In this connection it may be of general interest to give a short history of the concern which was written at our request:
The history of the company begins when, in the year 1845 John Steptoe was running a small machine shop in this city, It being at that time the only shop west of the Allegheny Mountains building machine tools. Shortly after starting his shop, Mr. Steptoe took into partnership Mr. McFarland, at the time a patternmaker, and formed the firm of Steptoe, McFarland & Co., and manufactured machines of every description. At first the firm employed but three men, but the business steadily increased and, in 1860, Mr. Nottingham, a foundryman, was admitted to partnership, and Steptoe, McFarland & Co. increased their force and established their own foundry. It would not be out of place here to say that The John Steptoe Shaper Co. still have calls for repair parts for machines built at this time, which means that these machines are still considered worth repairing after forty or fifty years of service. In 1870 the partnership was dissolved and, as the demand for shapers was steadily increasing, Mr. Steptoe, operating under the name of John Steptoe & Co., went Into the manufacture of this style of tool exclusively, and produced about fifty machines the first year.
The business was carried on as above until February 25, 1888, when John Steptoe died. At his death the business came into the hands of George Oetting and Adam Lauther, who had been associated with Mr. Steptoe for some years previous. These parties carried on the business under the same name and on the same lines at the old place, until in the fall of 1902, they found their quarters too small for the steadily increasing business and erected a modern two-story factory on Colerain Ave., in the heart of the machine tool district of Cincinnati, Ohio.
On January 1, 1903, the business was incorporated as the John Steptoe Shaper Company and continued the manufacture of shapers exclusively; the management being In the hands of George Oetting as president, and Adam Lauther as secretary and treasurer, and a board of directors. This continued until August, 1903, when Messrs. Oetting and Lauther decided to retire from active participation in the business and disposed of a part of their interests to Messrs. A. L. Rich and O. H. Broxterman of the A. L. Rich Company, and Mr. Alexander Dom, formerly superintendent of the metal department of the Globe-Wernicke Co. for many years. These gentlemen took over the active management with Mr. Dom as president and Mr. Broxterman as secretary and treasurer, and the output to-day is from 500 to 600 shapers annually, ranging from 14 inches to 34 inches stroke. Each machine is manufactured from a complete set of jigs and templates and this system of manufacture, established by many years of experience has led to the training of specialists who produce a maximum amount of work in a minimum amount of time.
We may add that this concern having been in the machine tool business so long, might naturally be thought to have had an important influence on that industry in Cincinnati, and such is the case. Many of the members of the machine tool concerns in that city worked at Steptoe's and some served their apprenticeships there. In an old-time book still in the office of the company may be found the following prominent names: Mr. William Lodge, of the Lodge & Shipley Machine Tool Co.; Messrs. A. L., Smith and James Mills, of Smith & Mills; Messrs. Ed. Gang, William Barker, Thomas Chard, William Oesterlein and others whose product is well known wherever machine tools are used. Mr. Mills was Steptoe's foreman for over twenty years before going into business for himself.