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Manufacturers Index - The Boyé & Emmes Machine Tool Co.

The Boyé & Emmes Machine Tool Co.
Cincinnati, OH, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Metal Working Machinery

History
Last Modified: May 5 2023 9:49AM by Jeff_Joslin
If you have information to add to this entry, please contact the Site Historian.

In 1912 William T. Emmes and F. W. Boyé, Jr. bought out W. A. Schumacher's interest in both Schumacher & Boyé and the firm of Schumacher, Boyé & Emmes, to form Boyé & Emmes Machine Tool Co. Boyé & Emmes specialized in engine lathes, especially very large and heavy lathes, with standard sizes of up to 36" and up to 15' between centers. Emmes was an early innovator and patentee of quick-change gearbox mechanisms, and quick-change gearboxes were a key features of Boyé & Emmes lathes from the company's inception and through to the mid-1920s, by which time the feature had become commonplace. From that time onward they were best known as a making large, heavy and well-built lathes. In the post-WWII era the Boyé & Emmes lathes were outclassed by Monarch's and American Pacemaker's uncompromising precision.

Boyé & Emmes continued to manufacture their heavy and high-quality lathes until 1962; for quite a few years after that time they continued to offer parts and service.


The 24-inch instantaneous change gear engine lathe, with double back gears and double plate apron. From an advertisement in the 1919-11-06 "Canadian Machinery"

Information Sources

  • 1912-02-08 Cincinnati Enquirer. "BOYE & EMMES Machine Tool Co., Cincinnati, organized with capital of $300,000 for the purpose of manufacturing, repairing and dealing In machine tools and other machinery, was incorporated by Frederick W. Boye, William T. Emmes and others."
  • Serial number information for Boyé & Emmes lathes.
  • The lathes.co.uk page on Schumacher & Boye has quite a bit of information on this firm.
  • The Boye & Emmes 18-inch double back geared lathe was featured in the September 1917 issue of Boston Blue Bulletin from machinery distributor Hill, Clarke & Co.
  • A 1948 catalog from this firm gives the name as the Boyé & Emmes Machine Tool Co. The sources we had seen before that had given the name as Boye & Emmes Machine Tool Co. (no accent on the e).