The early round-column design From 1917-07-25 Canadian Machinery

This maker of drilling machines was founded in April of 1915 when a group of investors bought the machine shop of marine engine maker De Mooy Brothers of Cleveland and re-organized it as De Mooy Machine Co. The original intent was apparently to produce automobiles but this never came to pass. Instead they introduced a benchtop sensitive drill press, soon followed by other models including a floor-standing version. These early models had cast columns that were round in cross-section. In late 1917 they introduced a new line of box-column sensitive drilling machines that looked considerably more modern.

The updated box-column design From 1917-12-27 The Iron Age

In mid-1918 the company re-organized as the Demco Machine Tool Co. With the end of World War I the machine tool business entered a prolonged depression, which apparently hit Demco hard. The company reincorporated in early 1920, keeping the same name, and announced that they were building a new factory. By the end of the year they had increased their capitalization by $50,000, to $150,000.

Despite their solid, high-quality line of drilling machines, the company was basically invisible in 1921, with no ads or articles mentioning the firm. Although they had just increased the amount of capital they were allowed, it seems likely that they were unable to raise the required funds. In April of 1922 it was announced that they had sold their line of drilling machines to the Loomis-Seilauf Co., or the Loomis & Sieloff Co., depending on which source you accept. There is no evidence of the existence of the Loomis-Seilauf or Loomis & Sieloff Co. (or any permutation of those names) beyond these announcements. We do not see any mentions of Demco drilling machines for quite a while, but in 1926 the Merit Oil Equipment Co. was advertising their Demco drilling machines. In the following year it was announced that the Demco Drilling Machine Co. of Cleveland had co-developed a drilling and tapping head with the Bradford Machine Tool Co.

In 1928 the Demco Drilling Machine Co. was a division of Merit Equipment Corp. of Cleveland, makers of gas pumps and related equipment for automotive service stations and garages. By 1933 the Demco line of drilling machines was being manufactured by the Toledo General Manufacturing Co. of Toledo. Toledo General Mfg. also manufactured machinists' tools, dies, and custom machinery. The Demco line seems to have survived, in a low-profile way, until the early 1940s.

Information Sources

• In 1900, Charles W. De Mooy of Cleveland was granted a patent for a combined clutch and reversing gear, intended for use with line shafts. Based on this very flimsy evidence, Charles W. is our best guess as to the founder of De Mooy Machine Co. There was also a John De Mooy who received several patents related to air tools, but those patents, which spanned the time that De Mooy Machine Co. was founded, were all assigned to Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Co.
• 1915-04-29 The Iron Trade Review.

  Cleveland.—DeMooy Machine Co., automobiles, has been incorporated; $10,000 capital stock; by Herbert O. Evans, George W. Heinkel, J. E. Mathews, Arnold Ruetschi and G. H. Knippenberg.

• 1915-09-01 Automobile Trade Journal, vol. XX, No. 3, page 140, in a list of "Changes of Ownership and Transfers of Title".

  DeMooy Bros., 1831 E. 55th St., Cleveland, O., sold machine shop to new company formed by Arnold Ruerschi, Herbert O. Evans and others.

• 1914/15 Statistical Report of the Secretary of State to the Governor and General Assembly of the State of Ohio, page 20, in a list of recent incorporations of manufacturing companies, lists "DeMooy Machine Company / Cleveland / Machinery, gears and automobiles / [Filed] April 20 [1915] / [Capital stock] $10,000".
• 1916 Cleveland Directory for the Year Ending August 1917, page 381, lists "DeMooy Machine Co 1833 E 55th NE C H Loew pres H O Evans vice-pres Arnold Ruetsche treas".
• Article in the April 1917 issue of Machinery for De Mooy Machine Co.'s new line of "Demco" high-speed drilling machines.
• The July 1917 American Machine & Tool Record had an ad for "The DeMooy Machine Company" and "The DeMooy Line and the 'Demco'" drilling machines.
• Advertisement in the 1918-06-27 American Machinist for "The Demco Machine Tool Co. / Successors to / The De Mooy Machine Company". The address was 706 Frankfort Street, Cleveland.
• News item in the June 1918 Machinery noting that "DeMooy Machine Co." was reorganized as Demco Machine Tool Co., with capital increased from $30,000 to $50,000. The president was Herbert O. Evans and the general manager was Arnold Ruetschl.
• 1918-12-26 The Iron Age, in their "Buyers' Index Section", "Demco Machine Tool Co., The, Cleveland, O." is listed under both Bench and Multiple-Spindle Drilling Machines. A text ad in the same issue, page 244, reads, "DEMCO high speed ball-bearing drills / Motor or belt driven—Light and heavy model—Bench or floor Drills. 1, 2, 3, 4 spindles, choice of 4 different types. Speeds up to 12000 R.P.M. / Demco Machine Tool Co., Cleveland, Ohio".
• September 1919 Machinery, page 90.

  Demco Drilling, Tapping and Milling Machine—In the December, 1917 number of Machinery, an illustrated description was published of bench and pedestal types of sensitive drilling machines which had been placed on the market at that time by the Demco Machine Tool Co., 706 Frankfort Ave., N. W., Cleveland, Ohio. Recently this firm has added to its line a drilling, tapping, and milling machine which is of quite similar design, except that it is furnished with a milling machine table to provide the necessary feed movements. A machine of this type will be found very useful for handling tool-room and general shop work, where it is desired to perform a variety of different operations on a single machine.

• 1920 Department Reports of the State of Ohio, Volume XI, 1920-02-09 issue, in a list of new incorporations: "The Demco Machine Tool Co., land, $100,000. Ed. Younger, L. M. Sewell, A. J. Pejsa, H. L. Deibel, E. W. McGraw." A later issue shows that on 1920-12-21 the capital stock was increased from $100,000 to $150,000.
• 1920-03-18 American Machinist, page 648i.

  O., Cleveland—The Demco Machine Tool Co., 706, Frankfort Ave., plans to build a 1 story factory. Estimated cost, $75,000. C. H. Loew, Secy.

• 1922-04-27 The Iron Trade Review, page 1208.

  The Demco Machine Tool Co., Cleveland, manufacturer of drilling machines, has been taken over by the Loomis-Seilauf Co.

• 1922-04-27 The Iron Age, page 1188.

  The Loomis & Sieloff Co., Morgan Avenue, Cleveland, has purchased the drilling machinery business of the Demco Machine Tool Co., Cleveland, and will hereafter manufacture and market these machines. It will also make Siegrist universal water faucets, one of the products of the Demco company, which retains ownership of the faucet business. The Loomis & Sieloff Co., is closely affiliated with the Interstate Foundry Co. and the Grabler Mfg. Co., Cleveland.

• May 1922 Western Machinery World, page 16.

  A new booklet of the Demco Machine Tool Company, Cleveland, Ohio, illustrates and describes in detail Demco high speed ball bearing drills. Tables of specification are given for a number of models.

• 1927-10-26 American Machinist, page 556, has an article on the Demco-Bradford Unit Drilling and Tapping Head, a joint product of the Demco Drilling Machine Co., of Cleveland and the Bradford Machine Tool Co. of Cincinnati.
• 1928 Mechanical Catalog, page 10, lists under the category of Drilling Machines, "Demco Drilling Machine Co., 6616 Morgan Ave., Cleveland, Ohio."
• 1928 volume of Machinery, Volume 35, page 1929-387.

  Demco Drilling Machine Co., Division of Merit Equipment Corporation, 6616 Morgan Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, is erecting an addition, 50 by 100 feet, to its plant. The new building will be of steel construction.

• 1929 volume of Machinery, page 164.

  DEMCO DRILLING MACHINE Co., 6616 Morgan Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, a division of the Merit Equipment Corporation, has appointed the Commercial Tool Co. of Cleveland, exclusive agents for the Cleveland territory for the company's line of Demco high-speed sensitive drilling machines.

• A search of Google Books turns up a variety of references to Toledo General Manufacturing Co.'s "Demco" line of drilling machines. The references all date from 1933 through to 1953. A list of Ohio incorporations for the year 1920 includes the following.

  The Toledo General Manufacturing Co., Toledo; $50,000. C. H. Hartman, W. F. Miller, J. S. Pratt, A. Raabc, H. H. Miller.

• A drilling machine in the Photo Index bears the inscription "DEMCO / The Toledo General Mfg Co. / Toledo Ohio".