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Manufacturers Index - Portable Electric Tools, Inc.

Portable Electric Tools, Inc.
Geneva, IL; Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery

History
Last Modified: Jan 30 2024 11:02AM by Mark Stansbury
If you have information to add to this entry, please contact the Site Historian.

They registered the "Shopcraft" name, with a first use of 1958, and also used "Shop-Craft" as a brand. At some point the Shopcraft name registration switched to Benchmark Tool Co.

If you are looking for information on woodworking machines from this maker, also check under the following entries:

Portable Electric Tools, Inc. manufactured a few products for Sears, Roebuck; their products carried model-number prefix 626. They had a Canadian subsidiary, Portable Electric Tools (Canada), Ltd., based in Toronto and active between roughly 1950 and 1956. We have seen handheld power tools from the Canadian subsidiary, some of which are marked as "Made by PET U.S.A. for Portable Electric Tools (Canada), Ltd." Both Canadian-badged and USA-badged tools variously use the "ShopMate", "Zephyr" and "Hi-Power" brand names.

Information Sources

  • The September 1948 issue of Popular Mechanics has a small display ad for electric drills from "Portable Electric Tools, Inc. / 255-59 W. 79th Street, Chicago 20, Ill."
  • The December 1949 issue of Popular Mechanics has an ad for Zephyr handheld power tools from "Portable Electric Tools, Inc. / 324 West 83rd Street, Chicago 20, Illinois". The December 1951 issue is similar, but adds, "In Canada: Portable Electric Tools, Ltd., 369 Danforth Rd., Toronto 13, Ontario". The March 1960 issue has an ad with a wider array of tools, and the Canadian address has change to "452 Birchmount Rd., Toronto 13, Ont."
  • The November 1958 issue of Popular Mechanics has an ad for a Shopmate 3/8" handheld drill. "Portable Electric Tools, Inc. 320 West 83rd Street Chicago 20, Illinois".
  • The May 1959 issue of Popular Mechanics has a writeup on a radial arm saw that uses a handheld circular saw as its power source, from "Portable Electric Tools, Inc., 340 W. 83rd St., Chicago". The October 1960 issue has a full-page ad for the "New Ultra Precision Radial Arm & 7-inch Portable Saw from SHOPMATE"; the radial arm saw uses any 7" handheld circular saw. The address is given as 320 West 83rd Street, Chicago.
  • The August 1965 issue of Popular Mechanics has a brief writeup on a Dremel-style tool from "Portable Electric Tools, Inc., 1200 East State St., Geneva, Ill."
  • The November 1967 issue of Popular Mechanics has a writeup on a sheet sander. The company name is given as just, "Portable Electric Tools", 1200 East State Street.
  • A correspondent reports a Shopcraft drill labeled, "Portable Electric Tool Division of G. W. Murphy Industries, Inc." In 1972, the power tool line of G. W. Murphy was acquired by McGraw-Edison Co.
  • Another correspondent reports a "Shopmate 7-inch clutch saw" - a handheld circular saw. Yet another reports a Shopmate radial arm saw.
  • A correspondent reports that his Wizard electric drill by Western Auto Supply Co. matches one by Portable Electric Tools, Inc. in an April 1960 Popular Science advertisement.
  • Correspondent Bonnie Baker-Jones reports that her father, John L. Baker, was CEO of PET. He and Al Miller started the company in Chicago IL.
  • A tag on a "Shop-Craft" drill by "Portable Electric Tools Inc.," seen on eBay.