In business by 1951 as Rankin Brothers Precision Machine & Tool Works, or just Rankin Bros. for short, this firm made the Apex line of sanders. Within a decade the name had become Rankin Brothers Manufacturing, Inc..
In 1965 Rankin Brothers acquired the
Davis & Wells line of light industrial woodworking machinery from
Comet Industries Corp.; Rankin Brothers continued the manufacture of Davis & Wells machinery. There were other corporate ownership changes involving them, which is a topic for future research. Other companies involved include
PAL Industries,
Davis & Wells,
Comet Manufacturing Co., Siegler Co., and Lear Siegler, Inc. We welcome any information that would clarify those events.
Information Sources
- An Apex sander in the Photo Index has a label that says, "Apex / Disk Grinder / Manufactured by / Rankin Bros. / Precision Machine & Tool Wks. / Lynwood, Calif."
- An Apex sander in the Photo Index has a label that says, "Apex / Manufactured by PAL Industries, Inc. 11090 So. Alameda Lynwood, Calif. 90262".
- 1951 issue of World Oil, snippet that lists "Rankin Brothers, Lynwood". Given the limited view available through Google Books, t's not clear what the list is for.
- 1965 issue of Industrial Woodworking, volume 17 page 40. "The entire Davis & Wells line of industrial woodworking machinery will now be manufactured and sold by Rankin Brothers Manufacturing, Inc., Lynwood. Calif., according to a transaction announced by Tom D. Rankin, president, whereby all manufacturing rights. tools, and designs for the 40year-old Davis '& Wells brand were acquired for cash from Comet lndustries Corp., Los Angeles.
- Rankin Bros. acquired the Davis & Wells brand in 1965. Other points to ponder in the various related company mergers and acquisitions are given in an OWWM posting by Keith Bohn.
- We have investigated the possibility that the Apex line of sanders was developed elsewhere and acquired by Rankin Bros. We could not find any evidence that this was the case: all Apex sanders have the Rankin name or the name of one of the companies known to have come afterwards.
- A CaliforniaCorporate page provides the date of incorporation for Rankin Brothers Manufacturing, Inc.: June 16, 1954. The company "agent" was Ralph R. Rankin, and the current corporate status is "dissolved".