Sidney Tool Co. was founded in 1905 by Alfred C. Getz, when he bought and renamed the assets of the defunct machine-tool maker Sebastian, May & Co. Based on scanty evidence, it appears that the company made both machine tools and woodworking machinery nearly from the beginning.

Advertisement from the December 1906 American Blacksmith

Advertisement from December 1913 Canadian Builder and Carpenter

In 1916 Sidney became one of the earliest companies to make a woodworking machine with ball bearings when they introduced their new "No. 1" 36-inch bandsaw with SKF bearings. Within a year or two, however, the company de-emphasized woodworking machinery in favor of machine tools. In mid-1918 they changed their name to Sidney Machine Tool Co. During WWII they ceased making woodworking machinery altogether as they focused on making machine tools for the war effort; they never resumed.

In about November 1957 Sidney Machine Tool Co. was acquired by the Buhr Machine Tool Co., which operated it as a subsidiary. In 1963 the Sidney subsidiary was acquired by Summerfeld Machine Co. Summerfeld-Sidney stopped manufacturing lathes in early 1964. In 1967, McFadden Machine Co. purchased Sommerfeld-Sidney. In April 1974, John and Mary Sherbondy purchased drawings and parts for the Sidney lathes. They never manufactured any lathes themselves but rather supplied parts. They did business as Sidney Machine Tool Co. As far as we know, parts and service for Sidney woodworking machines have been unavailable for a great many years, and parts and service for their metal lathes are also no longer available.

Information Sources

• 1911 letterhead, "The Sidney Tool Co."
• 1914 catalog, which gives the company name as The Sidney Tool Co.
• Batory lists catalogs from 1916 to the 1930s.
• A 1915 ad in "Carpenter and Builder" features their No. 40 "Famous" Universal Woodworker, bought by "over 4,000 contractors and builders."
• A posting on The Practical Machinist website, quoted below, provides a history of Monarch Machine Co., for whom A. C. Getz worked. We do not yet understand how Sidney Tool Co. and Monarch Machine Co. are related, if at all. It seems as if Getz was an executive at Monarch while he was owner of (and machine designer for) Monarch; this seems somewhat unlikely.

  The Monarch Machine Company first open for business on October 4, 1909, in a newly constructed 9,960 sq ft shop located on Oak St. in Sidney Ohio, with 20 employees. The first lathe was shipped the later part of the month. Only 14” and 16” swing lathes were offered.

  Company officers were, I. H. Thedieck, President, W. H. Wagner, Vice President and A. C. Getz as secretary and acting plant manager. D. M. Paddock was first shop superintendent.

  Monarch traces its roots to the Sebastian-May Company, a Cincinnati, Ohio manufacturer and dealer in tool and power lathes, drill presses, machinist and amateurs’ supplies. Benjamin Sebastian, Jr., founded it with Jacob May in the 1882. They moved to Sidney, Ohio in July 1890, with help from Sidney’s commercial club, which help them to secure land and build a new factory. In 1892, Benjamin Sebastian sold his share in the company to Sidney native, Allen P. Wagner, and returned to Cincinnati to start the Sebastian Lathe Company. In May of 1893, A. P. Wagner bought out Jacob May’s shares, where in May returned to Cincinnati to joined his former partner. Wagner would keep the Sebastian-May Co name for many years.

  Due to poor economic conditions and legal problems in 1898, Wagner moved his business to Detroit, Michigan, with a loan secured from I. H. Thedieck (his cousin’s husband). He also changed the name of the company to the A. P. Wagner Co. In 1908, Thedieck foreclosed on Wagner, thus providing the machinery and engineering drawings to start The Monarch Machine Company. The designs of the lathes secured trace back to the designs made by Benjamin Sebastian with little changes.

• A correspondent, Dale Martin, pointed us to this information from the Shelby County Historical Society.

  An enterprise serving the woodworking businesses in town was started in 1905. The Sidney Machine Tool Company made a complete line of woodworking machinery, including band saws and jointers. The building housing the business still stands, and is located on Highland Avenue at the southwest corner of Highland Avenue and North Street. The site was first occupied by the Sebastian-May Company, which owned the assets that I. H. Thedieck purchased a decade later to establish the Monarch Machine Tool Company.

  A.C. Getz had returned to Sidney, Ohio, in 1904 from Defiance with capital and wanted to make a go of converting the defunct Sebastian-May firm into a success — the Sidney Machine Tool Company. He had a penchant for inventions and agricultural pursuits, the latter including the 'culture' of aristocratic breeds of hogs. Getz' hogs were fed on fresh whole milk and clean grains, shampooed and manicured every morning.

  His most famous invention was the "Universal" wood worker, which combined 5 to 16 machines by supplementary equipment, and enabled 5 men to work at one time without interference. It was regarded as invaluable in the small woodworking factory, where there was not room to accommodate several individual power-driven machines. The Sidney Tool's most popular line of equipment was the 'Famous' line of woodworking machinery. Around WWI, the company got into the machine tool business and began the manufacture of engine lathes. During the war, government orders for this line demanded about 90% of the company’s capacity. The firm continued in the wood machine business until about WWII. The building is now vacant after having been previously used for years by the Stolle Corporation for storage.

• From the Findlaw archive of Lundell v. Sidney Machine Tool Co. (1987) 190 Cal.App.3d 1546 , 236 Cal.Rptr. 70:

  The (metal-working) lathe involved in this litigation was originally manufactured by Sidney Machine Tool Company in 1956. The original company no longer exists, having been purchased in 1961 [sic] by the Buhr Machine Tool Company (Buhr-Sidney), and then in 1963 by Summerfeld Machine Company (Summerfeld-Sidney). Summerfeld-Sidney stopped manufacturing lathes in early 1964. The product line was discontinued and no lathe bearing the Sidney name has since been manufactured. In 1967, McFadden Machine Company (McFadden-Sidney) purchased Sommerfeld-Sidney. In April 1974, 10 years after the original company ceased manufacturing lathes, the Sherbondys acquired some of the McFadden-Sidney assets from Paul and Goldie McFadden for $90,000. The assets purchased consisted of various drawings, specifications, parts and patterns necessary to produce parts for the old Sidney lathes. Excluded from the sale were machine tools, production equipment, and raw materials.

  The decision was in favor of the defendants (the Sherbondys) who had not assumed any of the liability associated with the products Sidney had made.
• Information on the Sidney's 1916 introduction of a ball-bearing bandsaw comes from an article in the March 2004 The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association by Dana Martin Batory.
• 1918-07-25 The Iron Age. "The Sidney Tool Co., Sidney, Ohio, maker of lathes, has changed its name to the Sidney Machine Tool Co. It has just completed a building 60 x 130 ft., one story, which will be used for assembling. Ground is also being broken for a boiler room to supply the plant with steam heat.
• November 1957 Automation, page 22. "PURCHASE of Sidney Machine Tool Co. by Buhr Machine Tool Co. has been announced by Joseph H. Buhr, president of Buhr. Sidney Machine Tool will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Buhr and will continue to manufacture heavy duty lathes and coil winders."
• 1957-11-04 American Machinist, vol. 101 issues 23-27 p. 179. "Sidney Machine Tool ANN ARBOR, MICH—Sidney Machine Tool Co, Sidney, Ohio, manufacturer of heavy-duty precision metalworking lathes, has been acquired by Buhr Machine Tool Co, Ann Arbor, Mich, and will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Buhr, continuing to manufacture and market Sidney lathes and coil winders... Joseph H Buhr, president of the parent company , will also become president of Sidney, and W R Gerchow will become executive vice president and general manager, posts he will continue to hold at Buhr."
• 1958 issue of Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record, Volumes 101-102, p. 44.

  With a $2,000,000 expansion program, begun in 1951, now completed, Buhr Machine Tool Company, Ann Arbor, looks to the future with anticipation and confidence, Joseph H. Buhr, Jr., president of the machine tool manufacturing company, told a press group early in March.

  In the five-year period from 1951 to 1956, the company spent well over $1,000,000 for plant expansion, boosting its floor area to 50,000 square feet. Last year, it spent another million dollars for new equipment and a 21,000 square-foot plant addition, increasing its capacity by 75 per cent. Also in 1957, the company acquired the Sidney Machine Tool Company, of Sidney, Ohio, maker of tool room lathes, to further diversify its lines.

  Lists Potential Markets

  After displaying its newly developed automation tools, Mr. Buhr told the press group that he based his confidence on the future outlook on several factors, including new developments in the auto industry which purchases the largest volume of Buhr's production; the accelerated highway programs; emergence of two and three-car families; and the trend toward an American small car.

  Among the potential uses for machine tools in the auto industry, Buhr listed trans-axles, piston-free engines, new suspension systems, and turbine power.

  In addition to these potentials in the auto industry, he pointed out that other industries d new automated machine tools, such as the manufacturers of appliances, business machines, missiles and electronic devices.

  Reduces Lead Time

  Wilbur R. Gerchow, executive vice-president and general manager of the Buhr company, explained that the firm's expansion program was based on three factors: (1) Need for increased capacity to enable the firm to get a better share of the market; (2) necessity for reducing the lead time for machine deliveries—this period had to be cut drastically; and (3) the trend toward singular responsibility wherein the responsibility for entire production facilities is entrusted to a single source.

  Commenting on the reported deceleration of automation in some automotive plants, Chester S. Johns, Buhr sales manager, said that such procedure will involve only minor changes and will not involve the basic automation principles. He pointed out that the use of automated equipment will expand in other industries to offset any deceleration that might occur in automotive plants. Adolf A. Vetter, vice-president in charge of sales, declared that orders will exceed shipments in 1958, and that a "definite upward trend" in orders had been experienced by Buhr in the past few weeks. He believes that the country's economy will continue to grow favourably in the next three to four years.

• September 1958 Machinery Magazine, in an ad for Sidney Machine Tool Co., "a wholly owned subsidiary of Buhr Machine Tool Company."
• 1960 issue of Machinery, in an ad: "SIDNEY MACHINE TOOL COMPANY • SIDNEY, OHIO / A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF BUHR MACHINE TOOL CO."
• 1961 issue of Manufacturing Engineering and Management, p. 157. "Sidney Machine Tool Co., Sidney, Ohio, has named E. W. Wagner vice president and general manager. Wagner was formerly general sales manager. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Buhr Machine Tool Co., Ann Arbor, Mich."
• 1961-08-30 issue of the Sidney News-Herald. "Public auction of the plant and equipment of the Sidney Machine Tool Co., Highland Avenue, has been set for Sept. 13, according to word received here by city officials. The sale will be conducted by Samuel L. Wintersnitz & Co., of Chicago and Detroit, which acquired the location operation from Buhr Machine Tool Co., Ann Arbor, Mich., in April of this year."
• 1963 issue of IW: The Management Magazine, page 28: "Sommerfeld Machine Co. Inc., Braddock, Pa., acquired Sidney Machine Tool Co., Sidney, Ohio. The line of Sidney lathes will be produced at 201 Corey Ave., Braddock, Pa."