Photo Index - Westbuilt Metal Products Co. - 8S

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Westbuilt Metal Products Co.
Los Angeles, CA

True Manufacturer:
Westbuilt Metal Products Co., Los Angeles, CA

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Table Saw
Machine Size:	8"
Submitted By:	Dana Parker

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	8S
Date of Manufacturer:	Probably late 1940s
Serial Number:	2851
Last Updated	9/14/2019 5:48:53 PM

Comments:

My father and uncles owned Parker Mfg. Co. in Santa Monica, California, which manufactured the Parker Shear (for cutting sheet metal) and the Multi-Max Press. The company was a machine shop, and needed a shear, but due to long World War II backlogs at machine-tool manufacturers, could not get one in a timely manner (even after the war had ended). So, rather than wait months or years, the company designed and built its own shear. My uncle showed it off to another shop owner, who made him an offer to buy it at a price he couldn't refuse. So, they sold the shear. They made a few more, and sold them also. First thing you know, they're in the shear manufacturing business...

Building on this success, they designed and produced the Multi-Max Press. They sold both products to industrial customers across the country, and even abroad.

The foundries of the time were severely backlogged also. So, rather than design the shears and presses to be made out large castings, they made them out of steel plate. Steel plate was more available, and had the added advantage of being far less brittle than cast iron, and much easier to repair if that were ever to be needed. The result was a unique product - made without castings - that reflected the sorts of innovations prompted by WWII.

One of the first Parker Shears produced is now in one of the car barns at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California. See Wikipedia article on Parker Mfg. Co.

One of the company's employees started Westbuilt Metal Products Company, which made Timberline table saws. He built at least one prototype of his table saw in the Parker Mfg. Co. shop, and gave it to my father out of gratitude for letting him use the shop to build his prototype. This was probably in the late 1940s. I now have this table saw (which is pictured here).

I suppose the table-saw manufacturers of the time were backlogged also. Perhaps that is what prompted the entrepreneurial Parker Mfg. Co. employee to create this product. It was evidently built as a bench-top model to be attached to a support provided by the user.

Photo 1: