Photo Index - Parker Manufacturing Co. - Parker Shear, Models 1048

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Parker Manufacturing Co.
Santa Monica, CA

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Metal Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Other
Machine Size:	48"
Submitted By:	Dana Parker

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Parker Shear, Models 1048
Date of Manufacturer:	Probably 1946
Serial Number:	108
Last Updated	9/14/2019 6:12:19 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:

Comments: Parker Shear #108, before being rebuilt. Judging from the small size (all the existing company literature shows larger shears) and low serial number, this is probably the eighth shear the company made.
Source: My photo

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Photo 2:

Comments: Parker Shear #108
Source: My photo

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Photo 3:

Comments: Parker Shear #108 after being rebuilt with new clutch and OSHA safety requirements. This shear is now in use in one of the car barns at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA.
Source: My photo

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Photo 4:

Comments: Flyer for later model Parker Shears.
Source: My files

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Photo 5:

Comments: Flyer for the Multi-Max Press. The Multi-Max Press was also designed and built by Parker Mfg. Co. (and like the Parker Shear, was also built out of steel plate, rather than castings).
Source: My files

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