Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Vanished Tool Makers: The Covers Company, Bedford, Ohio

I inherited this from my late father-in-law, still in its original pasteboard box:


And, yes, I can honestly attest that it's just the tool for ledge-type lavoratories!

Bedford was a hotbed of manufacturing at one time.  Companies included the McMyler-Interstate Company which built the equipment that dug the Panama Canal and in 1919 built the "League Island Crane," the largest crane in the world at that time. Weighing 3000 tons without load, it's capacity was 350 long tons, enabling it to lift battleship turrets.  


http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/giant-cranes-112511/
From the base, you'd have to crane your neck to see the top.  It was demolished in 1996.

Visit the Bedford Historical Society for an impressive list of other important manufacturers that once made that city their home.   

1 comment:

Mark Fischer said...

I just found the identical wrench (also in the pasteboard box) in a bin of tools that belonged to my grandfather. I inherited the bin of tools when my father died last year. The bin is labeled "Henny's tools, 1920/1930s".

It has a lot of fascinating old tools in it and they all seem to be still serviceable (i've used some of them, but i'm being careful with them)