This ultra basic tool must date from the sixties or seventies, back in the days that an electric drill was gods gift to the handyman. Still, it would do the job if you wanted to make a candle stick or a short banister spindle...
They turn up often enough online, but no company information or history, just some weird pdf webpages with lorim ipsim body text.
But it makes the crappy piece of junk I used as a kid look positively quality.
Another one of their engineering marvels was a saw table that you clamped your own circular saw to and it became (some semblance of) a table saw:
ReplyDeletehttps://d323w7klwy72q3.cloudfront.net/a/2008/20080807manhattan/7612A.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/_UCSyCaAf1vjFvj4V6NLgBsnpQgOAtaGUYqY6HHAwE1wSqCviv2zZfgr09P2MP1VWluKBtWjy6SqVnOyD2_P1Ri5qFp5BVsOSoldJoe3IFgwouG1lyC7suG8Xp7986b9c7CzGNQVWLyEB4DcN9GVbzDZaVfEdvLX7hf3FEV0
They also made a version for a router or a sabre saw(!):
https://bidsgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Hirsh-ROUTER-And-SABRE-SAW-TABLE-Vintage-New-In-Box-0.jpg
I have the Hirsh adjustable picture frame clamp and it works OK. I also have a WorkMate-branded swiveling work holder vise that looks suspiciously like a Hirsh designed and built product. Even the packaging resembles Hirsh packaging.
A little googling says Hirsh may have been bought by a company called Knape & Vogt in the 90's and they integrated some of Hirsh's products into their Iron Horse line. Regardless, I don't think they were ever considered anything ore than a homeowner quality product.