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Shurly & Dietrich Co. was a Canadian saw manufacturer that was founded in 1873[1] by Cosmos J. Shurly (1835 - 1918)[2] and Jerome C. Dietrich (1838 - 1925).[3] Shurly & Dietrich saws were heavily used in the Canadian logging industry.

History

In 1873, Jerome Dietrich and Cosmos Shurly brought skills learned while working at Disston Saw Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,[4] and invested $12,000 to found the Shurly & Dietrich Co. They hired nine saw makers from Rochester, New York and Sheffield, England and began to manufacture saws in Galt, Ontario, now called Cambridge.[1][5] By 1886 the company employed 70 skilled workman.[6] The company held a number of Canadian patents for saw design.[7]

By 1906, Cosmos' son Theodore Shurly was the factory superintendent.[8]

Shurly & Dietrich later expanded into Quebec by purchasing an existing saw factory, Beaver Saw Works, in Sherbrooke.[9]

Between 1904 and 1910 the company expanded its original Galt factory,[10][11] but in 1914 it sustained damage from a fire. By that time they had also built another plant in St. Catharines.[12]

In 1931, Shurly & Dietrich merged with another saw manufacturer, E. C. Atkins of Hamilton, and became Shurly-Dietrich-Atkins.[13][14]

During World War II, Shurly Dietrich produced about 40,000 tons of light armoured plate,[15] bringing in workers from Newfoundland to supplement the workforce.[16]

In 1957, Shurly Dietrich was one of two main saw manufacturers in Canada.[17] By 1968 about 1,400,000 feet of band saw blades designed for cutting metal and over 1,000,000 jigsaw blades were being manufactured each year.[15]

In 1969, Shurly Dietrich was acquired by H.K. Porter.

In 1973, Shurly Dietrich closed its plant after one hundred years in business.

References

  1. 1 2 "Mfg. - Shurly Dietrich Saw Makers, Canada - Toolemera.com". toolemera.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-07.
  2. ↑ "Cosmos John Shurly b. 11 Feb 1835 London, England d. 7 Feb 1918 Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada: Waterloo Region Generations".
  3. ↑ "Jerome Colwell Dietrich b. 2 Apr 1838 Victor, Ontario, New York, USA d. 6 Oct 1925 Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada: Waterloo Region Generations".
  4. ↑ Anson Albert Gard (1904). The Hub and the Spokes: Or, The Capital and Its Environs. Emerson Press.
  5. ↑ "Docking Saw", Lee Valley Woodworking Newsletter, ol. 4, Issue 5. May 2010
  6. ↑ "Shurly & Dietrich". Industries of Canada : Historical and Commercial Sketches : Hamilton and environs, M. G. Bixby & Co., 1886.
  7. ↑ Canada. Patent Office (1889). Canadian Patent Office Record. pp. 1–.
  8. ↑ Charles Whately Parker; Barnet M. Greene (1935). Who's who in Canada: An Illustrated Biographical Record of Men and Women of the Time. International Press Limited.
  9. ↑ Hardware: Devoted to the American Hardware Trade... 1899.
  10. ↑ The Canadian Engineer. Monetary Times Print. Company. 1904.
  11. ↑ American Machinist. McGraw-Hill. 1910.
  12. ↑ Contract Record and Engineering Review. H.C. MacLean Publications. 1914.
  13. ↑ Carpenter. 1931.
  14. ↑ "Canadian Saw Manufacturers Merge Interests". Hardware Age. David Williams Company. January 1931.
  15. 1 2 "Welcome to Southworks Outlet Mall - About Southworks". www.southworks.ca. Archived from the original on 2001-06-04.
  16. ↑ Dearlove, Karen, “(Im)Migration and Community Building:Newfoundlanders in Cambridge, Ontario”, Paper presented at York University,Toronto, May 2006
  17. ↑ Great Britain. Board of Trade; Great Britain. Commercial Relations and Exports Dept (1957). Canada: Economic and Commercial Conditions in Canada. H.M. Stationery Office.
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