Most of our old woodworking machines are powered by electric motors. A few dozen companies made those motors, and this page provides a brief listing of those companies.
Company | City | Years | Comments |
Advance Electric Co. | St. Louis, MO | -1920- | From patent records. No confirmed motor sightings. |
Louis Allis Co. | Milwaukee, WI | 1901-1977- | Louis Allis left his father's company, E. P. Allis, just before the merger that created Allis-Chalmers. Louis Allis Co. was Mechanical Appliance Co. until 1922. |
Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. | Milwaukee, WI | -1901-1960- | Better known as an agricultural equipment maker, but they manufactured motors for many years. |
American Electric Motor Co. | Milwaukee, WI | -1929-1933 | Acquired by Cedarburg Manufacturing Co. They had been a subsidiary of Splitdorf-Bethlehem Electrical Co. of Newark, NJ. Cedarburg went bankrupt in 1939. |
Baldor Electric Co. | St. Louis, MO. | 1920-present | In 1967 HQ moved to Forth Smith, AR. One-time supplier of motors for Delta Unisaw and Powermatic 66. |
Bodine Electric Co. | Chicago, IL | 1905-present | Still in business, specializing in very small industrial motors. |
Brown-Brockmeyer Co. | Dayton, OH | -1929-1981 | |
Burke Electric Co. | Erie, PA | -1908-1957- | |
Century Electric Co. | St. Louis, MO | -1910-1993- | By the late 1970s they were owned by Gould Inc., and motors were labeld "Gould/Century". By 1993 the name was MagnaTek Century Electric, Inc. |
Cleveland Electric Motor Co. | Cleveland, OH | -1885-1957- | |
Crocker-Wheeler Electric Co. | Ampere, NJ | -1888-1936- | Also "Crocker-Wheeler Co.", "Crocker-Wheeler Electric Manufacturing Co.", and "Crocker & Curtis Electric Motor Co." |
Dayton Fan & Motor Co. | Dayton, OH | -1889-1929 | Also "Day-Fan Electric Co.", which was acquired by General Motors in 1929. |
Dayton Electric Manufacturing Co. | Niles, IL | Owned by W. W. Grainger, Inc. |
Delco Products Corp. | Dayton, OH | -1910-present | Also known as "Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co.", "Delco-Light Co." and "Delco Products, Division of General Motors Corp." |
Diehl Manufacturing Co. | Elizabeth, NJ; Somerville, NJ | -1909-1958- | By 1965 they were the "Diehl Division of Singer Co., Somerville, NJ" |
Doerr Electric Corp. | Cedarburg, WI | 1939-1986 | Began as "Electro Machines, Inc." Acquired by W. W. Grainger in 1969, then sold to Emerson in 1986. It is uncertain when the Doerr name disappeared. |
Emerson Electric Co. | Paris, TN | || |