American Tap & Die Co. (A.T. & D. Co.).

I have not written much of lately; seems that after all the research my stories only last a few hours and then they are gone. Finding vintage is the easy part, finding information is the tricky part.

"American" Brand Taps, "Eagle" Brand Dies,& "Adamantine" Screw plates, are all made by the Nichols Bros. brand of tools.

Walter E. Nichols was born in Greenfield, MA in 1852; he founded his cutlery firm along with his brother J. Henry in 1892. Starting in 1902 in Greenfield, MA., they formed the American Tap & Die Corporation. In 1925 they combined with the Williamsburg Manufacturing Company to form the Threadwell Tool Company that lasted till 1985.

Walter lived in Greenfield till his death in 1928.

So when I picked up these two small Dies only marked A.T. & D. Co. my curiosity got the better of me and the search was on to learn more about the company that made them.

I hope you enjoy the History and the few pictures on this fine cold afternoon along with a Greenfield History link.

http://industrialhistory.org/about/our-collection/companies-represented-by-our-collection/

Thanks Woody. I almost gave up finding this brand on GJ. It's a cool AM. T. & D. Co. 2" pipe tap. I'm guessing that it's indeed made by the same company as your dies. However, it's a little strange to me that it's "AM. T. & D." vs. "A. T. & D." Also interesting how early pipe taps/dies used what looks like an "R" to designate "Pi" for "pipe", as appears on this pipe tap. Nichols Bros. item, most likely? I'll also post this on the big Tap/Die thread.

American / American Tap & Die Co., Greenfield, MA / est. 1905 acquired 1923 by Wells Bros. / "A.T. & D. Co." "AM. T. & D." pipe wrenches, taps and dies / (see also Threadwell) / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/american-tap-die-co-a-t-d-co.383174/ / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...tage-taps-and-dies.373559/page-9#post-9584242 / http://americancenturies.mass.edu/c...id=18436&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1 /

Mechanics / Mechanics Tool & Wrench Co., Greenfield, MA / "Threadwell" taps & dies / see also Threadwell Tool Co., see also American Tap & Die Co. / http://americancenturies.mass.edu/c...id=18436&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1 /

Nichols / Nichols Bros., Greenfield, MA / cutlery, edge tools / est. 1892 Walter E. Nichols and J. Henry Nichols became American Tap & Die Co. 1905 / http://americancenturies.mass.edu/c...id=18436&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1 /

Sheffield / Sheffield Corp., Dayton, OH / successor to Threadwell Tap & Die Co. (after 1946) acquired by Bendix Corp. 1956 / http://www.vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=11952&tab=0 /

Threadwell / Threadwell Tap and Die Co., Greenfield, MA / est. 1934 acquired 1946 Sheffield Corp. / patent 2153054 Apr 4 1939 Herbert J. Smith / http://americancenturies.mass.edu/c...id=18436&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1 /

Threadwell / Threadwell Tool Co., Greenfield, MA / est. 1926 / (see also American Tap & Die Co.) / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=383174 / http://americancenturies.mass.edu/c...id=18436&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1 /

Wilkins / Geo. H. Wilkins, 141 Federal, Greenfield, MA / patent 996385 Jun 27 1911 & 1382448 Jun 21 1921 George H. Wilkins / hacksaw frame / see also K-D Mfg Co. / see also https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/harry-wolf-kulp-pat-s-2-064-264-2-533-121.352694/ /

patent 592044 Oct 19 1897 R.S. Bascom & N.E. Martin -die stock - ( manufacturer unknown 12/04/22 )

on Oct 24, 2016, on bladeforums.com, Phil Johnson wrote:
"Walter started a threading tool company in 1902 and put the two businesses together in 1905 as the American Tap & Die Corp."
Phil Johnson, great-great-grandson of John R. Nichols
[email protected]

==

Wilkins / Geo. H. Wilkins, 141 Federal, Greenfield, MA / patent 996385 Jun 27 1911 & 1382448 Jun 21 1921 George H. Wilkins / hacksaw frame / see also K-D Mfg Co. / see also https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/harry-wolf-kulp-pat-s-2-064-264-2-533-121.352694/ /

patents for George H. Wilkins:

996385 Jun 27 1911 "glass cutter"

1352490 Sep 14 1920 "combined shipping case and disply rack"

1382448 Jun 21 1921 George H. Wilkins hacksaw frame

==

patents for Wells Bros:

962184 June 21 1910 Frederic E. Wells

939648 Nov 9 1909 Frederic E. Wells and Fred W. Wells (* George H. Wilkins is signed a a witness on this patent *)

(* more wells patents listed in the following post * )

==

patent for Herbert J. Smith:

2153054 Apr 4 1939 die stock no assignee (presumably made by Threadwell)

2227281 Dec 31 1940 tap no assignee (presumably made by Threadwell


1908 Automobile Trade Directory pp 361 American Tap & Die Co. ad


American Tap & Die tap & die set ( photo: ebay )

American Tap & Die Co., Greenfield, MA LOGO ( photo: bmwrd0 )

* I believe that bmwrd0 posted photos of that set (that the logo was lifted from) in the "Garage Sale" thread.

(* edited 12/04/22 07:22 PST BK *)

datamp said:

The 1897-10-19 die die stock patent is #592,044

Click to expand...

datamp said:

added patents 592,044, 939,648, 947,319, 962,184, 1,382,448, 2,153,054, and 2,227,281 to datamp

Click to expand...

I cannot recall where I found the die die stock with the date of Oct 19 1897 on it. No idea if it's been pinned to a manufacturer.
I got sidetracked in the middle of this by corkscrews and scissors. Most of those patents are Wells, two are Smith. It's something of a challenge to untangle one from another.

this is a *.pdf you can find online: "History of Greenfield Tool Industry" 1963 Herb Darling - just one of many sources - BK