Today's find - Mephisto

[wood2woodknot]

Rummaging through a couple tool boxes at an estate sale and came up with a MEPHISTO auger bit and a Swan. Never heard of Mephisto before. Google led me to believe that Hudson Mephisto Tool Co. provided forged tools for the construction and also shipbuilding industries. No idea of when. The auger bit looks in excellent shape. Curious to know if they were a quality product? Anything else to know about them?

Unfortunately this was not a "guy stuff" sale, but at least I wasn't "skunked."

[Bill_Houghton]

I'm surprised your Mephisto auger bit isn't a burning auger.

[tim_leo]

Bill_Houghton said:

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I'm surprised your Mephisto auger bit isn't a burning auger.

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There's a joke here somewhere that I don't quite understand...

[Rob Young]

tim_leo said:

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[blockquote]Bill_Houghton said:

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I'm surprised your Mephisto auger bit isn't a burning auger.

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There's a joke here somewhere that I don't quite understand...

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[/blockquote]

http://marvel.com/universe/Mephisto

[Bill_Houghton]

Rob Young said:

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[blockquote]tim_leo said:

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[blockquote]Bill_Houghton said:

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I'm surprised your Mephisto auger bit isn't a burning auger.

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There's a joke here somewhere that I don't quite understand...

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[/blockquote]

http://marvel.com/universe/Mephisto

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[/blockquote]

And burning augers:


Some info here

[andrewb]

I have found a few Mephisto tools - mostly brace bits. Curiously, while I find very few bits in the 20+ size, at least two or three have been Mephisto. Cannot comment on experience in use but they seem on the same level as Irwin/Greenlee in appearance. Somewhere along the line I got the better part of a Mephisto set but it's been set aside and forgotten about until I saw this thread. Seems like I've had a Mephisto branded set of slip joint pliers and a crescent style adjustable wrench also. Any idea where they were based out of?

Andrew

[wood2woodknot]

Andrew,

This is what I found when I googled Mephisto. I suppose this is the current incarnation of the company:


Wallace Metal Work
R.D. 1 Blacksmith Lane
Kempton, PA 19529

We are Wallace Metalwork the manufacturer of Mephisto caulking, plumbing and other specialty tools. We forge Mephisto tools the same way they have been made for over 185 years. Our tools are 100% made in the U.S.A.

We manufacture forged steel tools using open die forging machines and blacksmith methods as it has been done for centuries. These forging methods require skill but give us the flexibility to forge low production items without extensive tooling cost.

[Don McConnell]

Sorry this is coming in rather late. But, in my defense, my attempts to find something more substantive regarding the "Mephisto" mark has proven to be something of a rabbit hole.

My first instinct was to look up the name in the EAIA _Directory of American Toolmakers_ (DAT for short). And, indeed, there was an entry under Mephisto Tool Company, with working dates from 1830 to 1983, and a vague association with Hamden CT and Hudson NY. All of this based on a single secondary source. To be honest, from the beginning, I was somewhat skeptical that a company would be in existence for that length of time and so little known about it. This seemed to call for further investigation, particularly as I thought I remembered some discussion on a couple of forums years ago of a possible connection between the William A. Ives Mfg. Co., of Wallingford CT, and the Mephisto mark.

In short, I have been able to establish that connection. The W. A. Ives Mfg. Co. is identified as the registrant of the "Mephisto" mark, to be used in connection with "augers, auger bits, machine bits, [expansive bits], as of June 1, 1909 (filed January 27, 1909). The USPTO information also indicates that the first commercial use of this mark had been October 15, 1908. And, indeed, some online searching reveals any number of mentions of the Mephisto bits in connection with the W. A. Ives Mfg. Co., from that time until, at least, 1922. Another Mephisto trade mark entry suggests that the mark eventually became associated with The Mephisto Tool Co. Inc., of Hudson NY, to be used with a wider range of tools, including many associated with sheet metal and plumbing trades. The filing date for this trade mark usage, though, is January 17, 1969. Likely a renewal, as some of the usages are listed as being in force as early as 1959. Exactly when the Mephisto Tool Co., of Hudson NY, came into existence is still unclear, but I think it unlikely that it predates the 1920's.

So what of the DAT listing's mention of Hamden CT? Well, it turns out that William A. Ives lived in the New Haven CT area, and his first auger making activity took place in Hamden. At first in association with the Churchill family, at least as early as 1863. That firm's works had created "Augerville" in Hamden, starting earlier, possibly as early as 1830. (A later version of the company claimed 1830 as a founding date.) Ives was active as part of the Hamden Manufacturing Co. until 1875 (though he may also have started his own business in the interim), and the William A. Ives & Co. firm was established by 1877. This continued, I believe, until William's death in 1888, when The Hamden Mfg. Company, became its successor.

The Hamden Mfg. Co. filed notice on January 29, 1906 of its intention to move from Hamden to Wallingford Ct. A few months later, May 10, 1906, it also filed notice of a name change to W. A. Ives Mfg. Company. So those changes took place not long before filing the Mephisto trade mark.

I'm sure more specifics concerning the use of this trade mark can be discovered, but I hope I've been able to shed a little light on the subject.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

[wood2woodknot]

Don,

Thanks for the history. Quite interesting.

Is it the same Mephisto associated with the Wallace Metal Work business in Kempton, PA doing forged pieces for the plumbing and shipbuilding industries as I noted above? Maybe morphing over in the 1980's? Just trying to connect dots.

Anyway, it's amazing what information is out there on the internet (and how/why did it all get there ?).

[Don McConnell]

According to information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office web-site, the last listed owner of the Mephisto trademark (as originally filed by the W. A. Ives Mfg. Co.) is the Mephisto Tool Co., Inc. of Hudson NY. Though, I suppose the Wallace Metalwork business could have purchased the rights to the trade mark without having registered it with the USPTO, yet. Their business url is MephistoTools.com, which seems consistent with this possibility. Though, I don't note any specific use of the trade mark in its original blackletter font, which was part of the trade mark registration I believe:

Mephisto by D G McConnell, on Flickr