Lon Sippy, second-generation tool maker and CEO of Highpoint Tool & Machine, poses at a lathe at Sippy’s historic machine shop near Sagertown.
Lon Sippy, second-generation tool maker and CEO of Highpoint Tool & Machine, sets up a lathe at Sippy’s historic machine shop near Sagertown.
Lon Sippy, second-generation tool maker and CEO of Highpoint Tool & Machine, poses at a lathe at Sippy’s historic machine shop near Sagertown.
Lon Sippy, second-generation tool maker and CEO of Highpoint Tool & Machine, sets up a lathe at Sippy’s historic machine shop near Sagertown.
The Greater Meadville Tooling Center, a non-profit educational organization, is hosting a fundraiser to support its historic Sippy Machine Shop. {}It is located near Sagertown and is a working museum that displays industrial equipment and other tool and manufacturing artifacts. {}
An invitation-only event at the museum in November launched a membership and sponsorship campaign to pay for the museum and future development of interactive smartphone displays for visitors.
Sippy’s historic machine shop rebuilt Davenport and later Forisk’s machine shop on West College Street, Meadville.
The store was founded in 1906 by Fred Davenport, a Meadville native and entrepreneur who designed, developed, patented and manufactured milling machines and various machining tools. Albert Forisca started working in the store in 1926 when he was 14 years old. Foriska purchased the company in 1962 and changed its name to Foriska Machine Shop.
When the shop and its equipment went up for auction in July 2020, it was bought by Lon Sippy, a second-generation tool maker and CEO of Highpoint Tool & Machine near Segtown.
A copy of the building of the machine shop was built on the territory of Highpoint. With the opening of the museum in October 2021, the store’s antique equipment has been moved and reinstalled in the new building.
Those who worked in the machine shop founded the precision machining industry in Meadville, Sippy says.
When the Hookless Fastener Co. was founded in the city in 1913, Meadville’s machining precision was achieved through the development of the “hookless” or zipper.
According to Sippy, a “chain machine” was developed for the production of zippers, which is still an engineering marvel today.
The machine takes a special Y-shaped wire, cuts scoops from it, then punches holes in the recesses and protrusions of the scoops and attaches each scoop to a fabric tape, forming a continuous chain of zippers.
Chain machines require the invention and development of interchangeable parts, quality control systems and heat treatment processes.
It houses a machine shop, as Davenport’s machines are used to make chain machines.
“It’s amazing that Davenport designed, manufactured and patented the necessary machine in this little shop in Meadville,” Sippy said. “He has a rich history and people in the industry remember that.
Go to the museum when the machine is running and making noise. Mills, lathes and grinders are powered by belts connected to a raised central drive shaft.
The electric motor rotates the upper central shaft through a wide belt. When the engine starts, the wide belt whistles to drive the drive shaft. Shafts running the length of the building rotate at 250 revolutions per minute.
Each machine can operate at one of four speeds depending on how its belt and pulley system is adjusted. Belt width determines the power of each belt driven machine, and wider belts produce more horsepower.
“It’s very different from today,” Sippy said, referring to modern computer-controlled machines that can have multiple functions.
Greater Meadville Tooling Center Chairman Chris Minnis agrees that the museum is a great gateway to the past.
“You can really see how our industry has gotten to where it is today – look how far we’ve come,” Minnis said. “Children and adults should see it.
“It’s amazing that the machines that really started this (tool and mechanical) industry were made in Meadville.”
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Post time: Nov-02-2022