Moore Drop Forging Company

Table of Contents

Introduction

Company History

The Moore Drop Forging Company was founded in 1900 by Arthur L. Moore as a merchant drop-forge operator, with an initial location on Birnie Avenue in the Brightwood section of Springfield, Massachusetts. A 1902 report from the Massachusetts Tax Commissioner listed the incorporation date as October 15, 1900.

A 1903 directory published by the American Iron and Steel Institute noted the company as a maker of steel forgings for bicycles, automobiles, and machines, with an annual capacity of 500 tons.

Fig. 1. 1906 Notice for Moore Drop Forging. [External Link]

In 1906 the Moore Drop Forging plant was destroyed by fire.

Fig. 1 shows a report the fire, as published on page 47 of the December 20, 1906 issue of The Motor World.

The text notes that Moore Drop Forging was primarily engaged in making forgings for automobiles at the time, and that the fire was likely to result in significant disruptions for some auto makers.

Fig. 2. 1908 Ad for Moore Drop Forging.

The scan in Fig. 2 shows a small ad for Moore Drop Forging, as published on page 47 [External Link] of the December 31, 1908 issue of The Iron Age.

Fig. 3. 1914 Ad for Moore Drop Forging Monkey Wrenches. [External Link]

Fig. 3 shows an ad for Moore Drop Forging monkey wrenches, as published on page 24 of the November, 1914 edition of American Exporter.

The illustration shows two of the monkey wrenches offered by Moore Drop Forging, one with a steel handle on the left and a wooden handle on the right.

The "Morco" Brand

Fig. 4. 1915 Advertisement for "Morco" Pipe Wrenches. [External Link]

In 1912 Moore began using "Morco" as a brand for wrenches and shortly afterwards registered it as a trademark.

Fig. 4 shows an ad for "Morco" pipe wrenches, as published on page 16 of the July, 1915 edition of American Exporter.

The illustration shows a Stillson-pattern pipe wrench offered by Moore Drop Forging.

Conveyor Chain

Fig. 5. 1927 Notice for "Morco" Conveyor Chain. [External Link]

By 1927 Moore Drop Forging was offering drop-forged conveyor chain under its "Morco" brand.

Fig. 5 shows a notice for "Morco" conveyor chain, as published on page 25 of the October 15, 1927 edition of Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record.

The text notes that Moore was one of the largest contract drop-forge operations by this time.

The Sears Contract

In 1938 Moore Drop Forging began supplying tools to Sears Roebuck, possibly initially for the Sears Dunlap brand. The vendor relationship with Sears apparently went well, as by the mid 1940s Moore won a major contract to supply a wide range of tools for the Sears Craftsman brand.

Moore became the primary producer of Craftsman open-end, tappet, box-end, and combination wrenches, as well as sockets and drive tools. These tools were marked with the well-known "V" manufacturer's code and formed the backbone of the highly successful modern era of Craftsman tools. (See our article on Craftsman Maker "V" for more information.)

Moore built a large modern factory in Springfield to support its Craftsman contract, and photographs of the factory and operations can be found beginning on page 52 of Springfield, Volume II [External Link] by Ginger Cruikshank (Arcadia Publishing 2000). Cruikshank's book is a collection of photographs and essays related to Springfield, and includes information on Moore Drop Forging as one of the important businesses in the Springfield area. (The book credits the Danaher Corporation, Moore's later corporate parent, for several of the photographs, so the information on Moore is presumed to be accurate.)

The Formation of Easco

In 1967 Moore Drop Forging was acquired by the Eastern Stainless Steel Corporation, a maker of stainless and specialty steels, and by 1969 the company had been restructured as the Easco Corporation.

Easco continued the Moore contract for production of Craftsman wrenches and socket tools for Sears, and also offered a line of hand tools under the Easco brand.

Later Operations

In 1990 Easco Hand Tools was acquired by the Danaher Corporation and afterwards operated as a division of the parent company.

In 2010 Danaher merged its tool operations (including Easco) with the corresponding divisions of Cooper Industries to form the Apex Tool Group.

Patents

Trademarks

In 1930 the company filed a trademark application for their M-Circle logo, with the first use listed as 1908. The M-Circle logo will be found marked on both Moore's own tools and as a forge mark on some of their contract production.

Fig. 6. 1913 Application for "Morco" Trademark. [External Link]

On March 22, 1913 the company filed an application for a "Morco" trademark to be used on a line of pipe wrenches. The notice in Fig. 6 shows the application as published by the USPTO on June 17, 1913.

Tool Identification

M-Circle Logo

Fig. 7. M-Circle Logo from Trademark #292,165.

The scan in Fig. 7 shows the M-Circle logo as it was presented for trademark #292,165.

This logo was typically forged into tools (or other objects) made as contract production.

References and Resources

Photographs and observations of particular tools are based on items in the Alloy Artifacts collection.

Catalog Coverage

Currently we do not have any catalogs for Moore Drop Forging.

Selected Tools

Moore Drop Forging Stillson-Pattern 6 Inch Pipe Wrench

Fig. 8. Moore Drop Forging 6 Inch Stillson-Pattern Pipe Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Marking Detail.

Fig. 8 shows a Moore Drop Forging 6 inch Stillson-pattern pipe wrench with a wooden handle, stamped "Stillson's Wrench" with "Made by Moore Drop Forging Co." and "Springfield, Mass. U.S.A." on the shank.

The overall length is 6.0 inches closed and 7.0 inches fully extended. The finish is plain steel.

Moore Drop Forging Stillson-Pattern 12 Inch Pipe Wrench

Fig. 9. Moore Drop Forging 12 Inch Stillson-Pattern Pipe Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Marking Detail.

Fig. 9 shows a Moore Drop Forging 12 inch Stillson-pattern pipe wrench with a wooden handle.

The shank is stamped "Stillson's Wrench" with "Made by Moore Drop Forging Co." and "Springfield, Mass. U.S.A.", followed by the M-Circle logo (see middle inset).

The M-Circle logo also appears as a forge mark on the movable jaw of the wrench.

The overall length is 12.0 inches closed and 13.8 inches fully extended. The finish is plain steel.

Contract Production

In this section we'll show some examples of contract production by Moore Drop Forging. The company's extensive production for Sears Roebuck is documented separately in our article on Craftsman Maker "V" tools.

Walden-Worcester OR916 1/2-Drive Ratchet

Fig. 10. Walden OR916 1/2-Drive Ratchet, with Insets for Back Side and Side View, ca. 1930.

Fig. 10 shows a 1/2-drive Walden OR916 female-drive ratchet acquired as part of a No. 16-R socket set from around 1930. The shank is marked with "Walden Worcester" forged into the front, with "Made in USA" forged into the back side.

Note also the M-Circle logo forged into the back side shank at the right.

The overall length is 10.5 inches, and the finish is cadmium plating.

Walden is not known to have had much (if any) drop-forging capabilities and therefore turned to other companies, in this case Moore Drop Forging, when forged parts were needed.

This ratchet can be seen in context as the Walden OR916 Ratchet in our article on Walden.

Moore Drop Forging "Ford" 5/8x15/16 Spark Plug and Head Bolt Wrench

Fig. 11. Moore Drop Forging "Ford" 5/8x15/16 Spark Plug and Head Bolt Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Marking Detail.

Fig. 11 shows a Moore Drop Forging "Ford" spark plug wrench, with measured openings of 5/8 on the hex box end and 15/16 on the open end.

The shank is marked with the "Ford" script name forged into the top, with the M-Circle logo and a "50" code forged into the back side.

The overall length is 10.0 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

This was a very familiar wrench for Ford Model T owners, as it was intended for servicing head bolts and spark plugs.

Moore Drop Forging "FoMoCo" 9N17014 11/16x1-1/16 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 12. Moore Drop Forging 9N17014 11/16x1-1/16 Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Back Side Detail.

Fig. 12 shows a Ford "FoMoCo" 9N17014 11/16x1-1/16 open-end wrench, made for Ford by Moore Drop Forging.

The wrench is marked with the FoMoCo logo and "USA" forged into the shank, with the M-Circle logo and "15" forged into the back side.

The overall length is 10.5 inches. The finish is plain steel with traces of the original black paint.

Moore Drop Forging 9/16x5/8 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 13. Moore Drop Forging 9/16x5/8 Open-End Wrench.

Fig. 13 shows a 9/16x5/8 open-end wrench made by Moore Drop Forging, marked with the M-Circle logo and "30" forged into the shank.

The overall length is 5.6 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

Other Production (Easily Mistaken for Moore Drop Forging)

As long as we're showing examples of contract production by Moore Drop Forging, it's worth noting that there were other companies using a similar "M" forge mark (without the circle) that made comparable tools for Ford.

Ford 40-17017 11/16x1 Spark Plug and Head Bolt Wrench

Fig. 14. Ford 40-17017 11/16x1 Spark Plug and Head Bolt Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Marking Detail.

Fig. 14 shows a familiar wrench for Ford spark plug and head bolt service, a number 40-17017 wrench with an 11/16 hex box end and a 1 inch open end.

The wrench is marked with "M" and the model number forged into the back of the shank (see lower inset).

The overall length is 10.1 inches. The finish is plain steel with traces of the original black paint.

We got a note from the National Ford Tool Collectors (NAFTCO) that this wrench was probably made by the Manzel Forging Company or Michigan Steel Products Forging Company, but not by Moore Drop Forging as previously reported. We currently don't have any further information on these other drop-forge operators, so we'll leave this tool here for now.

Easco Tools

After the acquisition of Moore Drop Forging, the Easco Corporation produced a line of tools under the "Easco" brand.

Easco 62520 9/16x5/8 Halfmoon Wrench

Fig. 15. Easco 62520 9/16x5/8 Halfmoon Wrench, ca. 1970s to 1980s.

Fig. 15 shows an Easco 62520 9/16x5/8 halfmoon wrench, stamped "Easco" and "U.S.A." with the model number and fractional sizes.

The overall length is 7.7 inches, and the finish is chrome plating.