I read the Jeffrey Co. history which is linked at the bottom of the article Rusty had linked. Anyone feeling down in the dumps and thinking their job sucks should give it a read. The job of cutting coal seams prior to automation by companies like Jeffrey is one that was tough, dirty and very dangerous. In that article, it says that a Jeffrey employee went on to form the Joy Manufacturing Company, making mining machinery also. An interesting read.
Jeffrey, Janesville, Joy or none of the above.
In about 1919, GM bought both the Samson tractor company in California and the Janesville plant in Wisconsin and moved the tractor operation to the Janesville plant in an attempt to compete with Ford's success in the tractor business. It didn't work out and the Samson division was closed but when the last Tahoe rolled out of the Janesville plant in 2008, they closed the oldest GM assembly plant in North America...
I learned all that, but not who made the tool or what it's for. That's the 'fun' of it. I did see another listing of the same tool on eBay where it is called a "wire ring crimp" Janesville Machine Company.
There is a pretty big store chain, "Blain's Farm and Fleet", that branched out of Janesville, Wisconsin where Janesville Machine Co. was located. I wonder if there are any 100 year old guys working there that would remember selling these tools?
