Antique Coates Clipper MFG Co Sheep Shears - The original patent 1903

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Coates Clipper MFG Co original sheep shears. The Coates Clipper Mfg. Co. was started in a very small way by Mr. George H. Coates in Worcester in 1876. Mr. Coates was graduated from Windsor Academy and served his apprenticeship there in the manufacture of firearms. Upon coming to Worcester, he was employed as assistant superintendent of the Ethan Allen Co. and was in their employ until the panic of 1875 made business conditions in that line so uncertain that he decided to that up a specialty of his own. At that time very few clippers were used in the United States, and what few were used were imported from England. These of course were very expensive and the cost of repair parts and re-sharpening prohibitive. Seeing a future for this industry Mr. Coates started in by designing special machinery for sharpening these foreign-made clippers. The same ideas are involved in the company's grinding machines to-day. His venture met with such success that he designed several improvements on clippers and started shortly to manufacture them. A human hair measures one-thousandth of an inch and a pair of plates must be subjected to at least 30 pounds pressure to resist the hair; the plate being very thin makes the question of grinding vital. In 1880 Mr. Coates built a small shop on Chandler Street and has added to it from time to time, as seen read more

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