During a discussion a year or so ago, when I posted that I was working in the
same area as his company, Tom said to drop on in for a tour. I didn't make it
then, but found myself in the area once again, so I decided to take him up on
the invite. Surprised him, but he cheerfully showed me around the place, Ohio
Brush. Ohio Brush is in an old industrial area of Cleveland, called the
Buckeye-Woodland area as I recall. Judging from the buildings being torn down
in the same area, it may be one of the last companies on the block.

It was quite interesting, and a real contrast to the ultra high-speed brush
machines shown on "How it's Made". Ohio Brush has been family owned since 1879,
and some of the machines are nearly a century old. One machine is the first one
he designed, when he was 16! It had what looked like a giant chain saw blade,
and each tooth grabbed a bundle of wires as it came by and moved them into
position. It's pretty neat watching the machines drilling holes and stuffing
bristles in them, all done by mechanical cams, no electronics.

The wooden brush heads are made from polished select maple, not a blemish in
sight. Tom explained that his market is primarily specialty brushes, since the
cheap imports have taken over the common brushes. Many of the brushes being
made I have never seen before, such as the double sided brushes (one side with
flattened scraper wires, the other with standard bristles) with 4' long wooden
handles for reaching deep into commercial grills or ovens to clean them.

They machine their own tooling on site, with several vintage lathes. One Warner
& Swasey turret lathe was dedicated to roll engraving and threading some small
parts. There were two more lathes in the tooling area, one was Reed-Prentice. A
Brideport stood a short distance away. Machinery is tucked into every available
corner. The air is filled with the smell of freshly cut wood, and a steady
chung, chung, chung from the machines.

Tom is a very nice guy, and I certainly hope that he and Ohio Brush continue
making quality brushes in the good ol' US.

--
Dennis