An enterprise serving the woodworking businesses in town was started in 1905. The Sidney Machine Tool Company made a complete line of woodworking machinery, including band saws and jointers. The building housing the business still stands, and is located on Highland Avenue at the southwest corner of Highland Avenue and North Street. The site was first occupied by the Sebastian-May Company, which owned the assets that I. H. Thedieck purchased a decade later to establish the Monarch Machine Tool Company.

A.C. Getz had returned to Sidney, Ohio, in 1904 from Defiance with capital and wanted to make a go of converting the defunct Sebastian-May firm into a success — the Sidney Machine Tool Company. He had a penchant for inventions and agricultural pursuits, the latter including the ‘culture’ of aristocratic breeds of hogs. Getz’ hogs were fed on fresh whole milk and clean grains, shampooed and manicured every morning.

His most famous invention was the "Universal" wood worker, which combined 5 to 16 machines by supplementary equipment, and enabled 5 men to work at one time without interference. It was regarded as invaluable in the small woodworking factory, where there was not room to accommodate several individual power-driven machines. The Sidney Tool’s most popular line of equipment was the ‘Famous’ line of woodworking machinery. Around WWI, the company got into the machine tool business and began the manufacture of engine lathes. During the war, government orders for this line demanded about 90% of the company’s capacity. The firm continued in the wood machine business until about WWII. The building is now vacant after having been previously used for years by the Stolle Corporation for storage.

Industry segment written in January, 1998 by Rich Wallace

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