Originally Written by Don Gringer
It was about ninety years ago when my father started Philip Gringer & Sons, a hardware store on 1st Avenue in Manhattan. The son being my father, Louis Gringer. Although Phillip Gringer had no part in it, my father thought that by using his name, he would make the store sound more established and credit worthy.
Downward Cutting Position
The store still exists to this day as Gringer & Sons Appliances. Long ago, home improvement products were sold from wooden cheese boxes wired to the front. Keep in mind that display cards were not yet commonplace for home improvement products.
Upward Cutting Position
It was in the store’s basement that the All-Way Handy Saw was invented. It could be mounted in four different positions. Other keyhole saws had a blade that could only lock in two positions and required a screwdriver to remove the blade or rotate it. Talk about inefficiency! It reached places that few saws at the time could reach. The All-Way Handy Saw could be used for cutting metal, pipes, bolts, cables, rods, plastic, wood & rubber.
Horizontal Right Cutting Position
A good friend of mine found this one in a North Carolina antique shop. It still works!
Horizontal Left Cutting Position
Due to the nationwide popularity of the saw, the company rebranded itself from Ultra Manufacturing to Allway Tools. The saw handle has been modified several times from a die-cast alloy-handle to a more ergonomic soft-grip one. The blades still fit.