Dick Jarmon

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Dick Jarmon, a.k.a. The Porter-Cable Collector, has always had a fascination for power tools (Hicks 12). It was at a local distributor that Mr. Jarmon first learned about Porter-Cable power tools and in 1966 he started his collection (Berger). After that first purchase Mr. Jarmon began regularly purchasing Porter-Cable power tools through a layaway program from the local Porter-Cable distributor (Berger).

Although Mr. Jarmon's first job was working at a hardware store at the age of 14, he eventually went to work for General Motors (Hicks 12). Over the course of his 35 years with General Motors, Mr. Jarmon often had the opportunity to visit the General Motors plant in Rochester, New York. During his visits to the Rochester plant, Mr. Jarmon would sometimes manage to visit nearby Syracuse, the original home of Porter-Cable. It was during these visits that Mr. Jarmon got to know many of the Porter-Cable retirees including Art Emmons who was their Chief Engineer from 1922 to 1964(). Over the years many retired Porter-Cable employees would donated classic Porter-Cable tools, old papers and reports that have helped Mr. Jarmon understand the products and history of the company (Hicks 12). Among the donated tools Mr. Jarmon received from Art Emmons is a Porter-Cable pencil sharpener, one of only two known in the world (Berger).

Since retiring from General Motors in 1991, Mr. Jarmon has amassed an extensive collection of new and used Porter-Cable tools, some working, some not. His part collection alone numbers over 4,000 unique part numbers (Hicks 12).

In 1996 Mr. Jarmon donated a number of classic Porter-Cable power tools in his collection to the National Museum of American History to be part of their Porter-Cable Exhibit(). Among the tools in his collection that were donate: the B-5 Take-About sander, the world's first portable sander; the model K-88 Speedmatic, the world's first helical gear circular saw; an actual prototype of the world's first portable band saw; and one of the world's earliest routers¹.

Today, Mr. Jarmon is still on the lookout for vintage Porter-Cable products and literature. He is a valuable resource for discontinued and hard to find parts for Porter-Cable tools and often spends time helping others with the repair and maintenance of their Porter-Cable classics.