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| Louden No. 2 curved edger |
Louden Machinery Company is best known for cast iron barn hardware and fittings, and they also designed barns for their customers. Louden made and sold at least 7 cement tools designed for building dairy barns. As shown in their
1918 barn plans catalog, these tools supplemented the conventional edger and finishing trowel in constructing concrete floors and stalls. Tools shown in their 1918 catalog are the No. 1 straight edger, No. 2 curved edger, No. 4 small curb tool, No. 5 and No. 6 curved steel trowels. Louden's 1928 catalog features the No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 radius trowel, the No. 8 cut-out smoother, and the No. 9 curved edger. The 2 small tool are very similar to foundry molding tools.
Wikipedia has an excellent history of the business. "The Louden Machinery Company was an American engineering, manufacturing and design company based in Fairfield, Iowa. Founded by William Louden, the company in its early years manufactured and sold the patented hay carrier that he invented in 1867. The company later expanded into a wide variety of farm equipment and, in 1906, began an Architecture Department that reportedly designed more than 25,000 barns from 1906 to 1939." Louden also had a Canadian location in Guelph, Ontario.
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| Louden 1918 dairy barn plans catalog |
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| Louden 1928 catalog |
Thank you so much for the info! I bought a Louden form mold over the weekend at an antique shop and had no idea what it was until I saw your blog! I bought it to use as a planter and will now cherish it forever!
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