original late 19th or early 20th century heavy cast iron woodworking cabinet factory machine base designed and fabricated by j.a. fay & co., cincinnati, oh. the heavily reinforced and weighted iron base has been brushed down to bare metal and sealed with a clear coat lacquer. the original manufacturer's embossed letter plaques are found on the front and backside of the stationary base. the inward-facing foot plates contain sizable holes for anchoring against the floor. with the addition of a large slab of wood, glass or stone, the base would make a great repurposed dinner or conference table. in 1836, jerub amber fay purchased the t. m. edwards & co., which was known for their patented foot-powered mortiser woodworking machines. together with one of the original investors (edward joslin), fay went on to form the joslin & fay company in 1842. fay patented his own version of a foot-powered mortising machine. there are several surviving examples of his design to this day. sometime between 1847 and 1850, j. a. fay & co. opened a branch in cincinnati, oh. by 1853 the company purchased the operations of childs & tainter of worcester, ma, which was making daniels' planers. at this point the they had operations in keene, nh; norwich, ct; cincinnati, oh; and worcester, ma. a year later in 1854, mr. fay died unexpectedly while he was in richmond, virginia, trying to establish another plant. by this time j. a. fay & co. was one of the largest woodworking machinery manufacturers in the country, if not the world. in 1861, with business in decline due to the civil war, the company partnership was dissolved. following the 1861 dissolution and resurrection shortly thereafter (under new ownership), the company greatly expanded and modernized their product line well into the 1880's. in 1893, j. a. fay & co. merged with the egan company company to form the j. a. fay & egan company, where they continued to fabricate woodworking machinery into the 20th century. measures 38 x 14 1/2 x 30 1/2 inches.