Founded in 1935 by Louis Gringer, father of Chairman Donald Gringer, Allway started with a concept for a pistol grip hacksaw purchased from a customer in lieu of payment of his account at the family hardware store in New York. As the son tells it, his father then designed a four-way keyhole saw, called the All-Way Handy Saw because the blade locked in four different positions. The name was so closely associated with the company that it was eventually adopted.