UPDATE 3: Added an Automatic hub example shared by Seth (at bottom)
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Originally Posted April 28th, 2017:
UPDATE 2: Niels shared a photo of his rare Cutlas key that can be used to spin the screws of the Power-Lock Hub.
UPDATE: 1) Well, it seems I forgot to read through this and edit it (I murdered the title for example) 2) The ending of the post has changed, thanks to Paul spotting an ad in the 1976 issue of Four Wheeler Magazine.
In January of 1958, James Russell Lloyd, who up to that point had been president of the Free-Lock Company in Denver, filed a patent for a new type of hub on behalf of a company called the Cutlas Tool and Manufacturing Company out of Lyons, Illinois. At the time, Lloyd was still based in Denver (according to the patent filing), so what his relationship was with the Cutlas and Free-Lock companies at that time isn't clear.
Unlike the Free-Lock hubs, which relied on a rotating center piece to engage and disengage the hubs, the Cutlas hub had two rotating screws that had to be spun to engage and disengage the hubs.
In May of 1958, Lloyd copyrighted the term Power-Lock Free Wheeling Hub, a name which the hubs would be known as from then onward. Here are some photos:
An alternative exploded view from the CJ-2A Page Forum.
Though the photo doesn't show it, this aluminum key is inscribed with "Cutlas" and fits onto a key chain. It's an alternative to the bar shown above.
In May of 1961, John Kapusta filed for two Cutlas patents a couple weeks apart. First the company filed this patent, an attempt to make hubs easier to use. I cannot find evidence that the company manufactured this one. The goal of the new Cutlas hub was to eliminate the jamming that sometimes kept the hubs from engaging or disengaging, making it easier to operate.
Next, Cutlas patented a more familiar hub, one with a large rotating disc on the front. The principle goal of this design was to develop a hub that required no tools to twist. It almost seems Cutlas developed the hub above, then altered it slightly and refiled the second patent.
What I believe were early versions of the hub didn't have the slot in them as this brochure shows.
At some point, the slot was added.
Some time during the early to mid 1960s Cutlas introduced wheel covers (see both pages here).
For years Cutlas Tool and Manufacturing advertised their Power-Lock and Selective Drive hubs in Four Wheeler Magazine. Then in October of 1967, the company halted advertising briefly. Two months later, in the November 1967 issue, the company was advertising the same hubs again, but this time under a new name, Cutlas Gear and Manufacturing, and a new location, Vinton, Iowa. I could not find an explanation for the move nor the name change.
During the Spring of 1969, the company introduced a new hub it called the Bulldog, which may have been a slight modification or design change in the selective drive hubs. There seems to be no patent that corresponded with the new design.
A "Bulldog" hub disassembled. It looks to be a pretty simple device.
Cutlas Bulldog Hub from the CJ-3A Page
By 1971, Cutlas had ceased advertising in Four Wheeler Magazine. In 1972 Cutlas applied for a new patent on a hub that would be automatic.
After publishing this, Paul Ferrari sent an ad from the 1976 issue of Four Wheeler magazine. It shows that Cutlas was advertising both the selective hub and their new automatic hub.
Here is an image of a Cutlas hub shared thanks to Seth:
How much longer the Cutlas company remained active isn't clear at this point.
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