Downloadable Information
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How It Was Made
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Where would we be without holes? Augers and gimlets have been used through time to make holes in wood. Although a simple looking tool their manufacture was incredibly complex with the finishing of just the nose needing up to 50 separate operations. |
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Although an everyday tool, boxwood rules were the pre‑cursor to the modern calculator, being used by many different trades to carry out complex calculations. The assembly and marking of the rule with the lines of measurement and tables for these calculations was a skilled task. |
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Sheffield was a major centre for the manufacture of hand files. Before the introduction of precision engineering of machine parts, files were important in putting together mechanisms in heavy engineering machinery. Files were used by engineers and in all the metalworking trades, e.g. cutlers, silversmiths, clock and watchmakers, to file parts to fit one another perfectly. |
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Every tool has a handle of some description. Many new trades were established in Sheffield in the late 1700s and 1800s with the expansion of the cutlery trade including those making or decorating handles or scales for knives, razors etc. In 1855 William Fisher estimated that 350 tons of buffalo horn and 450 tons of stag and deer horn were being used annually in Sheffield to make handles. |
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One of the major parts of the Sheffield cutlery industry, scissor making was a large part of the expansion that took place in the late 1700s and 1800s. Numbers employed grew from 887 in 1830 to 1,200 in 1851 with many manufacturers exhibiting at the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. High quality scissors are still made in Sheffield today using these traditional methods. |
Short Guides to Sheffield Trades
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Button Making |
Pearl button & handle trade. Pearl button‑making often went hand in hand with the making of handles or slabs for table cutlery and flatware, and the making of scales for razors and pen and pocket knives. Trades: Pearl Button‑maker, Pearl Fluter, Pearl Cutter |
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Coopering |
A cooper is a maker and repairer of casks made from wood. Until the 1950s hand‑making and repairing casks was a highly skilled, physically demanding job with a seven‑year apprenticeship. Trades: White Cooper, Dry Cooper, Bobber, Wet Cooper, Tight Cooper, Dry‑tight Cooper, Master Cooper, Hooper, Rush Gatherer |
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File trade |
File Makers created files used to remove excess material from metal, wood and other materials. Trades: File Cutter, File Forger, File Hardener, File Maker, File Manager, File Smith |
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Pen & Pocket Knife trade |
Pen knives originally had fixed blades mounted on a straight handle and were used for shaping the shaft of a feather for writing. Spring or pocket knives were made to be carried in a pocket and were sprung to close them and protect the blades. Trades: Cutler, Forger, Grinder, Maker, Mooder, Smither, Striker, Tanger, Scale Cutter |
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Silver trade |
A Silversmith makes objects from precious metals, turning sheet metal into hollowware such as dishes, bowls, cups, vases, candlesticks and trays. Trades: Silversmith, Brazier, Engraver, Chaser, Saw‑piercer, Spinner |
Stainless Steel
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A Short History of R. F. Mosley and Company Limited |
This short history is about the man and the company that was the first to manufacture and market stainless steel cutlery, written by Jeff Warner. |
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Harry Brearley and the History of Stainless Steel |
A brief summary of the life and work of Harry Brearley, written by Geoff Preece. |
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Table Knives |
Stay Bright – Keep Bright: The impact of Stainless Steel on everyday life, written by Geoff Preece. |
Other papers
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An early eighteenth‑century tally was found in Spring 2010 in a field in Somerset. The lead tally indicated wire of size 18 gauge which could have been used in the manufacture of cloth, and originated from the old wire mill at Wortley near Sheffield. |
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An illustrated history of an Exhibition Saw made by Taylor Brothers, Saw Manufacturers, Adelaide Works, Sheffield, as a wedding present for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, Princess Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, on the occasion of her marriage to Friedrich Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia. |