The 18th-century Sheffield saw industry: its origins and relationship to crucible steel making
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Published
Nov 11, 2021
Abstract
The saw-manufacturing industry in Sheffield was of world-wide importance throughout the 19th century and until its decline late in the 20th century. Its origins have been little documented in a town well-known for its cutlery but lacking any saw industry until the 1750s. Analysis of contemporary business documents and of foreign travellers’ diaries shows that a combination of factors unique to Sheffield enabled the establishment of the industry by local entrepreneurs, at first using skilled labour imported from older centres of sawmaking in London and Birmingham. By about 1830 these centres were in steep decline, and by 1841 Sheffield contained almost 80% of the nation’s sawmakers. This paper provides quantitative data on the use of local crucible cast steel in saws and other tools, emphasising the close relationship of the saw industry with the manufacture of this early form of special steel. The changing methods of producing saw plate by forging and rolling are compared.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Keywords
References
Ashton T S 1963, Iron and steel in the industrial revolution 3rd edn (Manchester).
Ashton T S 1939, An eighteenth-century industrialist: Peter Stubs of Warrington 1756–1806 (Manchester).
Ball C, Crossley D and Flavell N 2006, Water power on the Sheffield rivers 2nd edition (Sheffield).
Barley S L 2008, Hand tool manufacture during the industrial revolution: sawmaking in Sheffield c 1750–c 1830. Unpublished. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Barraclough K C 1984a, Steelmaking before Bessemer: vol I Blister steel: the birth of an industry (London).
Barraclough K C 1984b, Steelmaking before Bessemer: vol II Crucible steel: the growth of technology (London).
Berg T and Berg P (trans) 2001, R R Angerstein’s illustrated travel diary, 1753–1755 (London).
Bradbury F 1912, History of Old Sheffield Plate (Sheffield).
Davis R 1962, ‘English foreign trade, 1700–1774’, Economic History Review, 2nd series 15, 285–303.
Dilworth D 1976, The Tame mills of Staffordshire (London).
Flavell N 1996, The economic development of Sheffield and the growth of the town c 1740–c 1820. Unpublished. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Flinn M W 1962, Men of Iron: the Crowleys in the early iron industry (Edinburgh).
Gaynor J M and Hagedorn N L 1993, Tools: working wood in eighteenth-century America (Williamsburg, VA).
Hey D 2005 A history of Sheffield 2nd revised edition (Lancaster).
Higgins D and Tweedale G 1995, ‘The voracious kingfisher: Harry Fisher & Co and the Sheffield factoring and hire-work trade, 1890–1909’, Transactions Hunter Archaeological Society 18, 47–59.
Hoppus E 1765, Practical measuring made easy to the meanest capacity, by a new set of tables. 7th edition (London).
Hudson P 1992, The industrial revolution (London).
Jars G 1774, Voyages metallurgiques Vol I (Lyon).
Jones P d’A and Simons E N 1961, Story of the saw (Manchester).
Landes D S 2003, The unbound Prometheus: technological change and industrial development in western Europe from 1750 to the present 2nd edition (Cambridge).
Leader R E (1905–6), History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, 2 vols (Sheffield).
Moxon J 1703, Mechanick exercises, or the doctrine of handy-works. Reprinted 1970, Montgomery C F (ed) (New York).
Norton J E 1950, Guide to the national and provincial directories of England and Wales, excluding London published before 1856 (London).
Oliver J L 1966, The development and structure of the furniture industry (Oxford and London).
Rees J and Rees M 1997, Christopher Gabriel and the tool trade in eighteenth-century London (Needham Market).
Riden P (ed) 1985, George Sitwell’s letter book 1662–66 (Chesterfield: Derbyshire Record Society 10).
Rowlands M B 1975, Masters and men in the West Midlands metalware trades before the Industrial Revolution (Manchester).
Svennilson L 1954, Growth and stagnation in the European economy (Geneva).
Tomoshevskaya T L (ed) 2006, The travels of the Demidov brothers through Europe: letters and daily journals, 1750-1761 (Moscow).
Tyzack 1921, Tyzack Sons and Turner: Catalogue, [copy with Hawley Collection Trust, Sheffield University] (Sheffield).
Webb C (ed) 2004, Blacksmiths’ Company, 1605–1800: London livery company apprenticeship registers, Volume 41 (London).
Young A 1771, A six-months tour through the north of England 4 volumes reprinted 1967 (New York).
Ashton T S 1939, An eighteenth-century industrialist: Peter Stubs of Warrington 1756–1806 (Manchester).
Ball C, Crossley D and Flavell N 2006, Water power on the Sheffield rivers 2nd edition (Sheffield).
Barley S L 2008, Hand tool manufacture during the industrial revolution: sawmaking in Sheffield c 1750–c 1830. Unpublished. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Barraclough K C 1984a, Steelmaking before Bessemer: vol I Blister steel: the birth of an industry (London).
Barraclough K C 1984b, Steelmaking before Bessemer: vol II Crucible steel: the growth of technology (London).
Berg T and Berg P (trans) 2001, R R Angerstein’s illustrated travel diary, 1753–1755 (London).
Bradbury F 1912, History of Old Sheffield Plate (Sheffield).
Davis R 1962, ‘English foreign trade, 1700–1774’, Economic History Review, 2nd series 15, 285–303.
Dilworth D 1976, The Tame mills of Staffordshire (London).
Flavell N 1996, The economic development of Sheffield and the growth of the town c 1740–c 1820. Unpublished. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Flinn M W 1962, Men of Iron: the Crowleys in the early iron industry (Edinburgh).
Gaynor J M and Hagedorn N L 1993, Tools: working wood in eighteenth-century America (Williamsburg, VA).
Hey D 2005 A history of Sheffield 2nd revised edition (Lancaster).
Higgins D and Tweedale G 1995, ‘The voracious kingfisher: Harry Fisher & Co and the Sheffield factoring and hire-work trade, 1890–1909’, Transactions Hunter Archaeological Society 18, 47–59.
Hoppus E 1765, Practical measuring made easy to the meanest capacity, by a new set of tables. 7th edition (London).
Hudson P 1992, The industrial revolution (London).
Jars G 1774, Voyages metallurgiques Vol I (Lyon).
Jones P d’A and Simons E N 1961, Story of the saw (Manchester).
Landes D S 2003, The unbound Prometheus: technological change and industrial development in western Europe from 1750 to the present 2nd edition (Cambridge).
Leader R E (1905–6), History of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, 2 vols (Sheffield).
Moxon J 1703, Mechanick exercises, or the doctrine of handy-works. Reprinted 1970, Montgomery C F (ed) (New York).
Norton J E 1950, Guide to the national and provincial directories of England and Wales, excluding London published before 1856 (London).
Oliver J L 1966, The development and structure of the furniture industry (Oxford and London).
Rees J and Rees M 1997, Christopher Gabriel and the tool trade in eighteenth-century London (Needham Market).
Riden P (ed) 1985, George Sitwell’s letter book 1662–66 (Chesterfield: Derbyshire Record Society 10).
Rowlands M B 1975, Masters and men in the West Midlands metalware trades before the Industrial Revolution (Manchester).
Svennilson L 1954, Growth and stagnation in the European economy (Geneva).
Tomoshevskaya T L (ed) 2006, The travels of the Demidov brothers through Europe: letters and daily journals, 1750-1761 (Moscow).
Tyzack 1921, Tyzack Sons and Turner: Catalogue, [copy with Hawley Collection Trust, Sheffield University] (Sheffield).
Webb C (ed) 2004, Blacksmiths’ Company, 1605–1800: London livery company apprenticeship registers, Volume 41 (London).
Young A 1771, A six-months tour through the north of England 4 volumes reprinted 1967 (New York).
How to Cite
The 18th-century Sheffield saw industry: its origins and relationship to crucible steel making. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 42(2), 112-126. https://hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/190
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
The 18th-century Sheffield saw industry: its origins and relationship to crucible steel making. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 42(2), 112-126. https://hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/190