Gallery Update
The picture gallery has had an update, the user contributed pictures from the old Coppermine gallery are being imported into the new xenforo media gallery. Lots of interesting saws, and please take the time to vote and add comments where appropriate.
File Cutting and Forging at the Cyclops Works Sheffield 1914-1918
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These, somewhat idealised images, were produced as a part of a series of postcards for sale, by Cammell Laird, and proceeds went to the Red Cross war effort. I doubt that working conditions were anything like that portrayed, but I like the paintings, it conveys some sense of what it might have been like working in one of the large saw makers's factories around the early part of the 20th Century. Just about every large saw maker also made files. They used some of the files produced in their own saw manufacturing, after which used files were re-introduced into the steel making processes. File Cutting at the Cyclops Works Sheffield 1914-1918 by EF Skinner |
British Saws & Saw Makers from c1660
Downloadable updates to the printed version is available here http://www.backsaw.net/BSSM.pdf ( take care it's 583 Mb )
Regular visitors to the site will be already aware of Simon Barley's long anticipated new book on British Saws and Saw makers from 1660. The standard reference for many years has been Handsaw Makers of Britain, by Erwin L Schaffer and Don McConnell, abbreviated as HSMOB. British Saws and Saw Makers (abbreviated as BSSM), will rapidly become the new standard reference work. It's not easy for someone new to the somewhat arcane world of researching British saw makers to really appreciate fully the amount of work that goes into creating such a reference work. The many thousands of hours of painstaking trawling through trade directories and publications of the time. Organizing thousands of details into a coherent whole.
Regular updates on the book with reviews, additions, errata and revisions will be available on here as the need arises. Feedback and questions for Simon may be posted in the forum as usual.
Our congratulations go to Simon Barley for a truly outstanding contribution to research on British saws and sawmakers. I commend the book to anyone interested in the history of toolmaking.
The details of how to purchase the book can be found on the TATHS web site http://www.taths.org.uk/barley-saws.htm
How to purchase link if the above fails
Historians of the various tool trades have long wanted a work specifically on saws and this, the first, is an attempt to match the detail and scholarship of the best that cover planes, cutlery, spanners and measuring tools. The author is a frequent writer and lecturer on saws and the history of their manufacture, and is able to base his work on 15 years of original research and the building of a personal collection of saws - possibly the largest in the world - which is housed with the renowned Ken Hawley Collection in Sheffield's Kelham Island Industrial Museum. Together, these collections form a unique research base and visitor attraction. This scholarly book is illustrated with almost 2000 photographs, the majority by the author, and with its listings of saw makers and dealers forms the most comprehensive directory to date of British names in the tool trades.
British Saws & Saw Makers from c1660 has already gained a reputation for being the "go to" reference for British Saws. Highly recommended
Copyright
None of the original material presented here is subject to copyright, you may use freely, provided that you attribute the source. (can you say plaugerism). Other copyrighted material presented here will be attributed to the source, and where I can I will contact the copyright holder to seek permission. If you find anything here which you believe is infringing on your copyright, let me know and it will be removed.
Copyright is a very confused and difficult area, most of the issues revolve around questions relating to "fair use", in this respect, this site seeks to follow "best practice" as far as it is known to me. Main points are, this is a non-profit site, with educational bias, most of the information presented here is of a factual nature (except my opinions), and I will honour any requests to remove any material that is brought to my attention that is infringing on someone else's copyright.
Contributed Images
Images contributed to the gallery, remain the property of those who uploaded them. I assert no rights whatsoever in respect of those images, and if you wish to use them, you should talk to the owner, not me. (oh wait, I retain the right to remove any thing I deem to be inapropriate, power tools etc)
Who pays the bills?
This site is run as a, not-for-profit exercise on my own behalf, you won't see any advertising here, donations are neither sought nor accepted.
I am semi-retired and I have a lifelong interest in woodworking, lately I have gotten interested in 19th Century British Saws. Hopefully this site will be of some small benefit to others.
