Visiting Sheffield

Thanks a lot Mick. I always tell people that the very best thing about Sheffield is the fact it has the beautiful Peak District right on its doorstep! :) That's great to read about your own visit to Kelham Island, I might have been there myself, but had to work this weekend unfortunately. It's been a few years since I saw the Rodgers "Year Knife", and shocking it's been re-named, I can remember being taken into the Cutler's Hall to see it as a boy. Great you bumped into Stan Shaw though. Hope your daughter enjoyed some of the visit at least! :)

All the best

Jack
 
Would that Rodgers Year Knife, renamed the Stanley knife, be a hollow steel handle with replaceable double-ended triangular blades? I've always heard them called utility knives around here.

Having looked up the year knife, I see I've got my wires crossed here between the throw-away utility knives and a one-of-a-kind display piece. I think I understand your revulsion.
 
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scrteened porch said:
Would that Rodgers Year Knife, renamed the Stanley knife, be a hollow steel handle with replaceable double-ended triangular blades? I've always heard them called utility knives around here.
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Yeah, re-naming this historic knife a 'Stanley knife' really is an insult. Bad enough that anyone with a bit of money can buy the Rodgers name and mark, but in this case they've actually sold off a bit of history and allowed its re-branding :(
 
Jack Black said:
Yeah, re-naming this historic knife a 'Stanley knife' really is an insult. Bad enough that anyone with a bit of money can buy the Rodgers name and mark, but in this case they've actually sold off a bit of history and allowed its re-branding :(
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I agree entirely with your sentiments Jack..truly appalling..its new show case has "STANLEY" written in big letters on all four sides..the last blade right at the top, added in 2000, has STANLEY stamped along its face..the work done ironically by Stan(ley) Shaw..

Mick
 
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wellington said:
I agree entirely with your sentiments Jack..truly appalling..its new show case has "STANLEY" written in big letters on all four sides..the last blade right at the top, added in 2000, has STANLEY stamped along its face..the work done ironically by Stan(ley) Shaw..

Mick
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That's terrible Mick, and so vulgar. I doubt many visitors to the museum will be impressed with what Stanley have done either, so it's hardly much of a promotion for them :(

Jack
 
Thanks guys, my pleasure. I go to Sheffield very often, and if it hadn't been for my unexpected trip to the cutlery shop, probably wouldn't have thought to post anything about it. Maybe when the weather gets better, I'll be able to drag my grandaughter (due very soon) round some places of interest over there :)
 
Jack Black said:
Thanks Andi. Yes, those Bessamer Converters are absolutely incredible things to see in use.

I didn't realise that, according to the Kelham Island Museum site (http://www.simt.co.uk/kelham-island-museum/bessemer-converter), this is only one of three left in the world!
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We just took my son to Pittsburgh last month to visit one of the colleges there that's he is interested in, and there was another one of the the three Bessemer converters right next to our hotel. This was at Station Square which is right near the confluence of the the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh.

I wonder where the third converter is?
 
When I read that there were only three converters left I had my doubts as to that being accurate. However, searching online, I can only find photos of the one in Sheffield and the one in Pittsburgh

BessemerConverterfm_wiki.jpg


The only exception is one in the London Science Museum

154219.jpg


Be great to hear if anyone knows of anymore.
 
I see a familiar name mentioned - Stan Shaw - and am happy he works at Kelham Island. Update on another great knifemaker that worked there, Graham Clayton. I have one of his large, beautiful bowies. He once made the US knife show circuit, his tang stamp was 'Digby's'. Sadly, last I was able to find out, several years ago, he could no longer make a living doing what he was so good at and so loved, and was driving a lorry (truck, to us in the USA, but it's his nation, so I use the British term).

Thank you again, Jack.
- GW
 
Jack Black said:
When I read that there were only three converters left I had my doubts as to that being accurate. However, searching online, I can only find photos of the one in Sheffield and the one in Pittsburgh

BessemerConverterfm_wiki.jpg


The only exception is one in the London Science Museum

154219.jpg


Be great to hear if anyone knows of anymore.
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They are really impressive close up, I tried to imagine it going through the "blow" when sheets of flame are coming out of the mouth when the molten iron is converted to steel by forcing air into the bottom. While it must have been some sight, I imagine working with one of those was brutal.
 
G-Winstead said:
I see a familiar name mentioned - Stan Shaw - and am happy he works at Kelham Island. Update on another great knifemaker that worked there, Graham Clayton. I have one of his large, beautiful bowies. He once made the US knife show circuit, his tang stamp was 'Digby's'. Sadly, last I was able to find out, several years ago, he could no longer make a living doing what he was so good at and so loved, and was driving a lorry (truck, to us in the USA, but it's his nation, so I use the British term).

Thank you again, Jack.
- GW
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Stan is getting on in years now, and so just coming in for a few hours a week apparently. I'll try and get over and take some pics of him at work sometime.

When my kids were young, we used to visit the museum a lot, and I always exchanged a few words with Graham. I don't have any of his knives though. I didn't know he'd toured the US circuit. A shame what happened, maybe things would be different now.

Best wishes

Jack
 
zippofan said:
They are really impressive close up, I tried to imagine it going through the "blow" when sheets of flame are coming out of the mouth when the molten iron is converted to steel by forcing air into the bottom. While it must have been some sight, I imagine working with one of those was brutal.
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Yes, they are certainly some beast! I've seen them working from a distance, and that was enough to make your mouth open. The lads in the steel works and rolling mills earned what was good money for working-class semi-skilled men, but there were a lot of accidents and injuries, and the work was hard. I had a friend many years ago, in the late 1970's, he worked 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week, but died of a heart attack at 30. Many of the old grinders didn't live much beyond that age either.

One of the things I remember about Sheffield's East End was all the small pubs that just catered for the steel works. The 'afternoon' shift finished at 10.00pm, and for an hour or so beforehand, the bar staff would be pulling pints of ale and lining them up on the bar until it was covered. Soon after 10.00pm, the steel workers would get in as fast as they could, because 'time' was at 10.30pm, and there was only officially 10 minutes 'drinking-up' time. Each of the men would take 2 or 3 pints, more in some cases, and the first pint would go straight down, sometimes the second too. Clearly, it was thirsty work!
 
The doctor's lancet is more likely to be a farrier's fleam, used for bleeding horses - bloodletting on man was more usually carried out with leeches or using a multibladed scarifier...
 
scrteened porch said:
Ew to the bloodletting knife.

If I were going to make a rash generalization based on the knives-for-sale tray, it would be that the English in general traditionally favored lambsfoots and pruners. (I expect you see as many SAKs as we do these days.)

I might guess that the early mass production in Sheffield smoothed out regional differences, except that in living memory you could still buy billhooks of different shapes named for different counties. Go figure.

Glad you're keeping dry.
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It was the industrial scale manufacturers who produced catalogues, e.g. The Sheffield List, showing the range of tools available. By the end of the 19th century these had expanded to thick books showing a vast range of regional patterns of tools such as hoes, axes and billhooks. However, I suspect that the folding pocket knife was actually an invention of the industrial cutlery trade, and thus regional patterns did not exist until much later..
 
Jack,
thanks for posting this bit of history -- since your Ottley thread I've been looking for other threads started by you for their colour and the information to be found within.
you write well, the topics are interesting, and it adds one more thing to my list of "stuff I learned today".
Good on ya mate!
 
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