Tool making in Sheffield

[^woody^]

Or in the Black Country for that matter with it"s once myriad lock makers, nail makers, chain makers (and I can remember the sound of trip hammers being used to produce forged chain on Hayes Lane in the Lye back in the 1970s - do they still exist, I wonder?). Not quote tool making, but seeing chain being forged and welded from red hot steel bar is fascinating

I can also remember that there was quite a big tool industry in Cannock with several firms making hammers and one firm (Elliott-Lucas) who made all sorts of pliers and squares,

There was a section in the Black Country Museum, that displayed the sheer amount of stuff that used to be made in those parts and shipped around the country and the world. It's a bit difficult to hold back a tear to think how it used to be and how great the manufacturing was, and the ingenuity skill and quality of the products.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Well, at least some of the lock industry is still active around Willenhall, although a good bit of it is seemingly owned by Assa-Abloy (Swedish?) one way or another these days

 

[Captain Nemesis]

Its all fascinating, really, anything like that. Been to the David Mellor cutlery factory near Chatsworth, the Stott Park bobbin mill near Windermere (where I found out the origin of "knocking off time"), the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter Museum, and others. All good

 

[Captain Nemesis]

Can't believe i just spent 30 mins watching an auger being made,i don't even own one, love watching this stuff.

I spent over 50 minutes watching this without even realising how much time had passed