Description and History of Site:-
Built around 1852 by Spear and Jackson for the manufacture of tools. This site, together with much of the surrounding area, was cleared in the 1970's-80's and subsequently redeveloped.

The activities at the Etna works were visited during an excursion by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1890. They reported that:

"...One of the chief branches of the work here carried on is saw making. Rolled sheets of steel are taken from the mill and pared to shape in shearing presses. The blanks then have the teeth punched out in other presses; after which they are hardened, hammered, and straightened ready for grinding. The grinding is done between two stones placed one above the other, whereby both sides of the saw are ground simultaneously. The axes of the two stones are not exactly parallel, so that the grinding surfaces are also at a slight angle. By this means the back of the saw is made somewhat thinner than the toothed edge, thereby enabling the saw to clear itself in the cut. The surfaces are finished by means of wooden rollers covered with leather, on which emery powder is fed by hand. The saw is then sharpened and set by hand, and lastly fitted with handles.

In the department for making garden and field tools, steel shovels forged solid are a special article of manufacture. These are first hammered out of a solid block by a machine hammer, after which they are pared to shape by a shearing press. The piece, which is still flat, is then heated and dished to the required shape under a drop hammer. The strap, which is forged out of solid with the rest, is then riveted upon the wooden handle, and rounded to fit it by means of half rolls; after which the implement is completed by finishing portions of it on a leather band with emery. Digging and hay forks are forged solid, and the straps for attachment to the wooden handle are welded on. In the wood department, where shafts and handles are prepared for the different tools, the wood is steamed and bent into the various curved shapes required by means of a machine with dies, into which the wood is pressed by a cam action.

The steelmaking department comprises the usual crucibles and other appliances; and the sheet mill contains rolls to produce steel sheets up to five feet square. There is a large hammer forge, and a steam press for shaping plough boards and articles of a similar kind. A large file-making department produces files of all kinds for engineers, saw-mills, &c. Reaper and mower and hay and sugarcane knives, scythes, axes, chisels, plane irons, picks and mattocks, matchets, hoes, tools for paper mills and tanneries, mining tools, and many kinds of engineers' tools are also made. "

Further Reading and References:-
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Spear_and_Jackson

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Key Words :- spear and jackson saws tools steel works

Address :- Savile Street East, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S4 7UR
Grid Ref :- SK 3665 8856
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.392609 , Long -1.450351
Local Authority :- Sheffield City Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site redeveloped to industrial / commercial use
Site Dates :- 1852 -
Record Date :- 11 March 2019

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Nick Nelson