British saw blades: the revolutionary transition from iron to steel in the 18th century

Saws for woodwork are a very ancient tool form, and the materials of their blades have been very little studied. This paper shows that although melted steels were known in London from about 1721, the introduction of Huntsman’s crucible cast steel in Sheffield in the mid 18th century was a major factor in effecting a rapid and permanent change of saw-blade material from iron to steel. Using original business documents it is shown that Sheffield saw makers were closely tied to the new steel industry, the growth of which depended on the increasing number of firms. Many of them supervised the making of their own steel, thus enabling quality control. It seems likely that the early combination of these industries was a powerful factor in establishing Sheffield’s long dominance of both.