A jeweller and silversmith can never have too many tools.
We hord them, covert them, need them, want them...it's actually a bit more than that though;
"Hello, my name is Trevor, and I have a tools addiction!"
I love tools, but especially metalsmithing tools, the older the better in many cases. I still use old graphone record needles (His Master's Voice in particular) for burnishing hard to reach areas and for certain types of diamond setting.
The oldest tool I use on a regular basis is a hammer with 'ELIZA TINSLEY & Co' on one side, and' SOLID CAST STEEL' with an '0' on the other side.
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| Elisa Tinsley & Co hammer |
My best guess is it dates from between 1851 when Eliza took over the company after her husband died and 1928 when the Elisa Tinsley company took over The Swindell Tool Company. I had been given an estimate of 1873 by the trader I bought it from at Totnes market in Devon. It cost me three pounds!
My grandfather was a director of The Wearwell Cycle Company and Wolf Motors just up the road from Cradley Heath (Elisa's factory) at Pountney Street in Wolverhampton from the 1890's, so I feel there is an even greater connection when I use this hammer.
It's beautifully balanced, is made from the hardest steel so takes a fabulous polish for planishing metal
(a polishing technique which compresses the metal surface by hammering).
It's beautifully balanced, is made from the hardest steel so takes a fabulous polish for planishing metal
(a polishing technique which compresses the metal surface by hammering).
If anyone has any guesses as to the age of this tool please let me know.
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