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About Sheffield
Sheffield earned itself the name 'Steel City' early on in it's illustrious history as an industrial heartland for steel production. Even before the industrial revolution got under way, Sheffield was renowned for its manufacture of nails, knives, scissors, scythes, razors, axes and other metal products. It had also established its unique reputation and dominant position in the manufacture of cutlery that continues in Britain to this very day.
Until the mid-18th century however, the quality of steel was unreliable. Steel was made by heating iron bars, covered with charcoal, for up to a week after which the end result was 'blister steel'. Blister steel was then turned into 'shear steel' by wrapping blister steel bars into a bundle and heating them before forging the bundle. The heat and action of the forge hammer welded the bundles together to the required size.
Although this steel was used to make razors, files, knives and swords, the process was extremely laborious and no more than 200 tons a year were produced in Sheffield in this way until finally in the 1740s Benjamin Huntsman invented the revolutionary 'crucible steel' process. He was the first person to cast individual steel bars, producing tougher, high-quality steel in much larger quantities than had been seen before.
In 1846, the French metallurgist Monsieur le Play wrote of Huntsman: "His memorable discovery advanced the steel manufactures of Sheffield to the first rank, and powerfully contributed to the establishment of the industrial and commercial supremacy of Great Britain." Within 100 years, Sheffield was producing 20,000 tons of crucible steel per year, amounting to a staggering 40% of all European steel production!
At first, Sheffield cutlery makers refused to work using crucible steel as it was much harder than they were used to. Over in France, however, cutlers were more willing to use this harder steel, providing a ready market and producing higher-quality cutlery that would challenge Sheffield's dominance. When the British government refused the demands of Sheffield cutlery makers that Huntsman's crucible steel exports should be banned, they were forced to start using crucible steel for their own products. Demand for the new crucible steel grew dramatically, and Huntsman moved to a vast new site at Attercliffe – an area that became the main location for specialist steel making in Sheffield and is still a popular industrial centre today.
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