55/43

William Greaves & Sons (Manufacturer)

This coopering tool has been identified either as a hollowing drawknife, for shaping the inside of the staves, or as a jigger drawknife, for smoothing away the chiv at the top of the cask in repair work. The blade is stamped 'Wm Greaves & Sons // Sheaf Works // Sheffield' and 'Electro Boracic Steel'. The drawknife came from the cooper's shop at H. & G. Simonds Ltd., known as the Bridge Street Brewery, in Reading.

1 cooper's hollowing knife: wood; metal

MERL Miscellaneous note from conversation with Alistair Simms (Master Cooper), 3 September 2014 – While the curvature of some coopering tools varies depending on the size of the cask, one curvature of hollowing knife can be used for all sizes of cask. Furthermore, while a chiv plane can be used in both making casks and repairing casks, a jigger is only used in repair work. The term ‘electro boracic steel’ is only seen on coopering tools, and almost exclusively on William Greaves tools. Nobody is exactly sure what it means, but it was probably a way of hardening the steel., MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'This hollowing knife used for cutting the inside edge of the staves measures a total length of 15.0 inches with a cutting edge of 6 inches. It has a pair of wooden handles. It was either used in conjunction with a shaving horse for all 'small' work below 9 gallons or for shaving while the staves were held between the workman's breast and the bench.', MERL 'Catalogue index' card – [Coopering – General Card, 55/37–55/56 and 55/66–55/68] – 'This set of Cooper's tools came to the Museum from the Cooper's Department, Messrs H & G Simonds The Brewery, Reading. Although the majority of the tools are modern, indeed some of them were never used, the tools are nevertheless the same as have been used for centuries by both urban and rural coopers.'

Sheffield

1955

Drawknife, hollowing, Drawknife, jigger

Wood, Metal