Five specimens showing the stages in the manufacture of the blade of the Kent Felling Axe

Five specimens showing the stages in the manufacture of the blade of the Kent Felling Axe

Gilpin, manufacturer of 'Heavy & Light Edge Tools' according to an advertisement of 1876, were a noted Black Country toolmaker. Here we have an unusual group of items, showing the stages in the manufacture of what at first appears to be a simple tool, a felling axe-head, but which the sequence shows was the subject of some complex smithing work to take the initial steel billet through to the final shape. To have this complete sequence laid out is quite rare, and shows the considerable tacit knowledge underpinning manufacture of even relatively simple-looking objects.