Samuel Osborn set up his company in 1851 at the Clyde Works, in Sheffield, to manufacture files. In 1857 the comapny were moved to the Philadelphia district of the city, at the Brookhill Works. Then, in 1870, they he became the exclusive producer of Mushet's special steel. At their peak, Osborns virtually monopolised the world's manufacture of tool steel. After his death the company was taken over by his son. In the 1960s the company merged with Osborn Hadfields Steel Founders.