Barnsley tools

[whinewine]

Recently,I am seeing a lot of 'Barnsley' tools being advertised on ebay- mostly awls of various kinds, a round knife... Are they any good (as in Bob Douglas quality), or a waste of money (I'm not in the market for awls or head knives, so I have no axe to grind [no pun intended, btw] one way or another, but I'm just curious as to their overall quality.)

Or are they in realm of the many 'tools' on ebay listed with key words like "sweet", "a new beauty", "a real beauty", etc...?

[barra]

Barnsley made exceptional tools.

Barra

[bruce johnson]

I have an old Barnsley plough gauge and an old Dixon and can sure appreciate the quality of both. I was under the impression that Barnsley had closed down some time back. I am seeing that Barnsley stuff on ebay also, and Hale & Co are selling it. I really would doubt if there is that much old stock sitting around. I would like to hear some feedback on this apparently newer stuff too. Ebay feedback might be good, but you do that when you unpack it - not a after a year's use.

[celticleather]

We still use Barnsley tools in the shoe trade, and I can testify to their quality. The company ceased trading as George Barnsley in the early 1990s, and their stock was absorbed by a company called Woodware Repetitions - still in Sheffield - which is owned by Colin and Roger Barnsley.

They now seem to specialise in woodturning tools. We recently bought a couple of new leather knives from one of our local stockists, and they were the traditional shape and quality, but now stamped with the Woodware Repetitions name, so it seems that they are still making some leather-related tools.

There are some poignant photographs of their old factory at http://www.28dayslat...ead.php?t=30363.

[UKRay]

I'm always on the lookout for old Barnsley and Dixon tools and picked up a superb pair of Barnsley saddler's nippers this weekend. On a personal level, I rate Dixon slightly higher than Barnsley, but they are both extremely fine makers.

Ray

[whinewine]

I'm always on the lookout for old Barnsley and Dixon tools and picked up a superb pair of Barnsley saddler's nippers this weekend. On a personal level, I rate Dixon slightly higher than Barnsley, but they are both extremely fine makers.

Ray

Ray,

I'm asking about the current (not older) Barnsley stuff being offered- I know that the old Barnsley stuff was/is very good. [it's like saying that Osborne stuff is good because their old tools were decent- we all know that the new Osbornes don't use as good a steel as what is in the older tools]. So when I see all this plethora of Barnsley stuff on ebay right now, I'm just sceptical...

So, to reiterate: does anyone have knowledge of the stuff currently being marketed under the Barnsley name? Has anyone actually purchased something from the seller & compared it to an original Barnsley?

russ

[celticleather]

Bearing in mind that George Barnsley & Sons ceased trading many years ago, I would suspect that any Barnsley items being sold as 'new' or 'unused' are probably old stock, made by the company before its closure.

I don't think anything has subsequently been made bearing the Barnsley name, but as I said earlier, knives of the Barnsley pattern are still being produced by Colin and Roger Barnsley of Woodware Repetitions. These knives have the Woodware Repetitions name on them.

It's difficult to say whether the quality of the Barnsley knives diminished before their closure, or whether this may have contributed to their decline; I don't have anything with which to make a comparison. I would agree with Ray, that in ranking I would put Dixons (and old Osborne) higher than Barnsley.

I discovered that the old Barnsley factory was a favourite haunt of photographers, with more pictures at

http://www.flickr.co...57608626780966/

http://www.whateversleft.co.uk/?p=161

http://www.pretentio...Sons%20Ltd.html

The site of their building has now been redeveloped as a housing estate.

[UKRay]

Ray,

I'm asking about the current (not older) Barnsley stuff being offered- I know that the old Barnsley stuff was/is very good.

So, to reiterate: does anyone have knowledge of the stuff currently being marketed under the Barnsley name? Has anyone actually purchased something from the seller & compared it to an original Barnsley?

russ

Russ, apologies I misunderstood your question.

As an old tool enthusiast I was interested to hear that Barnsley stock had started to re-appear so I phoned Woodware Repetitions (owned by the Barnsley brothers) and spoke to a delightful lady who told me that George Barnsley tools are back in production again, but almost all the stock that is appearing now is the last of the old Barnsley stock that was purchased from the liquidator when George Barnsley closed its doors. I believe they found a warehouse full of finished tools and a mass of spares.

So, to answer your question, the stock you are seeing for sale in the US is old (and almost certainly genuine) Barnsley stock purchased by an American tool dealer direct from Woodware Repetitions and re-sold. I was assured the Barnsley tools always used good steel!

Hope this helps,

Ray

[whinewine]

Russ, apologies I misunderstood your question.

As an old tool enthusiast I was interested to hear that Barnsley stock had started to re-appear so I phoned Woodware Repetitions (owned by the Barnsley brothers) and spoke to a delightful lady who told me that George Barnsley tools are back in production again, but almost all the stock that is appearing now is the last of the old Barnsley stock that was purchased from the liquidator when George Barnsley closed its doors. I believe they found a warehouse full of finished tools and a mass of spares.

So, to answer your question, the stock you are seeing for sale in the US is old (and almost certainly genuine) Barnsley stock purchased by an American tool dealer direct from Woodware Repetitions and re-sold. I was assured the Barnsley tools always used good steel!

Hope this helps,

Ray

Thank you, Ray. This helps. This is the info I was looking for.

russ

[bruce johnson]

Thanks from me too, Ray! I guess we see enough knockoff and rebranded stuff over here that we get a little skeptical. Glad to hear that report, and makes me look at that stuff with a whole different perspective. How would you like to be the guy who opened that warehouse door?? Hard to believe someone knew it was there and just let it sit. Glad they did.