Round Knife - Bargain!

[lightningad]

A year into my leatherwork hobby and i had asked for a Round Knife for Christmas. Being a novice, i suggested the Saddlers Round Knife as sold by LePrevo in UK. To be honest , i expected it to be a chinese knife, as the price was around half that of the knives sold by Dixon.

Imagine my surprise and delight when opening the pressie on Christmas Day to see the words "Geo. Barnsley and Sons, Sheffield, England" engraved onto the face of the blade.

After some careful honing and stropping I am absolutely blown away by how good a sharp round knife is. I have not tried any other round knife but i would not hesitate to recommend this one to anybody wanting a good cutting tool.

My only wonder is why Le Prevo haven't haven't marketed the blade by mentioning the maker, and upping the price accordingly!

adam

[Art]

Barnsley were better known as toolmakers to the shoe trade. They made good tools for the harness trade but were not known for it in their final years. They were one of the better toolmakers. Good find.

Art

[King's X]

Congrats and enjoy your new found present!

[lightningad]

some web trawling reveals that a couple of years back, the Barnsley brothers bought a woodturning business following the collapse of the original tool business and from that have continued to supply some of their back catalogue of other tools.

I also read that they had re-registered the Barnsley name and trademark and were intending to re-issue some tools. Info was very scant, and they don't seem to have a website, so I am assuming that this is possibly a new tool made to old specs. Its in too good a condition to have been left on a shelf for years!

[Half Goat]

nice one LePrevo are a great company to use, may pick one of those up in the near future

[Les No6]

some web trawling reveals that a couple of years back, the Barnsley brothers bought a woodturning business following the collapse of the original tool business and from that have continued to supply some of their back catalogue of other tools.

I also read that they had re-registered the Barnsley name and trademark and were intending to re-issue some tools. Info was very scant, and they don't seem to have a website, so I am assuming that this is possibly a new tool made to old specs. Its in too good a condition to have been left on a shelf for years!

I live just down the road from Sheffield (Barnsley ironically), Geo Barnsleys factory shut down some years ago the company just consists of an office these days so either they outsource the production or licence the name (as singer does). Personally I’ve always been a Dixons man.

[Trox]

I live just down the road from Sheffield (Barnsley ironically), Geo Barnsleys factory shut down some years ago the company just consists of an office these days so either they outsource the production or licence the name (as singer does). Personally I’ve always been a Dixons man.

Hi Les, this office? https://www.google.com/maps?q=&layer=c&z=17&iwloc=A&sll=53.390455,-1.471538&cid=12489703257558336934&cbp=13,191.2,-8.7,0,0&panoid=Qq1JE7WI7zDr-sBDyGr1bA&q=woodware+repetitions+sheffield&sa=X&ei=ig_qUIr-D8SH4gSZ-4CgBQ&ved=0CJABEKcf

The sons of George Barnsley`s have been operating under this name for some years. Maybe they now have got their old name back. Abbey sells many of their tools as economical priced leather tools. I have bought some of their reasonably priced tools, and they are worth their money. Some have tried to sell them as George Barnsley tools of the old stock, without the companies knowledge.

Maybe now when they got their name back they intend to get their tools back to the old standard. I wish I knew what plans they had, it is no future in competing with the third world on cheap stuff. If they want to survive in the leather tool business quality, quality, quality and high prices is the only way to do it.

George Barnsleys old tool catalog sure was impressive and the tools was very fine. Look at the plough gauge Le Prevo sells, its a woodware rep. I sure is a joke. However, the round knife looks like its a good buy for the money.

Tor

[celticleather]

There's a lot of information about George Barnsley in this thread - http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=20784&hl=barnsley

Their tools are still available, but the company name is now Woodware Repetitions, specialising mainly in wood-turning tools.

[Trox]

And stay away from Hale and Co, if he is still around. Some of our members are still waiting on their Barnsley tools from him, purchased for almost a year ago.

Les, being a neighbor of their office, why not pay them a visit and get a update on their business. Its been a lot of different stories/ rumors about them. I do not think they know about the tool scam done with their fathers name either.

[Les No6]

And stay away from Hale and Co, if he is still around. Some of our members are still waiting on their Barnsley tools from him, purchased for almost a year ago.

Les, being a neighbor of their office, why not pay them a visit and get a update on their business. Its been a lot of different stories/ rumors about them. I do not think they know about the tool scam done with their fathers name either.

Yes I was just thinking the same would be very interesting, I also have a thing about quality handles these days they are generally poor quality and poorly shaped.