Interrupting Stan Shaw's Marmalade Sandwich

Jack Black said:
Hi Charlie, that's Stan's mark there :) Here he is in 1993, making another Sleeveboard. I thought you'd enjoy this one :) :thumbsup:

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Thanks for posting this video; very interesting to watch.
I was interested to see how the brass liners (or did he call them linings? I'm not sure of the accent) are "dished". I'd have wondered about the purpose of that ever since I noticed it on a few disassembled knives.
 
r8shell said:
Thanks for posting this video; very interesting to watch.
I was interested to see how the brass liners (or did he call them linings? I'm not sure of the accent) are "dished". I'd have wondered about the purpose of that ever since I noticed it on a few disassembled knives.
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I'm glad you found it interesting Rachel :) I remember Stan explaining about 'dishing' to @Cambertree and I when we visited :thumbsup:
 
Glad to see this thread back up on the front page (although I have to admit, given Stan’s age, I was a bit fearful of why it might have been brought back up).

Mike Robuck Mike Robuck that MOP Senator is quite a looker! :thumbsup:

Jack Black Jack Black thanks for posting those videos. I enjoyed hearing Stan describe his work in the first, and I skimmed through the longer videos and saved them to watch in full later on. Is that Stan working the parser in that old Ibberson video (around the 8:00 mark)?

Although I didn’t get to meet Stan on my own visit to Sheffield, please wish him a Happy Birthday for me if you get a chance, Jack.

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btb01 said:
Glad to see this thread back up on the front page (although I have to admit, given Stan’s age, I was a bit fearful of why it might have been brought back up).

Mike Robuck Mike Robuck that MOP Senator is quite a looker! :thumbsup:

Jack Black Jack Black thanks for posting those videos. I enjoyed hearing Stan describe his work in the first, and I skimmed through the longer videos and saved them to watch in full later on. Is that Stan working the parser in that old Ibberson video (around the 8:00 mark)?

Although I didn’t get to meet Stan on my own visit to Sheffield, please wish him a Happy Birthday for me if you get a chance, Jack.

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A shame he wasn't working when we visited that day Barrett. Yes, that's him in the video my friend, I'll be sure to pass on everyone's good wishes, Stan will be 94 tomorrow :thumbsup:
 
Mike Robuck said:
Thank you Barrett. And thanks for posting your picture. I would love to visit that shop someday. Best birthday wishes to Stan!
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I'd be honoured to show you around if you're ever able to visit Mike :thumbsup:

The Wee Cutlery Shop was on Howard Street, across the road from the hotel Barrett stayed in. It was run by a lady called Mrs Ashby, and was close to many of the old Sheffield cutlery firms, including Slaters and Wade & Butcher, as well as Arthur Wright. I think it closed down in the early 1980's. Cutlery shops were plentiful in those days, and I don't think I ever actually went in.

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Here's a photo of the Stan Shaw Lambsfoot I'm carrying today, taken on Howard Street a couple of years back, when there was a mural of Harry Brearley there :thumbsup:

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Jack Black said:


Yesterday was a great day for me, as I went over to Sheffield to meet Duncan (Campbellclanman) and his lovely wife Sue. We met at Sheffield railway station next to the site of John Brown's Atlas steel works, and headed to the Kelham Island Industrial Museum (about which I did a photographic thread here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...o-Sheffield-s-Kelham-Island-Industrial-Museum). The highlight of our visit was an audience with Sheffield cutler Stan Shaw, who I doubt will need any introduction here. Sue, who patiently put up with mine and Duncan's knife prattle the entire day, took a load of photographs, and I'm sure that Duncan will want to post these and his own recollections in due course. While the encounter with Stan was still fresh in my head though, I thought I'd knock up a few lines.

It really was lovely to meet Duncan and Sue, and to spend a day with them, and I hope they enjoy the rest of their holiday, and have a safe journey back to New Zealand.

Jack



Stan Shaw looked quite stern and taciturn as he sat at the grindstone sharpening the blades of the batch of knives he was working on, dipping them regularly in a coffee jar filled with water. We were wary about interrupting him in his work, but as he took a break, Duncan shrewdly got a member of the museum staff to introduce us. When Stan invited us into his workshop, he could not have been more friendly or charming, his eyes sparkling as he talked at length about knives, telling us on the way about his life and his family, with enthusiasm and love.



Both Duncan and myself would have been happy for just a few minutes of the great man's time, but we were with him for well over an hour, during which his passion for knives never dimmed for an instant, he enjoys every minute of his work, and said he went to bed at night excitedly thinking about what he was going to make next.

As a child Stan had health problems, and spent 10 years in hospital with a leg in plaster, missing most of his schooling. At the age of 14, he caught the tram into Sheffield from his native Deepcar, just up the River Don from Sheffield, and knocked on the door of Ibbersons, asking them for a job. He told them he wanted to make knives, and was taken along to meet one of the cutlers, who was asked if he would take the lad on as an apprentice. "Aye, if he's interested", said the old cutler, and Stan's long career in the knife trade began.

In view of his lack of schooling, Stan's wife, only a little younger than himself, still does his books for him, and he has a close family. His son, now in his late 40's, is a nuclear physicist. "He's got a great brain, but he's no good with his hands, I have to change a plug for him!" Stan laughs. He's tried to get his son to come in and learn the trade without success. Stan also has a daughter, and two grandchildren, he speaks about his family with pride and affection. He has made knives as birth, christening, and birthday presents for his grandkids, a granddaughter of 13, and a grandson of 10, both of whom are interested in what he does. "What are you making for me now Grandad?" asks his granddaughter. His grandson comes down to the workshop, but "It's chaos when he's here." Stan chuckles, "There's hammers and tools all over the place." Stan hopes he lives long enough to train him up.

Stan's knives are entirely handmade, he does everything himself using simple tools, which he has often also made himself. He even does his own heat-treatment on site. "People think I go and buy this stuff from a shop somewhere, but I don't, where would I buy it?" His tools are simple, as he can't afford expensive machines. With a boyish enthusiasm, he told us how much he enjoyed thinking about how he could fix a problem, and if necessary devising a special tool, it was all part of the cutler's job.

Stan demonstrated a fascinating device, a bow made by himself from wood and pigskin, which he uses to drill and cut out the well for the different shields, with the aid of a special leather belt he puts around his waist. He reckoned the technique was a thousand years old. The nail-nicks on his blades are banged in by hand with a simple punch and a hammer, he showed us how he did it, it took a second, why would he need a milling machine? He's not a fan of long pulls.



Today Stan uses materials such as ivory (recycled from old pieces he acquires), abalone, and pearl on the pocket knives for which he has a four year waiting list. He talked about working with the delicate and expensive materials, and says he never spoils a piece. He has a tiny hammer which he uses to knock in the pins, with his thumb next to the pin, so if he misses he'll hit his thumb rather than the cover material. "I can always put on a plaster if I hit my thumb", he says. His wife asks him if he's worried about damaging the precious materials, but he says that to him it's just the same as any other material and he treats it confidently in the same way. The same when he works with silver or gold, "It's just metal."

Stan likes working at the museum, which he does two days a week, usually driving himself from Deepcar where he still lives, though sometimes he gets a lift in with his daughter. His old workshop was dark and gloomy, and lonely, and once he had no power as someone had pinched the electrical cables. At the museum, people keep an eye on him, and sometimes come and have a chat.

Stan had a look at the knives Duncan and I had in our pockets, happy to pose for a picture with one of Charlie's Barlows. Duncan asked what knife he carried himself. "I don't have one", he laughed. He does though have boxes of his pattern knives at home. I asked how many patterns he does. "Hundreds" he said, "But they're all in my head."

Having put off his lunch to talk to us, as we left Stan was putting the kettle on and preparing to eat his sandwich. "What have you got on your sandwich Stan?" I asked.
"Marmalade", he said, a gentleman cutler with no airs and graces, keeping alive the skills and traditions, which once put Sheffield at the centre of the world.






More pics in posts 74 and 93.
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What a great summary of your day with Mr Shaw. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I very much enjoyed reading it.
 
Onebigbill said:
What a great summary of your day with Mr Shaw. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I very much enjoyed reading it.
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Thanks Bill, it's a few years back now, and I'm sorry the photos are no longer there. It was a great day to share with Duncan and Sue, one of those days you remember all your life :)
 
What a great read! Its very interesting how stan conducts his work. My father also enjoys or prefers to make his own tools. Next time i visit him im going to have to dig up this thread and make him read it. I know hell enjoy reading how stan works as a cutler.

interesting timing for this thread to be dug up. I just learned 2 days ago about some relatives of mine that were cutlers in sheffield generation after generation. At least from 1760 to 1901 that i currently know of. That branch of the family could still be cutlers today. Its amazing when a family can continue a trade for multiple generations. Passing down everything theyve learned. You dont find that in todays age.
 
Mass1632 said:
You dont find that in todays age.
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No you don't, and that is the price we pay for what people call convenience. Or, our throw away society. We, and when i say we, i mean our previous generations, used to be taught by their elders or were self taught to make, mend and fix things. And this so called recycling that is claimed to be the domain of the generations of the last couple of decades was going on well before i was born, and i'm an old man. My grandparents and my parents generations stored away all sorts of stuff, to recycle and use later if they needed to fix things. When we had garbage collection day, which was once a week, everyone had a steel rubbish bin, that was it. There was no plastic, and no recycling extra bin. We took all the glass lemonade bottles back to the shop to get the deposit, and the garbos' took all the beer bottles which were sold back to the brewery to be cleaned and reused. And any glass jar was cleaned and stored by mum to fill with jams and pickles and stuff. Sorry to get off topic, but just wanted to point out that i don't think we are as smart as we think we are. But i do think that people are realizing, that craftsman who can make things by hand and not mass produced are to be utilized and they are starting to make a comeback. People after losing the plot and filling their houses with junk are coming around to the old theory " You Get What You Pay For ". Well some anyway.o_O:rolleyes:;):)
 
Mass1632 said:
What a great read! Its very interesting how stan conducts his work. My father also enjoys or prefers to make his own tools. Next time i visit him im going to have to dig up this thread and make him read it. I know hell enjoy reading how stan works as a cutler.

interesting timing for this thread to be dug up. I just learned 2 days ago about some relatives of mine that were cutlers in sheffield generation after generation. At least from 1760 to 1901 that i currently know of. That branch of the family could still be cutlers today. Its amazing when a family can continue a trade for multiple generations. Passing down everything theyve learned. You dont find that in todays age.
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Good for your dad :) A lot of apprentices had to make their own tools at one time. Many of Stan's tools are very old, simply because they are not made anymore, and the only way to replace them is for him to make them himself :) I have given him quite a few old files over the years, and a few other tools. It is nice to see them on his bench in more recent videos :thumbsup:

That's very interesting about your forebears. Most cutlers took on their sons as apprentices, though sometimes they would be apprenticed to another cutler in order to increase the knowledge within the family :thumbsup:
 
It's Stan Shaw's 94th birthday today, and I was reading back through this thread. Seeming how most of the early photos are now missing, I thought I'd spend some time today uploading the photos I have on file. Thinking of you Stan :thumbsup:

From August 2013 (Stan wasn't working that day):

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Some photos from April 2015. When I went to see Stan, and I'll always try and take a few photos through the window first, but the more I got to know him, the harder it got to take photos without him noticing me. Stan was used to posing for photos, but as we became friends, I was even more reluctant to take photos, and regret not taking more in a way.

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