The Swarfhorse timeline starts here, at Shepherd Wheel. Predating records of 1584, this is the oldest grinding shop in existence, the most complete manifestation of the grinding industry in the city.

  Snow White sleeps in her glass casket, awaiting the kiss of life from some handsome Prince, of independent means, who may, or may not, revive her. The seven swarfs stand guard, petrified, yet ever vigilant.

​

 The sculpture Snow White is made of plaster, and gold leaf, covered in swarf (the ultrafine grindings produced whilst blades are being ground on a grindstone).  The torso was first sculpted in clay, then moulded, and cast in plaster of paris. The plaster cast was then gilded with dutch metal (imitation gold leaf), and then positioned in front of Brian Alcocks grindstone. As he went about his daily work, grinding all sorts of steel blades, the swarf was deposited on the surface of the sculpture by the water, thrown from the wheel, holding the steel grindings. As it flowed over the surface of the sculpture, the water ate through the dutch metal, and into the soft white plaster beneath, simultaneously turning the colour of the gold into hues of crimson, until a point where the sculpture resembled a rotting apple – eureka-our metaphor – Snow White – Wicked Queen Triumphant...

 

 Shepherd Wheel, one of many grinding shops working in the mid eighteenth century, bore witness to the revolutionary invention of crucible steel, in the city, by Benjamin Huntsman. This new hard steel facilitated the production of a new type of tool - the machine tool.

 “The efficacy of any metal cutting machine depends absolutely upon the ability of the actual cutting tool to do the job required of it. Indeed, it would be true to say that the machine is designed round the cutting tool since its proportions, its feeds and speeds are necessarily determined by the tools cutting ability. Thus Huntsman’s carbon steel made possible and influenced profoundly the achievements of the pioneer machine-tool makers.” – from “Tools for the Job” by L T C Rolt, 1965.

​

 Who created the bespoke cutting edges on these tools – Sheffield’s grinders of course. I contend that this is the origin of the expression “cutting edge”, as applied to state of the art technologies and new industries, since that time, I believe that we should lay claim to the citation for this phrase on behalf of Sheffield’s grinders. Do you?