Tools & Trades History Society

About Tools & Trades

Tools and Trades

We are not primarily a collectors' club but most of our members do own quite a lot of tools and some of them have studied their specialist interests in depth.

The society owns a substantial collection of tools, which is on permanent public display at the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre, near Arundel in West Sussex. All members are urged to visit Amberley as often as they can. We also have close links to the Hawley Collection in Sheffield.

 There is a series of notes on the preservation and treatment of tools.  We have a small collection of videos recording tool making techniques and a popular section on mystery tools or "whatsits" as most members describe them.

The Amberley Collection

The Hawley Collection 

Images

Jane Rees has kindly made available a selection of her photographs of various tools and trades.  In this section you can also view images from the collections at Amberley showing examples of craftmen-made tools and engineering tools.

Articles 

There is a fascinating selection of articles ranging from Japanese marking instruments to WW1 saws.

Notes on the Preservation and Treatment of Tools 

The accumulated wisdom of TATHS members through the ages! Here you can find all sorts of techniques and tips for restoring old tools. Some of them may even work....

Videos 

Mystery Tools 

Older Queries (from before May 2020)