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By Nick Cook At two working museums—the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and the Kelham Island Museum—you can step back into the history of steel making and the industrial revolution in Sheffield. Abbeydale was one of the largest water-powered sites on the River Sheaf. The earliest records date back to 1714 and it was in continuous operation until 1933. The water wheel and tilt forge have been restored and operate today under the authority of the Council for the Conservation of Sheffield Antiquities. Peter Gribbon, a tool grinder, continues to operate one of the mill’s 42”-diameter grinding wheels. He also does work for several of the local toolmakers. The Kelham Island Museum is home to a massive Bessemer Converter—one of only three left in the world. The museum also houses the 12,000 hp River Don Engine, the most powerful working steam engine remaining in Europe. The iron ore was crushed, charcoal (made from the timber) was layered along with the iron ore and it was packed together and sealed in clay. This was heated with coal and charcoal to approximately 1600°C. This process allowed the carbon from the charcoal surrounding it to be absorbed and convert it into steel. The steel was then allowed to cool slowly over a period of one to three weeks. Once cooled, the clay was removed to reveal a bar or ingot of “blister steel.” This was the cementation process and was first used for making steel in Sheffield in the 16th century. By the mid-1800s, there were more than 200 cementation furnaces. Crucible steel was the next generation in steel making. Benjamin Huntsman used clay crucibles and melted and cast steel into ingots. This made the composition of the steel more even and better quality for use in edge tools, razors, machines parts, cutting tools, dies, engraving plates and springs. In the 1840s, Sheffield mils produced about 90 percent of Britain’s steel and almost 50 percent of the world’s steel. In 1856, Henry Bessemer designed the first machine for making bulk steel. It was huge egg-shaped converter. Air was blasted through molten iron to create cheap steel. This new steel was lower quality but could be used for rails, armor, boiler plates and heavy guns. The new process could produce more than seven tons of steel in half an hour. It was not suitable for engineering steels or cutting tools.
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