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Collections: Kelham Island Museum
The Benjamin Huntsman Clock
The longcase clock was made by Benjamin Huntsman in the 1740s. Inside the clock's case is a large, rectangular slab of steel. The steel is described on the original plaque with the clock: -
"This clock by Benjamin Huntsman contains the first successful results of his invention of crucible cast steel 1740."
Huntsman was born in Lincolnshire in 1704. As a boy, he quickly showed skills in mechanical work and became apprentice to a clockmaker when he was 14 years old. By the time he was 21, he had set up his own clockmaking business in Doncaster.
Huntsman's experiments in crucible steelmaking began in 1740 and he developed the process over the next two years. In 1742, he moved to a village near Sheffield town called Handsworth. It took a while for his new steelmaking method to take off in Sheffield. He continued as a clockmaker until 1751, when he began producing steel full-time at his new works in Attercliffe.
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