History Of WS Tools Birmingham

Introduction

Very little is known about the WS Manufacturing Company Ltd. (herein called simply WS) but based upon some evidence, the tools produced and with some intelligent speculation, I have pieced together a possible history.  But I would still welcome any further information to increase our knowledge.

The only address for the company, that I can find, appears to be:

W.S. Manufacturing Company Ltd.,
Quadrant Works,
28 Sheepcote Street,
Birmingham.

In ‘The London Gazette’ of 7th October 1938 there is a reference to a ‘General Meeting’ held at the above named company address on 3rd Oct. 1938 in order to wind up the ‘Midland Malleable Foundry Company Ltd.’ and to have that company liquidated. There may have been an association between these 2 companies, otherwise why would the meeting have taken place at the Quadrant WorksBut in any event, WS was then in existence and still listed as a Cycle Fittings manufacturer.  The company was soon thereafter Government directed towards the war effort in producing armaments [1938-45], and one section probably eased into tool production during the war.   I believe that WS Tools was just a small part of WS Manufacturing/engineering company and that certain components of their planes were possibly made at the Quadrant works by sub contractors within the works complex.

In Graces guide there is a reference to a Quadrant Cycle Company at Quadrant Works, which closed down in 1929, and there are the the following references for WS:

1932 Kelly’s “Cycle Fork Manufacturers”
1937 Kelly’s “Cycle Fork Manufacturers”
1943 Kelly’s “Engineers”
1950 Kelly’s “Engineers”

{I have found 4 Patents assigned to WS Mfg Company:  two having to do with the improvement of machines for rolling screw threads  (1947 & 1952),  one  (1954) to do with improving a shearing machine and one (1950) to do with improving hydraulic presses.  So it might appear that WS was indeed engaged in more than just producing Woodworking tools and continued on in the Engineering line after selling that hand tool ‘division’ to WODEN.

Quadrant Works, shown in the map pictured below,  was bordered by Sheepcote Street to the East, by the Timber yard to the North and by the Birmingham Canal to the South and West, and it was composed of a few separate companies operating in buildings surrounding a central courtyard from where there was access to the Canal for receiving and shipping of materials and goods. I have previously speculated that the ‘Works’ were so named because of the geographic boundary forming a Quadrant, or quarter of a circle, but updated information suggests that the ‘Quadrant‘ name came from the shape of the bearings used by the Quadrant Cycle Co. Ltd. in which their tricycle’s guide wheels were steered. From the size of the area and that WS only occupied but part of that area, I am supposing that WS was certainly not initially a large organisation having perhaps just a few thousand square feet at most. It is doubtful that they had their own foundry and probable that all castings (Sheffield source?) were either ‘bought-in’ or sub contacted locally and maybe only finish work was applied on the WS Tools premises.

Recent information suggests that most of the workers were women and they were employed on  ‘piecework’.  Would this then indicate that the company may well have been started up during or towards the end of the war years (c1943-4)??  From my WS A6 study and a box showing a solid price noted, and extrapolating to other manufacturer’s prices at that time, it would appear that this plane (the A6) was produced in early 1944.  It is doubtful that a number 6 size plane would have been produced early on in a plane manufacturers’ existence, trade would have being built upon the more common 4 or 5 planes.  Therefore a start date for WS Tools of 1943 would seem more possible and most likely.

Around 1952 (Graces Guide) WS Tools was bought out by The Steel Nut & Joseph Hampton Ltd.  (WODEN) of Wednesbury and this manufacturing division then formed the basis for WODEN to introduce their own line of planes starting with the W78 Duplex Plane in 1953.  How much WS stock on hand was transferred to Wednesbury is still unknown but the first of the WODEN W78 planes were produced from a modified WS A78  body (see the A78 Type Study on this site).  It would appear that only the planes of WS were ‘copied’, as WODEN never produced any spokeshaves, braces or sliding bevels.
Immediately below is a print showing the Quadrant Cycle Co Ltd in 1905.

 

 

Location

Factory

The picture above is taken recently from Sheepcote Street facing modern day Quadrant Works,
26-38 Sheepcote Street is now named ‘Liberty Place’ which has now been mostly turned into apartments, with businesses at street level.

Literature

To date no catalogues have been found and we have now only 6 advertisements showing a possible complete range of tools produced by WS.     This first one is from c.1950

Advertisement1

The second advert is from ‘The Hardware Trade Journal’ dated 2 March 1951 and you will note that the address has changed from Birmingham 14 to Birmingham 15.

IMG_4556

The third advert is again from ‘The Hardware Trade Journal’ dated 5th Oct 1951, and you will see that the A078 has been now properly named A78.

The fourth advert is from late 1951 and there was again an ‘Illustrated List’ available, as well as ‘Counter and Window Displays’, but as yet none of these have been found.

Advertisement2

The fifth advert comes from ‘The British Hardware and Tool Manufacturers Buyers Guide 1952‘…

The British Hardware and Tool Manufacturers Buyers Guide, 1952’

You will note that this advert, as with adverts 1 & 2,  alludes to the A078 plane which is the name used for the A78.   Perhaps it was an old revamped advert, or the information that I received on the date was incorrect and this advert superseded the 3rd advert shown above.

Also note the word ‘Specialties‘ early on and ‘Specialities’ in the second advert..  See A78 study also.

I have been most fortunate recently in that I have discovered a 1951 Nettlefold & Moser Ltd catalogue that has a whole page devoted to WS Tools and this is the only information to date that gives us prices of these tools.  So I will call this the sixth advert. [below]

 

 

I also have a package insert [shown below] found inside one of my boxed Number 4 planes:

I have made a fairly accurate copy of this delicate leaflet and it can therefore be read in its’ entirety and re-produced [It is 5″ x 8″ and printed on a light green paper.

WS leaflet A4 jpeg

 

The Name

Here, even the name of the company has been shrouded in some mystery…..WS.
Different sources have suggested a variety of names that WS could stand for, but recently I have received word from a man, who started his engineering apprenticeship in 1957 at the old WS manufacturing site, that he had then been informed by a chap who had worked there for 20 years, that WS stood for William Spencer.  A little history here will explain everything, but it is a simplified story, as larger business conglomerates were involved behind the scenes from 1938 onwards.
A company at the Quadrant works, trading as Cycle & Motor manufacturers was dissolved 4th March 1918 due to the retirement of one of the 3 partners. The remaining two partners [George Jenkins and Walter Lucas] assumed ownership and carried on the business at the Quadrant works until 1921 when they sold out to Mr. William Spencer and then the business was renamed to  WS Manufacturing Co. Ltd.  William was born 18th March 1873 and by 1911 he was a Machine shop Foreman at a cycle works. In 1939 the company was still listed as a Cycle Fittings manufacturer but one part of it must have transitioned to tool making around 1943. William Spencer died 18th Dec 1955 shortly after the tool making section had been sold to Woden Tools in 1952.

 

The Products

We have examples of most of the tools shown in the adverts, but no examples have been found to date of ‘Adjustable Bevels’ or ‘Ratchet Braces’ and they will remain a mystery until they are eventually found.  To try to find these items is almost impossible because most owners do not seem to know that a trademark or sellers name is of the utmost importance in order to establish a manufacturer.
Even though not specifically noted in the advertisements, [except in the Nettlefold & Moser catalogue] the Bench planes were all available in a ‘Corrugated’ version  (please therefore see that section).
Under ‘Analysis of Components‘ I have gone methodically through the components and list the differences that occurred in each component in the manufacturing process. After having completed the descriptions, with their necessary coding, I have produced a ‘Type’ study wherein each type differs from the previous one by a single difference in any one of the individual important components.

As time goes on I may have to modify the study as new information becomes available or corrections are needed.

Unfortunately, unlike in SMITH’S famous Type study of American Stanley bench planes, I have absolutely no literature from which to draw my conclusions, only careful observation and a lot of patience!

The No.4 bench plane (A4) was the first plane produced and shows a rapid change in many characteristics, so I have based the study on this size of plane.  In the individual sections of the other numbered bench planes I have tried to show any differences that those planes had from the ‘norm’. (The larger planes A5.1/2; A6 and A7 are distinctly different from this study in certain ways, but conform to each other in most aspects)

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