History of E.C. Atkins & Co., Indianapolis, Indiana

E.C. Atkins plastering trowel

E.C. Atkins & Co. was a major saw and tool manufacturer in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1952 it was purchased by Borg-Warner Corporation. The Indianapolis factory was closed in 1960-61 and its operations relocated to Greenville, Mississippi. Nicholson File Co. bought the Atkins Division of Borg Warner in 1966. Atkins had 14 major product lines which Nicholson quickly consolidated or eliminated.

From the 1890s through the mid-twentieth century, Atkins made plastering and cement finishing trowels. The 1910 advertisement shows a plastering trowel with a patent-applied-for movable handle. I have links to 3 E.C. Atkins publications under Vintage Trowel Catalog Downloads.

E.C. Atkins 1906 catalog

Swedish Bricklaying Tools, Svenska Murarverktyg

Sweden has a very long tradition of making steel and tools, as described by Tekniska museet (Technical Museum) in Stockholm:
Ferrum – Swedish Iron and Steel through the Ages

KGC, founded 1950, is one of Sweden's trowel makers. Following is a translated quote from their website KGC History

Karl Gustav Cederberg, a skilled concrete worker, started the KGC's Bricklayer’s Tools 1 April 1950. KGC quickly became known for its high quality and good service, two qualities that still permeate the company.

In the 1950s there were not many shippers, thus KGC bought a Ford Anglia and delivered himself to building sites around the Stockholm area and up to Uppsala, which was then almost a day trip.

1966 sold the company to the Cederberg Hadar Gustafsson streamlined production and increased range. [In 1966 the company sold Cederberg to Hadar Gustafsson as streamlined manufacturing and extended range.] In 1979 KGC was acquired by Orwar Eriksson. On first September 2005, Patrik Wahlfridsson and Mats Engqvist took over the company.  The first catalog contained 30 products, most of them made ​​by KGC. 25 of these are still in the range and further approximately 1800 products. Many products are now, as then, developed by the KGC and we always listen to the end user to find optimum solutions to problems.

History of Matthias Spencer and Sons, John R. Spencer and Son, Albion Steel Works, Sheffield

Matthias Spencer and Sons, Albion Steel Works, Sheffield, were in business from 1749 to 1968. They manufactured brick trowels and other products of forged, plate, and drawn steel, such as shovels, miner's picks, files, table knives, razors, and wire. In the 19th century the works were on Pea Croft, now Solly Street, Sheffield, a neighborhood of small factories and attached worker housing. According to the book, "Illustrated Guide to Sheffield & District 1879", they were called John R. Spencer and Son, Albion Steel Works at that time. The picture shows 3 cone-shaped cementation furnaces at the rear, indicating that Spencer was making their own steel from wrought iron and charcoal.

For an article about a surviving steel works and owner's house, located only a few blocks away from Matthias Spencer and Sons, see the fifth link below.

Grace's Guide - Matthias Spencer and Sons
Albion Steel Works picture, circa 1879
Wikipedia - Cementation process of steelmaking
Google Maps - Solly Street, Sheffield
Wikipedia - Well Meadow Street Crucible Furnace
Wikipedia - Surviving cementation furnace, Sheffield
Related article - Early Victorian Housing in Sheffield

Matthias Spencer brick trowel, missing handle 

Matthias Spencer 1895 (Grace's Guide)

Ancient Egyptian Masonry Tools and Techniques

Here are sites with some information on ancient Egyptian masonry tools and techniques:

Ancient Egypt Tools

Composition and development of ancient Egyptian tools

Chisels in Ancient Egypt

Mines and Quarries of Ancient Egypt

How did they build the pyramids?

Egyptian bronze chisel

Medieval Plasterer's Trowel

This is identified as, "A complete cast copper alloy plasterer's / bricklayer's pointing tool / trowel, of probable Medieval to Post Medieval dating (14th to 17th Centuries AD)." It is from Cheshire East, UK. http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/445044

Medieval plasterer's trowel (4 views)