Sheffield, England · 1780s–present (three separate firms)
Sorby on a tool can mean three different Sheffield businesses. John Sorby & Sons, of Spital Hill, made edge tools and sheep shears and from 1827 marked them I & H SORBY, the I standing for John. Lockwood Brothers bought it in 1844, and the mark passed to Turner, Naylor & Co. in 1932. The I. SORBY mark came from another John Sorby, of Attercliffe, and his successors the Turners, who added Mr Punch in 1859; Marples bought that business in 1909. Robert Sorby & Sons was registered in 1828 as a maker of edge tools, saws, scythes and hay knives, worked from the Kangaroo Works from about 1860 to 1967, and was bought by Hattersley & Davidson in 1923. Robert Sorby is still making chisels, carving and turning tools in Sheffield today.
3 models we cover.
I & H SORBY, often with a hanging sheep (John Sorby & Sons, from 1827); I. SORBY, often with a Punch figure (Turner, Naylor line, Punch from 1859); a kangaroo or the Robert Sorby name (Robert Sorby & Sons); a small hardness-test indentation on modern Robert Sorby chisels.
Sorby · Bench chisel
Bevel edge1918–1941
$35–$50 typical ask
13 on eBay
Sorby · Paring chisel
Paring1918–1941
$45–$60 typical ask
2 on eBay
Sorby · Mortise chisel
Registered mortise, 3/8 inch1918–1941
$35–$65 typical ask
14 on eBay