This little gimlet has the name of its maker stamped on the end of the wooden handle. Perhaps this was customary on such tools at one point in time, but it's the first gimlet I've ever encountered that was so marked. The maker's name is given as J.B. Ridge Ltd., Sheffield.
On the other end of the handle is stamped 7/32, the diameter of the shaft:
There's very little information available about this tool maker. The only thing I've been unable to unearth is this notice from The London Gazette in August 1887:
So, if this refers to the same firm, it would seem that in 1887 Joseph Bingham Ridge parted ways with his business partner, George Sansom, formerly trading as "Joiners' Tool Manufacturers" under the name of Sansom and Ridge. Thereafter, the company became J.B. Ridge. I've no idea how long the new firm endured, or how old my little gimlet is.
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