Bandsaw

The trading origins of the Carty company date back to the 1760s when vatmakers Powell and Layton opened a business in Borough, Southwark. Later when the firm moved to Clerkenwell it was taken over by members of the Carty family. In 1908 the company absorbed the vatmaking arm of Shuters, Chippindales and Colyers Ltd at Stratford.

Until 1914 Carty's major customers were brewers, but new hygiene standards and the consequent use of metal vessels by the brewing industry meant a decline in demand. The firm diversified in response to a growing demand for vats from the chemical and other industries. Carty's customers included food producers Heinz and HP Sauce, chemical giant ICI and the photographic companies Kodak and Ilford. The firm continued to manufacture for the drinks industry producing oak storage vats for the Guinness brewery at Park Royal in 1935.

Towards the end of its existence, Carty's manufactured Jacuzzis. The firm's last major contract was to manufacture vats for a gelatin works in China in 1986. Competition from steel and plastic vessels and the general decline in British industry spelled the end of vatmaking at Carty's and the company went into liquidation in August 1989.

This bandsaw was used at Carty's Peckham works for sawing timber. The saw was collected at scrap metal value by the Museum of London in 1990.