Doncasters Group Ltd was originally founded in 1778, when Daniel Doncaster established an operation in Sheffield, England to apply the crucible steel-making process to the manufacture of hand tools and is now one of the longest continuously operating industrial manufacturing companies in the world.

Daniel Doncaster obtained his trade mark in 1778, making it one of the oldest in the world. Some examples are shown to the right.

Making hand tools was the most important enabling industry of all in the late 1700s. The father of production engineering, Joseph Bramah, did not start to apply the methods of the wood-worker to metal manufacture until the second half of the 18th century, and it was the availability of tools which could cut cast and wrought iron which made the industrial revolution possible.

Tools made using Benjamin Huntsman's crucible steel process created this capability. The steel industry started in 1740 when Huntsman invented his process. It started with the carburising of Swedish iron in pot kilns similar to those used in all high temperature industries.

The only remaining cementation furnace actually belonged to Daniel Doncaster and Sons. It is located in Doncaster Street in Sheffield, UK, a street named after our eponymous hero, Daniel.