Following up on a family line where census and marriage certificates give the son and father the profession of file forger/ file cutter/ file smith/ file maker.
Am I correct in thinking these are the same or very similar names for a particular type of work? Or unrelated different work?
I would say that file smith and file maker are general and equivalent terms. Forging and cutting are different parts of the process of making files.
I recommend the following article by Joan Unwin. She is the Archivist to the Cutlers' Company but this article relates to the many filesmiths etc among her ancestors. Don't be misled by the specificity of the title. It is wide-ranging and very interesting.
I would say that file smith and file maker are general and equivalent terms. Forging and cutting are different parts of the process of making files.
I recommend the following article by Joan Unwin. She is the Archivist to the Cutlers' Company but this article relates to the many filesmiths etc among her ancestors. Don't be misled by the specificity of the title. It is wide-ranging and very interesting.