A. Wright Sheffield knives

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Peruna1998

Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
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I was looking over some knives on the British Blades forum and saw a picture of a traditional sheepsfoot knife made by A. Wright of Sheffield. I also found their webpage:

http://www.penknives-and-scissors.co.uk/

Does anyone know anything about them? I am curious as a I saw a pattern or two that I liked. Thanks.
 
I don't have any of those myself, but I do have a couple of the Mercator (Solingen) slipjoints, and have heard they're comparable. Great user knives, sometimes a little less than perfect in terms of fit & finish, but still 100% usable, durable, functional, traditional, and pleasing. They're not on the same level as the custom knives you may have seen (by far), but some individual pieces may be slightly above/below the current Case production level (for example).
Long & short: great tools that will outlast all of us.
 
Great knives for the price. You might also want to try Taylor Eyewitness the guy making them is called Russell White and he makes about 150 folders a day, a truly amazing guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSKrH3NC_eA

I'me a Buck110 man myself, I love them..... lol

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I have a small A. Wright Hawkbill, with Horn handles that is nicely made, and the price was right!
No pun intended!
 
Er, I bought one of their Lamb Foot knives in Horn a couple of years ago...I had to return it as it was truly appalling. The seller was polite but seemed baffled by my complaints and he sent me another, this was worse. Huge gaps all round, sharp pins proud of the liners,really heavy spring(I like GECs note...)the blade is actually twisted as though they had crinked it and then changed their mind! Really shocking 'quality'

I ordered one of the Ablett knives in January and paid for it, but I am still waiting for delivery. The supplier tells me there is huge demand but I am annoyed that he took my money and then told me of a long waiting list. These are just my experiences, others' may have totally different ones.
 
willgoy said:
Er, I bought one of their Lamb Foot knives in Horn a couple of years ago...I had to return it as it was truly appalling. The seller was polite but seemed baffled by my complaints and he sent me another, this was worse. Huge gaps all round, sharp pins proud of the liners,really heavy spring(I like GECs note...)the blade is actually twisted as though they had crinked it and then changed their mind! Really shocking 'quality'

I ordered one of the Ablett knives in January and paid for it, but I am still waiting for delivery. The supplier tells me there is huge demand but I am annoyed that he took my money and then told me of a long waiting list. These are just my experiences, others' may have totally different ones.
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Appalling!:eek: Sorry for your troubles!!
Perhaps you could alert us to the sellers, to avoid such situations.
 
Here are pics of my A.Wright pocket pruner. 3 7/16" long, it has nicely rounded handles, and a semi-sunk joint, making it very comfortable to carry. The horn handles are nice looking, the grinds are even, the blade straight and centered. There are slight gaps at the liners, but I have seen bigger ones in Stan Shaw's much more expensive knives, and I don't find these objectionable; after all, it's a small production knife, made with minimal machinery, and intended to be used. Good snap both ways, a pleasant and useful curved shape - what's not to like?
I can see a guy getting a little bored, turning out similar knives day in and day out, and I'd be tempted to make more customized knives, and get a better return.
This one is several years old, so it seems, quality has gone down since, for whatever reason.
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A useful, and pretty knife, I can see how Tony Bose, and other accomplished makers would want to try the challenge of a curved blade pruner. These utilitarian knives get short shrift, and deserve more attention.
I think the dealer is either passing off (despicable:eek:) seconds (everyone has a bad day:p), or the thrill is gone for the little mesters.:(
 
I just received a 3 1/2 lamb foot with a rosewood handle(made by A. Wright). Yes, the backspring is finished kinda rough at the bottom end and there are slight gaps in the liners. But overall I am very pleased with this knife, the backspring tension is just about perfect for me, the wood is actually very nice and the shape and size of the blade is very good. If this is the quality you can expect from Wright, I wouldn't be too shy to recommend it! For the price a great traditional user knife!
 
Here' s a picture of a Trevor Ablett knife I bought last year.

There's a US distributor that sells them on Ebay and they do pop up from time to time.

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