Arthur Wright & Son, Sheffield: Quality of six knives received in 2022 - happy customer

[Carboniferous]

The last time I had any knives from this firm was 2020. The fit and finish was terrible, off-centre blades, awful grinds, one knife had a blade so stiff I had to open it with pliers. I was their biggest customer at the time, paid extra for a higher grade of work, picked up the knives from the factory, and was assured they'd been thoroughly checked. I wouldn't buy another knife from them. Good luck if you decide to order, blind, from overseas

Seems like maybe the scorn from a formerly major client hit home somewhat? Still a small sample size but it seems like people are having quite good luck in the last year or two compared to what we see in this post

 

[Misplaced Hillbilly]

The last time I had any knives from this firm was 2020. The fit and finish was terrible, off-centre blades, awful grinds, one knife had a blade so stiff I had to open it with pliers. I was their biggest customer at the time, paid extra for a higher grade of work, picked up the knives from the factory, and was assured they'd been thoroughly checked. I wouldn't buy another knife from them. Good luck if you decide to order, blind, from overseas

Damn! Well it does seem they've improved, maybe as C Carboniferous said you lit a fire under them to be better.

 

[sf fanatic]

Seems like maybe the scorn from a formerly major client hit home somewhat? Still a small sample size but it seems like people are having quite good luck in the last year or two compared to what we see in this post

I have purchased several recently from a US. dealer and I’m very pleased with them. Good fit and finish, centered blades, good grinds and no glaring spring gaps. Nice walk and talk with pinchable blades.View attachment 2013907View attachment 2013908View attachment 2013909

 

[Modoc ED]

I have purchased several recently from a US. dealer and I’m very pleased with them. Good fit and finish, centered blades, good grinds and no glaring spring gaps. Nice walk and talk with pinchable blades.View attachment 2013907View attachment 2013908View attachment 2013909

The stag on these recent knives is very nice.

 

[sf fanatic]

The stag on these recent knives is very nice.

Ed, I asked our friend to send me some pictures of the ones that he had in stock and I was able to choose my favorite.

 

[Jack Black]

Seems like maybe the scorn from a formerly major client hit home somewhat? Still a small sample size but it seems like people are having quite good luck in the last year or two compared to what we see in this post

Possibly, but I think most of the ones being shown are actually SFOs from a particular dealer, and not standard production. The designs are slightly different, the materials are of better quality, particularly the stag, and there is an extra level of QC

 

[sf fanatic]

Possibly, but I think most of the ones being shown are actually SFOs from a particular dealer, and not standard production. The designs are slightly different, the materials are of better quality, particularly the stag, and there is an extra level of QC

Jack, you’ve forgotten more about A. Wright&Sons than I’ll ever know. I will defer to your expertise.

 

[Carboniferous]

Possibly, but I think most of the ones being shown are actually SFOs from a particular dealer, and not standard production. The designs are slightly different, the materials are of better quality, particularly the stag, and there is an extra level of QC

Hm, interesting, not familiar enough to recognize that kind of thing. Maybe a factor to keep an eye out for, because I do find their patterns appealing and have only held off because it's so disappointing to get a lemon of a knife (even moreso when it's a knife you really want to like based on the pattern).

 

[Jack Black]

Jack, you’ve forgotten more about A. Wright&Sons than I’ll ever know. I will defer to your expertise.

To some extent, (ordinarily I'd say to a LARGE extent), when you commission an SFO you define the quality, and what departures are acceptable. In my past experience, most of the UK dealers don't even look at the knives they receive from Wright's, before shipping them to customers. Where a dealer takes more of an interest, being willing to pay for better quality materials, and refusing to accept sub-standard knives, their customers are far more likely to be happy with the product they receive

Hm, interesting, not familiar enough to recognize that kind of thing. Maybe a factor to keep an eye out for, because I do find their patterns appealing and have only held off because it's so disappointing to get a lemon of a knife (even moreso when it's a knife you really want to like based on the pattern).

Yes, definitely, particularly if you're ordering from overseas, and it's not easy to return a lemon

 

[sf fanatic]

To some extent, (ordinarily I'd say to a LARGE extent), when you commission an SFO you define the quality, and what departures are acceptable. In my past experience, most of the UK dealers don't even look at the knives they receive from Wright's, before shipping them to customers. Where a dealer takes more of an interest, being willing to pay for better quality materials, and refusing to accept sub-standard knives, their customers are far more likely to be happy with the product they receive

Yes, definitely, particularly if you're ordering from overseas, and it's not easy to return a lemon

Yes, this dealer told me that he had a substantial amount of his order that would be considered “Seconds”. He sold them at a discount. I was able to fix a few of them that I ordered to a point that for the cost it was aceptable.

 

[echoscout]

I've bought 10 knives from that dealer and while I consider most of them to be of better quality than what I got from over the pond. Some of them have issues. Wood chips filled in with black epoxy. Which isn't to bad on ebony but on the rose wood it makes your knife look like a leopard. Several have had blunt blade tips. I had to trprofile the tip to get a good sharp point. Both the large lambsfoot I have when the blade is fully open cant over to the left. It wont effect performance. But how can a knife that has good centering closed be so far over open. My first A Wright Lambsfoot I got years ago from an English dealer had the same problem. Must be an A Wright thing??? For the price they are a good value and I'll buy more of them.

 

[cudgee]

particularly if you're ordering from overseas, and it's not easy to return a lemon

Near on impossible. Just so economically not worth it most of the time.

 

[B1GSHOT]

The one I had that I gave away had a beautful horn handle, but the pull was impossible to open without an opening tool.

 

[Jack Black]

Yes, this dealer told me that he had a substantial amount of his order that would be considered “Seconds”. He sold them at a discount. I was able to fix a few of them that I ordered to a point that for the cost it was aceptable.

I've bought 10 knives from that dealer and while I consider most of them to be of better quality than what I got from over the pond. Some of them have issues. Wood chips filled in with black epoxy. Which isn't to bad on ebony but on the rose wood it makes your knife look like a leopard. Several have had blunt blade tips. I had to trprofile the tip to get a good sharp point. Both the large lambsfoot I have when the blade is fully open cant over to the left. It wont effect performance. But how can a knife that has good centering closed be so far over open. My first A Wright Lambsfoot I got years ago from an English dealer had the same problem. Must be an A Wright thing??? For the price they are a good value and I'll buy more of them.

Of the last 20 knives I had from them, more than 3/4 of the blades were off-centre. I ended up giving them away.

Near on impossible. Just so economically not worth it most of the time.

Which obviously has to be taken into account, particularly since QC at the factory is so lacking

The one I had that I gave away had a beautful horn handle, but the pull was impossible to open without an opening tool.

Sorry to hear that I like a stiff pull, but I had a sample from them, among the last knives I had from Wright's, and could only open the blade with pliers!

 

[Modoc ED]

Possibly, but I think most of the ones being shown are actually SFOs from a particular dealer, and not standard production. The designs are slightly different, the materials are of better quality, particularly the stag, and there is an extra level of QC

Jack Jack Black - Only two of the five knives I showed are SFO - the two Bunny Knives. The three standard production knives are first rate. I/we understand you had some negative experiences with A. Wright and it's a shame but apparently, things have improved for the best at A. Wright as of late. Like I said above, I've got a two blade Lambfoot on the way from them now and I'll give it an honest review when it gets here.

 

[FranklinG]

Are these available in the States, or would I need to order from the UK?

 

[Modoc ED]

Are these available in the States, or would I need to order from the UK?

Can't answer that here but I'm sending you a PM with the info.

 

[Modoc ED]

As to filling chips with epoxy, here's a good example of how it was handled by the manufacturer of our BF Bunny Knives so, A. Wright I'd say isn't the only one that does it. It'll be interesting to see how the final hafting of our Bunny Knives turns out.

 

[Jack Black]

Jack Jack Black - Only two of the five knives I showed are SFO - the two Bunny Knives. The three standard production knives are first rate. I/we understand you had some negative experiences with A. Wright and it's a shame but apparently, things have improved for the best at A. Wright as of late. Like I said above, I've got a two blade Lambfoot on the way from them now and I'll give it an honest review when it gets here.

I probably have nearly 50 years experience of their knives Ed, and have had several hundred knives from them. Over the years, I've generally seen quality go up and down, but never get particularly good, since they are low-priced knives, which aren't made for knife collectors. About a decade ago, I had had so many badly-made AW knives, that I was ready to give up on them altogether. There were times I went through boxes and boxes of their knives, and couldn't find a single decently-made knife. Other members reported similarly poor experiences. Then, through contact with John Maleham, I got a couple of decent ones, which gave me hope for the future. They did a good job of my SFOs, but even then, as many as 30% from each run were weeded out by me, and they were returned to the factory. Most of the new Lambsfoot knives I'm seeing are SFOs, and Iook to be of decent quality. I hope that has a knock-on effect in terms of Wright's general production, as I think it did when they were producing my own SFOs. How consistent their quality will be in the future, and for how long, remains to be seen though, particularly based on their previous track record. I hope folks can get a decent knife from them, but I won't be ordering from them again

 

[B1GSHOT]

I have an older A Wright knife which appears to be 1970s or earlier that is a great little knife. I've only had trouble with recent ones (and more than one unfortunately).