Bill Ruple: Sowbelly Stockman (Jigged Bone)

Personally, I like this one much better without the filework:thumbup: Gorgeous knife!!!
 
WOW...
Thats the easiest way I can describe that knife Elliott.. VERY NICE.
 
That one's got it all: sexy curves, impeccable proportions, great color on the scales. Congrats on the fine catch, I really like the looks of that Ruple.
 
Excellent knife there Blues, like the looks of the sheepfoot blade and the little recurve to the clip. All understated and with class.
 
Beautiful. Looks like it will match up perfectly with the stag one too!
 
Thank you gents. :cool:

If I get some time today between football and messing with my dog I'll try to take a little group shot of my custom sowbellies.
 
Pictualicious. . . graphamendous . . . .I just can't find the right word to describe your knife pixels!!
Great knife, Elliott. . . . and camera work. I like the way Bill's thread lines wrap the bolsters.
 
Here's a quick group shot of my custom sowbellies. In size order from top to bottom they are Chamblin, Ruple (Whittler), Ruple & Reese Bose:

standard.jpg
 
They do look all self-confident there! The smiles are infectious!!:)
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
Thanks for sharing; of all the details, the one that caught my eye the most was the slight recurve of the main blade in pic. #3. (Mains are usually the last I look at on a 3-blade.) It looks positively...aerodynamic. And the scale color is purty too. :thumbup:

So, now a question: (Bear with me, folks, I don't know Sowbellies very well.)
It looks to me that in pic. #2, the sheepfoot and spay blades are nested in a fairly low profile - lower than on a regular Stockman. Is that typical of Sowbellies in general, or of Ruples' work in particular? I'm thinking that the bolster/joint at the spay blade end sits a little lower than the other end, and that allows the lower profile, and still allows access to the nail nick on the inside blade.

My only complaint on a Stockman (and Sowbellies too?) is that the sheepfoot blade sits too high. Using the main blade for anything sometimes gets uncomfortable, at least for me. Almost every working Stockman I buy gets a some blade kick work to drop the profile a bit, but I haven't thought of working a Sowbelly down.

thx - cpr
 
Hi Chris, thanks for the good words.

I think there's variation from maker to maker (see group image above) but in general I think one of the advantages of the sowbelly pattern is that it is pocket friendly due to its design and characteristics and it is also more comfortable in the hand.

On the other hand, Tony Bose has commented in the past that he prefers the premium stockman because he doesn't care for the somewhat downturned angle that many of the spey blades are deployed at upon opening. Guess that's why i have a few of each style. ;)
(I couldn't choose one over the other, but like you, if I find it overwhelming I don't mind filing the kick.)
 
Variations by maker: I hear you. The bottom knife in that group pic illustrates what I mean by the "hump". Beautiful knife, but a hump like that has icepack written all over it if I did any heavy hogging work with the main blade. The second knife is (sigh...a Ruple too...) more along the lines of what I prefer.

Blues said:
Tony Bose has commented in the past that he prefers the premium stockman because he doesn't care for the somewhat downturned angle that many of the spey blades are deployed at upon opening.
Click to expand...

I have one Sowbelly I work with, and the spay being "downturned" isn't really a problem for me. If I'm using the spay, I usually hold the blade level, which gives you kind of a "pistol-grip" profile to the handle on most Sowbellies. This has a rather nice feel to it on some detail work, at least for me. By the way, some of the spays on my working knives are reborn as sheepfoot profiles. Blasphemy, I'm sure, ;) but it gives me an extra sheepfoot to play with.

Shields: "Corset" and "Bustier"? Only on Sowbellies? Are there particular shield styles for specific patterns? :confused:

thx - cpr
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top