Woah! You folks have been busy!
It will make an excellent cake cutter.
It certainly was John
One thing that never ceases to amaze me is, when you see these sorts of photos, in this case, old cutlers, they are in old workshops using hand tools that they have probably had since they started their apprenticeships. They would have bought these tools with one of their first pay packets, and the old machinery has been there it seems like forever, no new wiz bang stuff, as you said, just old graft tools. I remember seeing a metal worker make a replica mud guard for a 1964 EH Holden from a piece of sheet metal, i was just in awe that this skilled craftsman could do this all by hand with a dolly, hammer, file and a metal stretching machine with the big rollers. And it fitted like it came from the factory, as Denis
mitch4ging
said in a recent post, each generation that goes by some of these skills are lost, till eventually they will be lost forever, sad, but reality. At least some of these old crafts are being preserved, with a lot of people now getting interested in bespoke/hand crafted products and are taking these skills on through classes run by old masters of these crafts and skills. Keep posting these old photos Jack, i know i am not the only member who loves seeing them.
Yes, Stan did almost everything by hand, he even cut out his blades with a hacksaw! Some of his tools he'd had his entire working life. I used to buy old Sheffield files for him, and he'd treasure every one
He once told me a story about his gaffer Ted Osborne, who like Stan, and indeed most cutlers, came from a very poor family. As a young man, Ted was walking to work, when incredibly, he spotted a Shilling shining on the pavement. This must have been early in the 20th Century, and he could have bought himself a good breakfast, dinner, and (if he had not been a strict Methodist), a few pints with that Shilling, but instead he went and bought himself a file, so that he could make more knives. He had the same passion for knife-making as Stan, as well as the same genius
Ted Osborne in the foreground, using a Two-legged Parser. His apprentice, Stan Shaw is in the background
Great wood on that one.
Thanks mate, I think I picked that one up at the factory, during better days
Thank you, Jack! I was glad to see you win the recent giveaway that Glenn hosted.
Many thanks Joshua, I don't enter many giveaways, but am very excited about winning this one, and grateful to
pmek5
and
glennbad
It's certainly a knife I'll treasure
It wasn't just the old Sheffield cutlers who got their hands dirty. I don't think anyone walked out of those shops not covered in metal dust, or buffing compound, or sawdust/bone dust, or wheel grit, etc:
View attachment 1592359
Eric
Great photo Eric
You couldn't LIVE in Sheffield without being covered in 'muck'!
Just about all the female members of my family, before my generation, were buffer-girls, at least at some point in their lives. They are known as 'Diamonds in Brown Paper' in the city
That’s what I was thinking. In my mind, if I can pinch it open it can’t be more than 8. I comfortably pinch open both of the knives you sent me. The Big’un developing a nice patina.
View attachment 1592279
Looking good Todd, that's nice horn
I remembers when i was growing up we had a panel beating shop near where we lived, you could smell it as you got closer and it just got so intense as you walked past. If you went past at lunch time all the workers would sit out the front in the fresh air covered in body filler dust and over spray all over their overalls. No face masks in those days, you just wonder what they must have been breathing in.
There's a certain smell I still sometimes come across in Sheffield, though nowhere near as much as in the past, which I associate with the smell of my father's overalls as a nipper, and the factories where he worked
I received my first Lambsfoot yesterday and it certainly won't be my last.
Congratulations JJ, and welcome to the Guardians
That's a nice one to start with, please let us know how you find the Lambsfoot blade
Congrats on the milestone (50,000 posts)
Jack Black
and congratulations to the winner.
Thanks a lot Ted
I just got
Pàdruig
's prize off in the post today
Hope he's doing OK in Oregon, with those fearsome temperatures
Thank you, Jack!
Your Charlie Lamb looks great!!
Glad you're getting on top of your mountain and can keep on schedule at the market!!
...
Hope you have a great day at the market, Jack!
A non-pretty pile side.
Thank you kindly Dennis
The market was good
Some wonderful character to that knife my friend
After carefully weighing all of the stories of dubiously crafted lambsfoots, I finally decided to try my hand at picking up a vintage example to try out the pattern. After being outbid a couple times and stewing on it endlessly, I chose to bite the bullet and pick a new example up instead!
For a decent enough price, I have a lambsfoot clad allegedly in Bubinga on its way to me now - hopefully I snagged a good example! I’d be happy with any covers as long as the knife has a good walk and talk!
My suspicion is it'll be Rosewood, rather than Bubinga, but I hope you get a nice one
Fingers crossed
I think our knives might be from the same batch Jer
Happy Canada day to our Canadian Guardians
Great pic Dan
Happy Canada Day to you and all our other Canadian Guardians
Boys I am in love! This knife is a workhorse.
Dirtiest gritty knife i have ever seen out of the box. A little tlc flush and work the joint, run it across the strop and its gtg. A real gem for 40 bucks or Quid is probably more appropriate!
Thanks Gents for turning me on to these.
Handsome Lambsfoot Snoop
Yeah, there's some crud in there isn't there?!
Welcome to the Guardians
I love the colours you get when that polished carbon steel starts to patina
I hope everyone is having a great day
Pushing on for 8pm here, and this is the first chance I've had to post!
Enjoyed carrying this Rosewood Big 'Un today. I have them in horn, ebony, and ivory, but I think the Rosewood is my favourite - and it cut cake like a lazer!
