Guardians of The Lambsfoot!

[SteveC]

Thanks buddy.

Thanks Barrett. It is oozing with beauty! Here's the mark side.

Another great shot !

Sweet

Thanks pal !

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

Great skill Jack, and fun too Is that quartz? If you win the giveaway, I'll send you a piece of Norfolk flint over

Hoping this still works: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/guardians-of-the-lambsfoot.1406735/#post-16217736

Yes plenty of quartz here, it doesn’t spark as well as flint but it’s what’s around.
I would appreciate that mate! In the muzzleloading world English black flint is still world famous for its quality. I use it in a couple of my flint guns, works equally well for fire starting.

Thank you that worked. I was trying to copy the actual image across prior.

 

[Campbellclanman]

Just awesome!

 

[Campbellclanman]

Well, Guardians, seeing as these will be showing up for several of you today (and, in fact, made it to a few of you yesterday), I suppose it’s time for me to post about this here in the thread. Of course, those of you with whom I’ve exchanged PMs this past week will already know about this, but I want to post about it here so that you all can feel free to share your knives as they arrive.

Since the beginning of the year — and with Jack’s blessing, of course — I’ve been working with Eric Albers to make a 2024 Guardians of the Lambsfoot SFO for us. This is the first Guardians knife we’ve had in 5 years; the last one prior to this was done in 2019.

The knife is the same swayback Lambsfoot patterns that Eric has been making for a couple years now: 3 5/8” closed, a satin-finished CPM154 blade, and stainless liners and bolsters. The handle material is a vintage Micarta from the 1950s/60s, which Eric sourced from Poland. It came in a large cylinder measuring 4” in diameter and about 6.5” long. According to Eric’s Polish source, these Micarta cylinders were used in elevators, though we couldn’t really figure out exactly how they were used. Perhaps just as an electrical insulator, maybe something more interesting, but who knows. If we have any Guardians here who are experts in mid-century Polish elevators, feel free to chime in!

Eric cross-cut the cylinder into disks that were the proper thickness he needed for scales. Of course, cutting into a big hunk of Micarta like that, we didn’t really know what the finished product would look like, but I have to say I’m quite happy with the end result. It has a somewhat more rustic look than, say, vintage Westinghouse Micarta, but I think that gives the knives an extra bit of character. The color is a warm butterscotch tan, with a bit of grey here and there, and (on some of the knives) sporadic dark brown spots. The texture/grain of the Micarta varies from knife to knife.

For previous Guardians SFOs, Jack would always take a big group shot of all the knives laid out on his table, so I figured I should probably do the same.

Now, as we all know, discussion of purchasing knives is against the rules of both the subforum and this thread, but I will briefly address how the distribution of these knives was handled to hopefully answer any questions those of you seeing this for the first time might have and hopefully help avoid any discussion about buying. I believe these knives belong in the hands of the folks who have helped this thread what it is today, and the fairest way I could think of to do that was to offer them to Guardians based on participation in the thread. I pulled quite a bit of data from over the past year, and came up with a list of the people who had contributed the most in that time period, with some allowances made for longtime Guardians members (even if the frequency of their recent posts didn’t put them up at the top of the list). I reached out to these members starting last weekend, only reaching out to as many people as I had knives available. If someone opted out, I moved to the next person down the list.

Long story short, these knives are all essentially spoken for at this point. There are a few Guardians I’m still waiting to hear from (unfortunately it seems the recent forum upgrades have caused some issues with notifications for PMs), so there is a slight possibility that I might reach out to one or two more people on the list that I haven’t contacted yet, but I will be sticking to the list, so please don’t message me asking if you can buy a knife. I wish I had enough knives to offer to anyone and everyone who wants one, but of course we all know it rarely works out that way, and I’m grateful Eric was able to make as many as he did for us.

One thing that I haven’t mentioned yet is the special liner stamp that I asked Eric to do for these knives. Sheffield cutler (and Jack’s friend) Stan Shaw, along with other cutlers working for Ibberson’s, including Stan’s mentor Ted Osborne, would sometimes stamp their initials and the year inside the liners of knives they made. This was, at least in part, a practice done to keep other cutlers from nicking parts off each others workbenches, but it has also, more recently, served as a means for collectors to identify knives that were made by Stan. So, as a way to identify our Guardians knives, and as a nod to Stan Shaw, I asked Eric if he could do a similar stamp inside the liner of these. Here’s a liner stamp on a Stan Shaw knife (I believe this photo is @waynorth Charlie’s), which I sent to Eric as an example of what I had in mind.

And here is the Guardians stamp that Eric did on the liner of these knives, GL for Guardians of the Lambsfoot, and 24 for 2024.

Eric was kind enough to share some pics with me while he was making the knives, which I’ll share soon in a separate post, but for now I’m just excited for you all to get these in hand, and I can’t wait to see your pics of them. I hope y'all like them! Thanks to Jack Black for allowing me to take this project on, and thanks of course to Eric @ea42 for making these knives for us!

I know what Lambsfoot I’ll have in my pocket today.

Amazing stuff here, Barrett and Jack and Eric of course - A HUGE task to undertake, I am sure there will be quite a few very happy Guardians out there.
Extremely well done!

 

[cudgee]

View attachment 2639541

Congrats. Been waiting to see the first one posted. You must be chuffed.

 

[cudgee]

I am sure there will be quite a few very happy Guardians out there.

Understatement.

 

[Campbellclanman]

Big thanks to Barrett for undertaking this project and Eric for agreeing to take it on

Also to Jack for giving his blessing

Great timing with us reaching the 100,000 post milestone in this thread !

Barrett included a nice hand typed note and stickers with the knife. Very nice touch

View attachment 2638328


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With Gidget

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Annnnd they are out....

 

[cudgee]

Thanks buddy.

Thanks Barrett. It is oozing with beauty! Here's the mark side.

WOW WOW WOW. You got one of the ones with some different brown features.

 

[cudgee]

btb01 These will be much treasured my friend.

 

[mitch13]

Same again

 

[echoscout]

Congrats. Been waiting to see the first one posted. You must be chuffed.

Thanks! But Steve posted his firsts. Yes I'm excited about this Lambsfoot. It's very nice

 

[black mamba]

Teacher's pet.

You've been talking to my relatives, not fair!

Lovely seeing your AC at any time, Jack, but the photo "on the ropes" is especially knice! I'm back with Roper this evening.

 

[btb01]

LOL! There was LOADS wrong with that knife, and I actually emailed Wright's to complain. I received a hand-typed letter from John Maleham, offering to make me another, and I subsequently received the one below in exchange. About a year later, I approached him about buying some knives, and it was through building up that arrangement, that we got our first Guardians SFO

Definitely a better looking Lamb. Funny how the one with the terrible stag led to all those great Guardians knives.

I'll pass on the Marmite, though...

It's extremely unusual Barrett, who knows where it came from, perhaps there was originally an order for a Lamb with a shield, or maybe they found some old stock of shields are something

On top of that, it seemed a bit oddly place on the knife itself, like it was too close to the bolster.

I took a pic of my AC there a few years back, but on some rope, rather than on the lobster 'pots', as they're called here



I dare say I will have other Lamb on net pics, from other times at the seaside!

I've heard the term "crab pots" before, which I think used in the US, too. I avoided using either term mostly because I wasn't sure if those were for crab, lobster, or something else.

Thanks mate, bit hurried, or I'd have squeezed a Lambsfoot in there

No time to get too creative when eating ice cream on a sunny day.

Oh, it's been recently renovated Barrett, it was a bit shabby and very basic before that!

Oh wow! Well they seem to have done a good job!

Thanks Barrett. It is oozing with beauty! Here's the mark side.

Very nice, Dwight!

Amazing stuff here, Barrett and Jack and Eric of course - A HUGE task to undertake, I am sure there will be quite a few very happy Guardians out there.
Extremely well done!

Thanks, Duncan!

btb01 These will be much treasured my friend.

I certainly hope so, Leon.

 

[cudgee]

Thanks! But Steve posted his first

I'm very easily confused.

 

[echoscout]

I'm very easily confused.

It's alright. This thread has been so fast moving the last few days it's hard to keep up. For me anyways.

 

[Rufus1949]

Lovely seeing your AC at any time, Jack, but the photo "on the ropes" is especially knice! I'm back with Roper this evening.

Very nice Jeff.
I wonder if Eric was paying homage to Schrade. They used it a few times.

 

[echoscout]

You've been talking to my relatives, not fair!

Lovely seeing your AC at any time, Jack, but the photo "on the ropes" is especially knice! I'm back with Roper this evening.

Roper sure is nice

 

[mitch13]

Afternoon all
1 of the younguns gave Kristy indoor basil kit for mothers day. About time I put it together..

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks buddy.

Thanks Barrett. It is oozing with beauty! Here's the mark side.

I may have already commented, but that is absolutely beautiful Dwight Great pic, and Barrett and Eric did a great job

Yes plenty of quartz here, it doesn’t spark as well as flint but it’s what’s around.
I would appreciate that mate! In the muzzleloading world English black flint is still world famous for its quality. I use it in a couple of my flint guns, works equally well for fire starting.

Thank you that worked. I was trying to copy the actual image across prior.

It makes sense to use what is available I'll try and get a a few pieces of flint over to you sometime. I haven't bought any for a while, but I definitely have some somewhere

Same again

I like your stick Mitch And the Lamb of course

You've been talking to my relatives, not fair!

Lovely seeing your AC at any time, Jack, but the photo "on the ropes" is especially knice! I'm back with Roper this evening.

Thank you very much Jeff

Definitely a better looking Lamb. Funny how the one with the terrible stag led to all those great Guardians knives.

I'll pass on the Marmite, though...

Yes indeed The Marmite was a reference to the 2 bolstered Lambsfoot that Wright's insist on calling a 'Senator'. I don't mind the knife, (though it's far from my favourite), but I hate the name, it just smacks of the general ignorance within the Sheffield cutlery industry. I hope they drop the name at some point

On top of that, it seemed a bit oddly place on the knife itself, like it was too close to the bolster.

Yes, there won't be many Sheffield cutlers with any experience of placing a shield.

I've heard the term "crab pots" before, which I think used in the US, too. I avoided using either term mostly because I wasn't sure if those were for crab, lobster, or something else.

It's used here too mate, and those may have been crab pots, though the term 'lobster pots' tends to be used, even when the main catch is crab (that's gentrification for you!) My maternal grandmother was fond of crab, and would buy them from Sheffield market.She also sometimes used the expression, "She/He has a face like a tin of crab!"

No time to get too creative when eating ice cream on a sunny day.

Definitely not!

Oh wow! Well they seem to have done a good job!

They seem to be proud of it, and the re-fit was based on old photos they have

I found a couple of pics from 2015, it wasn't looking too bad then, but by the time they had the re-fit, I think it was in need of it

It's alright. This thread has been so fast moving the last few days it's hard to keep up. For me anyways.

For me too!

Afternoon all
1 of the younguns gave Kristy indoor basil kit for mothers day. About time I put it together..

I usually grow a lot of basil on my window-sill Mitch, it really gets the sun there But since we've had so little sun here this year, I didn't bother That's a nice Mother's Day gift, good your Lamb could help out too

Good morning Guardians, another week, and with photos of the Guardians 2024 knives starting to show up, it could be just as exciting as last week! I'm going to crack on with a bit of work here, and hopefully get it completed before early afternoon Got my Hartshead Barlow in my pocket Have a great day Guardians

 

[Rufus1949]

I may have already commented, but that is absolutely beautiful Dwight Great pic, and Barrett and Eric did a great job

It makes sense to use what is available I'll try and get a a few pieces of flint over to you sometime. I haven't bought any for a while, but I definitely have some somewhere

I like your stick Mitch And the Lamb of course

Thank you very much Jeff

Yes indeed The Marmite was a reference to the 2 bolstered Lambsfoot that Wright's insist on calling a 'Senator'. I don't mind the knife, (though it's far from my favourite), but I hate the name, it just smacks of the general ignorance within the Sheffield cutlery industry. I hope they drop the name at some point

Yes, there won't be many Sheffield cutlers with any experience of placing a shield.

It's used here too mate, and those may have been crab pots, though the term 'lobster pots' tends to be used, even when the main catch is crab (that's gentrification for you!) My maternal grandmother was fond of crab, and would buy them from Sheffield market.She also sometimes used the expression, "She/He has a face like a tin of crab!"

Definitely not!

They seem to be proud of it, and the re-fit was based on old photos they have

I found a couple of pics from 2015, it wasn't looking too bad then, but by the time they had the re-fit, I think it was in need of it






For me too!

I'll let that photo stand under 'fair use' Bob, but as a general rule folks, please don't post photos of other patterns here

I usually grow a lot of basil on my window-sill Mitch, it really gets the sun there But since we've had so little sun here this year, I didn't bother That's a nice Mother's Day gift, good your Lamb could help out too

Good morning Guardians, another week, and with photos of the Guardians 2024 knives starting to show up, it could be just as exciting as last week! I'm going to crack on with a bit of work here, and hopefully get it completed before early afternoon Got my Hartshead Barlow in my pocket Have a great day Guardians

Early morning fog Jack...will delete photo.