I'd rather have a Swayback than a bad back! - Winner Drawn!

Jack Black

Seize the Lambsfoot! Seize the Day!
Platinum Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2005
Messages
69,774
Like many folks, I suffer with long-term back problems, and recently had to add sciatica to my long list of spinal woes. My absence over the past couple of weeks has only delayed still further the 20,000 post milestone which I originally anticipated reaching last year. So to mark that, and to say thanks for all the kind words and helpful advice during my recent travails, I’d like to do a giveaway of a pattern I hold dear to my heart, a traditional Sheffield “Real Lamb Foot”.





These knives are only rarely available with ebony covers. The one above is mine, made by one of Sheffield's last cutlery firms, Arthur Wright & Son. The giveaway knife is just like this, but better – unlike mine, it has the full maker’s mark on the tang stamp, and the traditional ‘Real Lamb Foot’ blade etch. I'll post a pic when I'm fully back up and on my feet again.

The giveaway is open to everyone who posts here. I’ve posted a lot in the past about the various Yorkshire towns and villages I visit, so please tell us a little about the place you live, or where you were born if you prefer. Photos are a bonus.

Your first post puts your name into the hat, so don’t worry about multiple posts if you want to comment on something. If you have previously posted anything here about the Lambsfoot pattern, a link to your post (one is enough) will put your name into the hat twice.

No ‘no entries’ I’m afraid, everyone who posts gets entered ;)

Thanks once again to all of you who make The Porch the great place it is.

Jack
 
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Like many folks, I suffer with long-term back problems, and recently had to add sciatica to my long list of spinal woes. My absence over the past couple of weeks has only delayed still further the 20,000 post milestone which I originally anticipated reaching last year. So to mark that, and to say thanks for all the kind words and helpful advice during my recent travails, I’d like to do a giveaway of a pattern I hold dear to my heart, a traditional Sheffield “Real Lamb Foot”.





These knives are only rarely available with ebony covers. The one above is mine, made by one of Sheffield's last cutlery firms, Arthur Wright & Son. The giveaway knife is just like this, but better – unlike mine, it has the full maker’s mark on the tang stamp, and the traditional ‘Real Lamb Foot’ blade etch. I'll post a pic when I'm fully back up and on my feet again.

The giveaway is open to everyone who posts here. I’ve posted a lot in the past about the various Yorkshire towns and villages I visit, so please tell us a little about the place you live, or where you were born if you prefer. Photos are a bonus.

Your first post puts your name into the hat, so don’t worry about multiple posts if you want to comment on something. If you have previously posted anything here about the Lambsfoot pattern, a link to your post (one is enough) will put your name into the hat twice.

No ‘no entries’ I’m afraid, everyone who posts gets entered ;)

Thanks once again to all of you who make The Porch the great place it is.

Jack

Hi mate . This is not an entry . I just wanted to say what a great giveaway .and nice to see more of these Wright and son knives getting out in to the world :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the terrific give away! We are all hoping and praying that your back heals up quickly:thumbup:

I live in a small Texas town, Bellville, that is about 1.5 hours from Houston. We moved here because my wife and I wanted to live and raise our family in a small community. Everyone knows everyone and everything (that is good and bad!!) and I can leave my house and car unlocked without worry:)

Here is a picture from our annual math and science night. I am in that picture, it's like where is Waldo...lol
 
Thats a very generous offer.
Thanks
I currently live in Dacula, Ga. It is a great place to live.
If i travel to the right out of my neighborhood i can be a a huge shopping Mall within 5miles. If i travel left I can be in driving through hay fields within 5miles
I feel your pain "literally" from sciatica. I slept with my knees on the cushion of the couch and my head resting on the back of the couch for 1 month until mine went away.
 
Hi mate . This is not an entry . I just wanted to say what a great giveaway .and nice to see more of these Wright and son knives getting out in to the world :thumbup:

Thanks pal, it's great to see you back posting again :thumbup:

Thanks for the terrific give away! We are all hoping and praying that your back heals up quickly:thumbup:

I live in a small Texas town, Bellville, that is about 1.5 hours from Houston. We moved here because my wife and I wanted to live and raise our family in a small community. Everyone knows everyone and everything (that is good and bad!!) and I can leave my house and car unlocked without worry:)

Thanks a lot Ernie :) Texas seems to be well represented here on The Porch :) I love to hear about the places folks here live, just an incredible community here :thumbup:
 
I sympathize with you Jack! Being 'middle aged' myself, just about every moving part has an associated ache or pain, sometimes accompanied by audible clicks and snaps! lol

Hope you are up and frequenting your favorite haunts soon! We are always looking for more interesting stories and photos from Leeds.

Photos of the beautiful Pacific Northwest forthcoming in a later post.
 
Thats a very generous offer.
Thanks
I currently live in Dacula, Ga. It is a great place to live.
If i travel to the right out of my neighborhood i can be a a huge shopping Mall within 5miles. If i travel left I can be in driving through hay fields within 5miles
I feel your pain "literally" from sciatica. I slept with my knees on the cushion of the couch and my head resting on the back of the couch for 1 month until mine went away.

Thanks Phillip :) Sorry to hear you've been suffering too, that sounds like a long spell there. Hope you're currently OK :thumbup:
 
I sympathize with you Jack! Being 'middle aged' myself, just about every moving part has an associated ache or pain, sometimes accompanied by audible clicks and snaps! lol

Hope you are up and frequenting your favorite haunts soon! We are always looking for more interesting stories and photos from Leeds.

Photos of the beautiful Pacific Northwest forthcoming in a later post.

Many thanks Barry, I know exactly what you mean my friend :eek: :thumbup:
 
I sympathize with your sciatica! I try to get out and about to keep moving, and not sit too much. One of my hobbies is photography, old school black and white. I hope you continue to feel better! This one is in my neighborhood, western Massachusetts.

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Thank you Jack. This is a kind giveaway. Your knowledge of traditional knives is an inspiration for me. I am new to this hobby, and the porch has been a great place to meet and learn.
I also have some back issues. In 2005 I broke my T10 vertebrae, which ended in my having five vertebrae fused with a couple of rods. They did a great job and I have very little longterm issues.

I was born, and live in Louisville, Kentucky. But really enjoy heading to the eastern pat of the state, and the Appalachian mountains. Louisville is well known for a horse race that coming up in a couple of weeks.

My favorite knives are single blade folders, with wharnicliffe/ sheepsfoot/ lambs foot shaped blades. So that Sheffield would be right up my alley.

Cheers
Scott



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I have known people who have sciatica issues like you , thankfully for me my pain source was replaced . Certainly glad that you are getting better . I was born and raised in Southern Indiana and actually put up hay with and played against , some of the real team members that were portrayed in the movie Hoosiers . They were in another school system than I was .We moved to Wisconsin in 1969 and now live just east of Lake Geneva. Thank you for a wonderful GAW Jack . Everyone needs a Real Lamb Foot .

Harry
 
Thanks for the chance at a great giveaway, and wishing you a speedy recovery. I live about 20 miles south of Chicago. All kinds of weather and the best pizza anywhere!
 
I hereby volunteer to accept the knife on behalf of any "not an entry" that happens to win it.
My pic is of a knife from my birthplace and a mug commemorating a wine town on a lake (what's not to like?) a few miles west of here. (In real life the knife looks better than my picture, and the courthouse looks better than the mug.)
hoaAXHPc
 
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Sorry to hear you are down right now, that's tough for an active guy like you. I live in New Castle, Delaware, a small town in a small state. The good thing is within an hour and a half, I can be in the mountains, at the beach or in one of two large cities. I tend to favor Jack knives, but I also like unusual knives. Thanks for the GAW.
 
I am from the Virginia high-country, but I live in Winston-Salem, NC during the school year to study theology and biblical languages.
 
I was born and raised in Dalzell, SC but recently relocated to Wise County Virginia in the middle of Appalachian coal country. Remote and beautiful mountains.

This is the Powell valley and I live in a tiny town at the southern end called Big Stone Gap.

 
Sorry to here about your recent back trouble Jack. I've had two back surgeries myself. So I can relate. I was born and raised in Lancaster South Carolina. Married my high school sweetheart and all that jazz. :p It's kind of a laid back small town. Oh and thank you for your generosity. It's because of people like you that the porch is a great place to hang out.
 
Hi, I'm game. I live in small town Alberta Canada. close to the outdoors and big city is only a drive away. Had 7 mule deer feeding on the lawn a couple days ago. It is just starting to green up here and trees budding. The gophers (ground squirrels) are coming out so target time :). Having a bad back stinks!! Can't stand sit lay down or walk. Got some nerve block that has improved life a lot! Hope yours gets better. Thanks for this Al
 
Very generous giveaway! I've been eyeing those "real lambsfoot knives" since Charlies run of the ancient barlows. Really cool blade style I had never seen before.

I'm from West Texas originally and live in Austin these days. I spend most of my free time hunting... But free time is few and far between!

Spent last weekend here...



And here...



But work and these 2 make those trips rare.

 
Thanks for the cool give-away Jack :thumbup::thumbup: That is a cool maker to own as you say who made beautiful knives in Sheffield... Really generous Jack - thanks!!! Also sorry to hear about your back - I am also having problems at the moment... I can relate!

I feel lucky to live in Connecticut (CT) and New England… lots of old knife history here and greatly influenced by Sheffield from which many of the workers originated in the 1800s.

Recently I had a the great opportunity as an invite from a good friend to visit the remains of the old Northfield Knife Co site in Northfield CT. Northfield and the surrounding area which lays within the “Naugatuck Valley” was the location of multiple early CT makers.

Some background before the photo visit. All these CT cutleries were in existence from the mid-1800s to about 1920-30 (in fact over 85 cutleries existed back in the 19th and early 20th century in CT)… Northfield Knife Co (UN-X-LD – a trademark adopted in 1876 but not on all their knives) was one of the early cutleries in CT (1858-1919) and actually bought the Excelsior Knife Co which only existed from 1880-1884 in nearby Torrington CT at auction as the Excelsior Co was having financial woes. Accordingly Northfield Knife Co moved all their equipment to the Northfield cutlery site where it was incorporated into the Northfield factory works. Northfield even used the blades (nothing was wasted in that day) from Excelsior for a period of time, and blades were still marked Excelsior Knife Co by Northfield. Thus this adds some debate as to whether your Excelsior knife was made 1881-1884 or perhaps abit later at the Northfield site which basically continued with this stamp until approximately 1904 (and a few small variations of it – see Goins for details). Knives were made with both Northfield and Excelsior stamps. Sheffield had a tremendous influence on CT cutleries particularly as many of the workers/cutlers emigrated to the USA from Sheffield during the 1800s. There is a street in the village where many of the workers from Sheffield lived and many still exist. One other note before I show a few photos of the old site. Northfield Knife Co was started by Abraham Turner who persuaded a number of cutlers from the nearby Waterville Knife Co to move and start their own knife company. Following a few different Heads of the Northfield Knife Co, Charles Platts who apprenticed in Sheffield and moved to the USA in 1864, became the Superintendent of the Northfield site in 1872. Northfield over the following years exhibited at many World’s Fairs and won numerous prizes for their fine pocket cutlery. The Platts family were all in the cutlery business and even after Charles died in 1880 the family continued in the business – eventually moving on to Cattaraugus Cutlery and some moved to Boulder CO and started the Western States Cutlery knives.

Back to the visit but it needed some background – I took photos of the remaining wall of the forge and the mortices which held the anvils when the cutlery was in operation. I also took the opportuinity to photograph a few of our Northfield and Excelsior knives on a remaining mortice which held the anvils of the forge.

This first two photos which have been published in a few books including that on Western knives and Great Eastern Cutleries gives the view at the time the cutlery was operating. Note in the first photo the forges were in the buildings to the right and the second photo is the back of the Northfield Cutlery Factory… I will show you the wall and mortices still remaining in my photo following…





Photo of Foundation wall and mortices that held the anvils – note these are now on their sides - this was the right hand side building in first old photo:



Pipe which fed the factory operations from a holding pond fed by the Northfield Brook:



An upright mortice (all others in other photo had fallen over during the years) - this became the platform for some knife photos produced at this site about 100 years ago and more:



Photo of knives – the top MOP Jack and Hawkbill along the right are stamped Excelsior Knife Co – all other knives are stamped Northfield Knife Co:



Charles Platts House today - exactly as it was pictured in an old photo which I am sorry but do not have to show:



Charles Platts and his wife - Grave Stone - within the Platts family plot - all this was within a short distance of factory site:



Hope you enjoy... not sure this was what you were looking for Jack but wanted to share this anyway - a recent visit and where I live in one :)

Cheers!
 
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