Interrupting Stan Shaw's Marmalade Sandwich

Your enthusiasm is infectious, Duncan! And I caught it, and ran around with you! Thanks so much for relaying your tale! Just a wonderful (but too short!) taste of the world of cutlery as it once was!!
And thanks again Jack for hosting this "taste"!!
 
Fantastic! Yep, I gotta say I'm a little bit jealous myself. Thank you for sharing your experience in meeting and talking with Mr. Shaw. You guys are so lucky!
 
I own a couple of Stan Shaw pearl multi-blade lobsters (one has lots of his file work). They are even more precious to me after reading this and seeing your photos. Thanks so much for sharing.

Charles
 
Splendid write-up, Duncan!! I think you hit every emotion in me! :thumbup::thumbup: You gentleman have made my day...thank you. And thank you too, Sue:D
 
Thanks Jack and Duncan for sharing such a fantastic trip with us! Stan sounds like a real great guy. It was a pleasure reading both of your reports. :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the great write-up Duncan. Once again, it was a real pleasure to meet you and Sue, and an absolute honour to be able to show you around, The day sure flew fast didn't it? :)

Here's a pic (not mine) of those famous hands of Stan's.

7309672652_86a4dbbecb_z.jpg


I think I might start having the odd marmalade sandwich! Stan seems to do pretty well on them :D
 
Wow! Thank you both for taking the time to share your stories. I was fascinated by every word. I love how something so seemingly small as a shared interest in the most traditional and utilitarian tools can bring people together in a truly meaningful way. I guess that is one of the reasons why I love this corner of the internet so much! thanks again guys...and Sue.
 
Thanks also everyone for all your kind words, and I'm glad our visit to Stan was of interest. Sue (who really deserves a medal for her patience as we dragged her all over the city), took plenty of photos as we talked to Stan, so I'm sure Duncan will be posting them in due course :)

If anyone else ever wants to make the trip, I'd be more than happy to show you around, though I can't of course guarantee an audience with Stan Shaw (that was Duncan's doing)! :)

Jack
 
That's the photo Jack! Good hunting!

Jack- you know as well as I do that you would have spun your magic and we would have met him any way kind Sir. That great day was all your doing and once again a massive thank you for not only a great day out in Sheffield- but also to hear some of your exploits that you have done as well- my Sheffield day was a very humbling one having the privilege of meeting two very great people Jack. The things you have done - not just with knives - is amazing! So jack- I take my hat off to you my friend- again such a massive thank you kind Sir.
I promise to post the photos as soon as I get home!
 
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Jack and Duncan,
thank you so much for this thread. Somehow, the fact of having two members of this forum meet for the "Sheffield's Special" reminded me of something I've felt many times on this forum: the feeling that someone is taking me on some discovery trip and adding to my knowledge, and at the same time becoming a friend.
This time, you had the chance to do it in person, which is obviously even better.
Oh, and thanks to Sue for the pictures :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
Thanks for that write up. I know you had a good time. Great seeing Duncan again, if only in a photo.

Take care, gentlemen.

Ed J
 
Wow - I just checked my spelling- how atrocious! That's what you get when you have flat ended fingers that look as though Mum ground the ends off at birth lol.

Again Jack ..... Just great, I spent today just going over so much.
Andi my friend the trip has been far too short- home tomorrow ( Thursday ) and land Saturday afternoon ...( Groan ).

I must let Jack think that Stan understood him the best lol- too true though unfortunately- sometimes people hav gone as far as accusing us New Zealanders as Aussies- it's an ugly thing wanting to hurt someone- but it gets close at that time ( no offence Meako lol ).

Hey good people - do yourself a favour- as I noticed this when Jack and I were having the fantastic privilege talking to Mr Stan Shaw..... enlarge the photo of Stans hands- when he was pointing out things to Jack and myself- I noticed his tips of his fingers- especially the left hand index finger where his finger nail meets the skin - to get hands that look like this takes an incredible amount of torturous hard work- it takes some awful punishment to get fingers to look like this.
I could well imagine Fes's Grandfather as well as my own Great Grandfather he was a Blacksmith- I never got to know this man- a true shame- but I could only imagine the hands on him as well.
 
Thank you both so much for fantastic words and stories that were at once entertaining, educational, and amazing. For an older guy just learning about traditional knives, this was an outstanding thread.

Thank you!
 
My maternal grandfather was a carpenter and farmer all his life in rural Illinois. In his 70s he was still farming his 80 acres.
He had the strongest hands I ever saw, and they were huge, too. If we acted up at the dinner table when visiting him,
he would catch his index finger on his thumb and "flick" us on the side of our head, saying "Settle down," in a quiet voice.
I'll tell you, when I was 10 or 12 years old, it felt like I got hit with a rock!
 
We are lucky to get this thread, it's a link to a vanishing age, for that we are all impressed. Maybe a bit speechless even.

In the videos s-k posted, Stan Shaw observes that all these knives have a little bit of him in them, they're not just items but things of beauty and skill. Very few people have his skill, but all should be able to appreciate that skill and beauty. Those hands reflect it.

Regards, Will
 
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