Knife Terminology

waynorth

waynorth

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Nov 19, 2005
Messages
32,590
Administrative Note: Please feel free to post any questions or information regarding Knife Terminology to this thread. As we go along, the questions themselves and various extraneous posts may be deleted to keep things concise and manageable. If you have any qualms about having your post edited or removed, do not post in this thread. Thanks, Blues.


Like so many areas of human endeavor, knife collecting has its own jargon. We use words and terms to tell each other what we mean. Someone who doesn't lurk around here with us would likely know what we mean by pocketknife, but would be totally confused by the term "gunstock jack". In fact my mindless email spellcheck function tells me gunstock is a misspelled word!!
Some terms are hip, and others are not. Swedge is in, but some don't like slippie! Wharcliffe is in, one of the most useful blades, but some don't like the term, "wharny.
I've written a couple of knife articles, and you try to do that by making yourself understood. What I'd like to do here is run some terms by you folks, folksy folks that is;), and have you tell me if the word or words says it for you, or makes you cringe!! Please comment on any or all:
half-whittler
half-hawk
loom fixer
slippie
wharnie
dogleg
balloon
pinched bolster
rat-tail bolster
Please add any words you feel need discussion, or are confusing, or miss their mark.
 
Those are definitely our words, Bill.
I've seen barehead spelled both ways, as in "bear" (grizzly) and bare (naked). I'm pretty sure it's the naked one, that is, without a bolster to dress it up.
In the older books, they use sunk joint, instead of "sunken" joint, but again, you see both.
It's amazing how much info there is in "crinked", "milled", and "tipped".
Crinked and milled are warm and fuzzy words, and tipped is a "doh" :eek:word, as in Homer Simpson!:D
 
What does "tipped" refer to?
Click to expand...

Tipped (those itty bitty teeny bolsters) sometimes found on a whittler, half-whittler or pen knife. I am sure they have shown up on others, but I listed the ones that show up with tipped bolsters the most.

This is a pic from the old knives thread that Vince posted. You will see a tipped bolster knife at the very bottom left.
07-28-2007_061916PM.jpg
 
I think the bolster term is "tip", like a "tip" bolster. To confuse the issue, if you "upset" the liner in a die, you can "bump" a tip!! <G> i.e:"That knife has bumped tips"
Tipped always makes me think of a broken off blade tip.

So, Kerry, if I have a pocketknife with beautiful swedges on a Wharncliffe blade, you would be offended if I said I had a swedgie wharnie slippie????:D:D:D


(I have to admit it sounds like something is wrong with my gotchies:barf::D:D)
 
Slip joint is a correct term. As the blade turns the end of the tang slips on the spring. The whole pivot assembly is called the joint. That's why the old English knives had stamped on the tang "Oil the joint" They called early slip joints spring knives.
 
The terms that confuse the heck out of me are the different handle materials. Like Remington bone, green bone, that's not really green, Rogers bone, Worm grove, jigged bone and Red bone that could be any color other than the Green bone that's not really green????? Then there is Stag and 2nd cut Stag or is 2nd cut stag just jigged stag?
 
I think the joke was, anything that's not Redbone, is Greenbone! You see a lot of different shades referred to as greenbone, from a light tan, to a dark brown, nearly black color, with hints of green in it. These terms came after early Case advertising, and are collectors terms for the colors, if I am not mistaken. It is more recent that Case made continuous reference to color, reaching its peak now, with all the very colorful Case knives in the last while.
 
Rusty1 said:
The word Swedge gets me.

Rusty1
Click to expand...
Swedge!

Gets me too Rusty. A beautiful word, actually! A nicely cut swedge is a thing to behold. Turns an otherwise ordinary blade into a piece of sculpture.
Useful too; can lighten a big knife, but more important, a swedge can allow multiple blades to slip into place without hanging up. Also can allow your thumbnail in there to lift out your blade of choice.
Takes a lot of skill to do nice swedges. I stood in awe of a cutler at the queen factory, as he picked up virtually finished knives, and completely by eye, cut the swedges freehand on a grinding wheel. Mostly in one-two passes!! One slip, and the knife became a reject, yet he never missed.
Then this little slip of a girl did the final sharpening, at the next station. Fast grinding wheels, one pass left hand, then switch hands, and one pass right hand. Repeated on the fine wheel. I was allowed to shave some hair off my arm, and man, I hardly ever get a knife that sharp!! (watch for hair in your Schatt & Morgan<g>)
Back to swedges; I look at some plain ground blades I have, and want to cut swedges in them. They just look so plain otherwise, like a movie in black and white. Maybe someday I'll work up the nerve to do it.
Swedges get me too!
 
I agree that a swedge does add something to the knife. Just looks good IMO. Also known as a swage in some earlier documents on Sheffield knives.
 
smiling-knife said:
I agree that a swedge does add something to the knife. Just looks good IMO. Also known as a swage in some earlier documents on Sheffield knives.
Click to expand...

YES...I was going to mention the "swage" term. I believe that is derived from blacksmithing as a swage block is used to put specific angles or shapes into the steel being forged. It's a theory and a KnifeHead Exclusive Hot Tip. ;)
 
Great 'hot tip' Kerry. Thanks for the explanation. This top view of a four-blade knife shows how the swedges help the blades to fit nicely in a small package.

28-04027.jpg
 
smiling-knife said:
Great 'hot tip' Kerry. Thanks for the explanation. This top view of a four-blade knife shows how the swedges help the blades to fit nicely in a small package.

28-04027.jpg
Click to expand...
Your picture brings up the term "milled" s-k!! It's a real nice example!! Care to expound on the subject???
Anyone??
 
There are two instances where I have seen the term "milled" used and that is in making the liners. Both are modern, custom knifemaking practices as far as I know and include:

1. Taking handle thicknessed solid stock and using a vertical milling machine to removed material in the middle that will be replaced by some type of handle material.

2. Using a mill to remove material in the pivot area so that the blade tang isn't scratched.

I see nothing negative about these practices with the exception that the first one seems to be a bit more wasteful than it needs to be.
 
The decorative 'milling' of liners involves the cutting of fine lines across the brass as shown in the post above. In the days of yor this was done with a tool consisting of a small wheel fixed between two handles to form a t-shape. Milled liners are usually a sign of a quality knife.
 
Just for fun here, this knife has sunk joints.....


2h4x5e1.jpg



.....and this one shows the more common joint, with the run up exposed.....


2yvwaxx.jpg



No names...to protect the innocent. :D

Bill
 
Extension spring - The spring comes all the way around to take up some of space left by the shorter pen blade. On these two blade Barlows, the Bill Ruple on the top has an extension spring. The two Queens do not.
(Mister Bose told us all what it was called in an earlier thread:D)

IMG_2157_2.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top