Little secondary blades- do you use them?

As a stockman fan, I use the sheepsfoot and spey much more than the main blade. The sheepsfoot is my go-to blade for cardboard, and the spey is my general utility cutting tool for odd jobs.

When I carry a peanut, the little pen blade gets used quite a bit. As others have mentioned, it's smaller, easier to control and not as obvious to the general public.

Great revolver photos! My favorite pistols are revolvers.
 
I noted with interest that on the Keen Cutter chart the sheepsfoot is also called tobacco blade, because that's the one I use to cut my cigars.

With an SAK, the secondary blades are the point of the exercise. I'll seldom use the main blade for cutting, because I usually have another knife along for that purpose.

As for revolvers, I go with Smith DA, Ruger SA.
 
I love my secondary blade. In the course of the average day, I probably use it more than the main. Blister packs, thread trimming and packet opening (especially in public) where the larger clip may draw unwanted attention. My whittler has two: pen and coping. The pen gets used for most anything, and the coping is my favorite for whittling. The main is used a lot for food, or box duty. Didn't realize I had a system until I thought about this question so thanks for asking!
 
I use primary for food.. cutting up apples at work and so on.

The secondary I use for opening boxes, letters, and general small cutting tasks.
 
matus said:
Small blade comes handy when little but precise cut is needed (removing tags from cloth, opening letters or packages). I am undecided whether pen or wharncliffe is the more practical shape for such use. Size of 2" or just under 2" seems to work fine for me.
Click to expand...

supratentorial said:
Different blades are useful for different things. Ignoring the secondary blades on a multi-blade knife is a bit like ignoring the right click mouse button on a PC computer... remember those old Mac mice that only had one button (back before gestures)... actually, do you guys remember computers or are all of you using smart phones? ;)

I like having a clip or spear blade main and a sheepfoot secondary. The sheepfoot is great for controlled cuts, especially starting cuts in the middle of something. Usually that blade combination is on a 3-blade knife and the third blade is a spey or pen blade. A pen blade is great for precision work. I don't use a pocket knife for skinning game so I either reshape the spey blade or use it for scraping and other mildly abusive tasks.
Click to expand...

I agree with these. I usually sharpen a secondary blade to a razor edge and use it for precision cuts.
 
Being a Carver and using a stockman I use the pen and Sheepfoot blades almost exclusively. I do however use my main blade for food preparation and any miscellaneous cutting I may need to do. Such as trimming threads from clothes or what have you.
 
I don't like them much to be honest. The frame size (length and width) are the same on a knife with 2 full size blades (trappers) as they are on a knife with a main and pen blade.

Would you rather drive a convertible with two front seats or the same size car with a driver seat and a permanent baby seat next to it...?
 
I generally prefer single blades, but the the two that I have with secondary blades would seem strange and alien without them. Because they're so much thinner and smaller, it allows for some teensy and incredibly-well-controlled precision cuts. It also gives you the option of having a fine edge and a working edge, which many people here apparently also appreciate :)

I've become keen enough on the two-blade setup that I'm looking at some canoes, cigars, and pen knives. I'm considering, though, joining The Cult of the Peanut and getting a few of those for when I fancy carrying a single-blade but want the option of having a smaller one handy as well.
 
The small blades are kept razor sharp and used for precision cutting and wood carving
I would sooner lose or break the main blade on my stockman pattern knives , than not have the smaller secondary blades

In fact, the main blade on my stockman or jacknife pattern knives is my secondary blade , but that's just my view
 
Cool, thanks for the replies. I keep a small SAK on my keyring and that blade is used for the grunt stuff since my larger carry knife is generally a custom or something along those lines.

Here's a short blade and short barrel. The snubby is surprisingly accurate at 25 yards. (1 inch groups from rest)
Model15.JPG


Thanks for reference photo of all the various blades. I had to look up that tank key. Cool.
Dave
 
The pen blade on a Barlow is my favorite mail opener at the office. I also keep a leather strop handy and touch it up a couple times each week.
 
My little blades are scalpels. It works for me that way. Since I pretty much only carry one knife in my pocket, whatever it is, is whatever I'll use. However I do have an explorer in the bag-o-doom and its little blade gets used once and a while. The main reason for that knife is in case I forget to put something in my pocket before leaving the house. Its a good all-rounder that I know will handle itself.

a secondary blade is not a make or break for me, but I do like the option. Right now my preference is towards other implements, but the secondary has its place. Sheepsfoot is my preferred shape for a secondary, but not enough so to take my SAKs to the grinder.... yet.
 
Not all the time. Last weekend I was scoring 5he shells on chestnuts to roast with my 57 geppetto this is a very delicate task that requires a lot of force while maintaining even more control. Holding the nut in the left and using my right thumb to pull the main wharncliffe across was cumbersome. When I switched to the coping blade I found the correct implement for the task. I doubt a chestnut could be scored safely with blades the length of the 48 pattern. The Chestnut is just an example, their are endless possibilities that we all run across where there is "the right tool for the job".
Macchina said:
I don't like them much to be honest. The frame size (length and width) are the same on a knife with 2 full size blades (trappers) as they are on a knife with a main and pen blade.

Would you rather drive a convertible with two front seats or the same size car with a driver seat and a permanent baby seat next to it...?
Click to expand...
 
I like secondary blades in a single spring frame. I generally shy away from multi spring blades.
 
I don't often use smaller secondaries. I have a thing for trappers because I don't find most small secondaries too useful, but I like the added thickness of a second spring.

I have found that I use the coping secondary on my Eureka jack a fair amount due to it's straight edge. The coping is a good complement to the spear main blade. However, it is the exception to the rule.
 
I use them all the time. I often think of what Jackknife has often said, "It doesn't have to be big, just sharp."

I tend to save the main blade (the bigger one) for food or cleaning game. I use that little one for cutting hoses, opening a bag of cat litter, wire, blister packs, envelopes, etc. That little one is the worker.

If the blades are similar in size, I'll use the clip for food/game and Spear for work..... Unless it's a clip/spey combo, in which case the spey is the food knife and both blades may be used on game.

If it's a stockman, main blade is for food, sheepsfoot for work, spey for tasks that require something really sharp, pen for work that the sheepsfoot isn't the best option.


It's more complicated than I thought before writing all that!!!!
 
After reading Woodrow's response I thought of another reason that could cause me to not use small secondaries as much. I'm not real good at sharpening real small blades. I have a hard time getting them as sharp as my main blades and it takes me longer to do it. I'm less likely to use a blade if it's going to be a pain in my butt to resharpen it. I think it's a subconscious thing, as it never really occurred to me before now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top