Pic. Request: how does a good sheffield clip looks like?

[jdm61]

The contemporary Sheffield-style bowies that I have seen and handled have not had sharpened clips.

Roger

I have read that the Sheffield bowies generally didn't have sharpened clips and the early American bowies did more often than not. I know that there are many fine examples of Sheffield knives out there and that collectors love them, but to me, a lot of them just don't do anything for me. The were mass produced items that were made to take advantage of the "bowie legend/craze" in the US. The table cutlery handled one is a perfect example. Someone thought that would be a good idea, but it looks pretty useless as a "field" knife.

 

[the possum]

Since we're bringing up historical precedents about bowies here, and the "Spanish notch" has been mentioned... I'd like to point out a thread in Bernard Levine's forum about them. I chimed in on that thread too with my thoughts, but his theory about them sounds better than anything else I've ever read. Spanish Notch

I agree on that auction knife. The blade is awesome, but the handle doesn't match/flow with the blade.

There's a bowie in one of Wilson's books from I believe the same maker as that one. The guard arrangement is nearly identical, but it had a spear point blade, and a bit better handle ratio from an aesthetic standpoint. I used it for inspiration on one of my pieces several years ago.

I think those Woodhead pieces would be gorgeous if they had a dropped edge in the exact same profile, but that super wide ricasso area and thin/menacing tip profile looks like a narrow shouldered fat person with extra wide hips.

I used to think the same, but appreciation for that design has grown on me. A local collector has a couple original Woodheads, and his were not very big knives. Since they're too small to have dramatic chopping power, thrusting makes more sense, hence the narrow tip (and very thick spine at the ricasso). And for deep thrusting, it makes more sense to have the wide ricasso so there's no place for a dropped edge/choil to get hung up. I also used this design for inspiration on one of my own pieces, but changed some things.

They were mass produced items that were made to take advantage of the "bowie legend/craze" in the US. The table cutlery handled one is a perfect example. Someone thought that would be a good idea, but it looks pretty useless as a "field" knife.

While I'd contend there are and should be differences between knives used "in the field" vs. those built as weapons, I generally also prefer the ones where function hasn't been compromised away for other things. (looks/style, ease of production, etc.) As to "mass production", they were still made completely by hand. And further, I haven't actually kept track lately, but figure it probably takes me twice as long to make a Sheffield style bowie as compared to a modern design of similar likeness. Lots of little details complicate things.

 

[BrB]

Spanish Notches: I just don´t like the looks of them. That´s all. But I will later read carefully about it.

They were mass produced items that were made to take advantage of the "bowie legend/craze" in the US.

Well on behalf of production knives there´s one thing I would say: they fit in a market share just as any crappy tool. They exist because there is demand for that range of price in that level of quality. I guess so did the Sheffield.

thrusting makes more sense, hence the narrow tip (and very thick spine at the ricasso)

That also makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for the insight. See how this threads can be great? The ricasso was one thing that I considered butt ugly but now I see it from a very different perspective and it makes a lot of sense. Cool.

 

[the possum]

Heck, I totally forgot about another one of the big reasons I play with the ricasso width-
It depends on how you want the blade centered in relation to the handle, and still maintain visual appeal/balance. If you have a cut out choil with a dropped edge, and center the ricasso with the handle, then the blade as a whole will be centered lower than the handle. This brings up interesting possibilities with what you can do at the point- center it with the blade but slightly below center of the handle, or use a slightly upswept tip with more belly, and still have the point centered in line with the handle.

With the wide ricasso on the Woodhead piece, the entire blade is centered with the handle. Even if the point ends up in the same relative position as above, the mass distribution will be different, lending to a different feel in use. Even though the handle of my big bowie is symmetrical, I can close my eyes and tell which side is the main edge, since it's heavier. I'd expect the Woodhead examples to feel more neutral. (I'll have to check next time I get to handle them.)

But then again, you can go another direction yet, by centering the blade but not the ricasso, as in the nice repro dogbone bowie from Mr. Dean.