Sheffield made Tackler knives

Fascinating post Jerry :) If I get time later, I'll try and dig out a few loom pics (I'll have to re-size them) and post them here :thumbsup:
 
JB in SC said:
Very interesting discussion on tackler's knives. I never had heard of the term, but a tackler's counterpart in the US would be called a loom fixer. Assigned anywhere from 50 to 100 looms or more, they were responsible for "fixing" looms that had mechanical problems or were producing off quality fabric. Fixers were paid an hourly rate, where weavers were generally paid by the amount of production for their respective loom set, so it was in their interest to keep the looms running at all times.

@smiling-knife The advertisement for Buffalo Pick could be a reference for several items. In shuttle loom terminology a picking or picker stick (made of wood) was a common part to wear out or even break as it was the part that was a key component in the power transfer process . A picker would have been the part attached to a picking stick that actually touches the shuttle nose and propels it between the shed (threads of yard) across the loom raceway. In addition there were picks (comb like metal devices) that were used to pick out defects.

Knives were used to trim the picking sticks to fit pickers. Pickers looked a like hammer heads and the picker stick like a very long handle, pickers were made of wood in the early days and later made of some type of resin reinforced with fabric (I can't recall, it's been thirty five years since I ran my last shuttle loom).
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Excellent to read about the the knives in use by the profession! It is of interest that in the US the Case Company at one time referred to their now discontinued 6217 pattern 2 blade sheepsfoot as a "Loom-Carton-Electrician's" knife in some of their catalogs. The knife appears to be the basis of the Rough Rider1284 Coal Miner (which they mysteriously refer to as a "half hawk" although there is no hawkbill blade....).
 
B Bartleby my loom fixers used the Case pattern but I never heard of it called a Loom Fixer until I read Steve Pfeiffer's book. The local hardware store across the railroad tracks from my plant carried the pattern for years. I worked in the industry for 35 years, starting out as a weaving shift supervisor and later as a weaving superintendent. I was also project manager of two modernizations of my facility from shuttle to shuttleless tape type looms, then to air jet looms.

There were literally hundreds of variations of shuttle looms. The looms could be a common type for high demand fabrics for large operations, or very specialized for expensive fabrics and complicated weave patterns. The UK had far more types in operation than the US by a wide margin. Most of the weaving here eventually wound up in the deep south. There were at least 25 in the county as recently as 2005. Now they've almost vanished from the landscape.
 
Jack Black Jack Black the first photo is a sectional warper, mostly used for stripes or heavier yarns that did not need a lot of preparation to weave. It was used to wrap the yarn on the warp of the loom (the beam at the back).

I actually bought and sold two of those dinosaurs. I found them in Waco Texas where a guy was making saddle blankets for horses.
 
JB in SC said:
B Bartleby my loom fixers used the Case pattern but I never heard of it called a Loom Fixer until I read Steve Pfeiffer's book.
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I stumbled across the name in the Case catalog section, on page 82 of Stewart and Ritchie's book, Big Book of Pocket Knives: Identification and Values. I had thought that given the name these were used like the tackler knives in the UK. Both seem to be descendants of the Sheffield patterns as recovered from the Steamship Arabia.
 
JB in SC said:
Jack Black Jack Black the first photo is a sectional warper, mostly used for stripes or heavier yarns that did not need a lot of preparation to weave. It was used to wrap the yarn on the warp of the loom (the beam at the back).

I actually bought and sold two of those dinosaurs. I found them in Waco Texas where a guy was making saddle blankets for horses.
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Fascinating Jerry :) Sometimes the knives here have the name of the mill on them or of some other company related to the trade :thumbsup:

Here are a few more pics :thumbsup:

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Older textile machinery commonly used castings (sand cast) for the main frame parts, the part numbers and manufacturer name along with associated patents were usually included. I last visited a textile foundry in the early 2000's, they had a very large room full of wooden patterns, some had been in use since the 40's or earlier from what I was told. They had (IIRC) broaching machines for gears, huge metal lathes for turning shaft ends to proper diameter, a drop forging set up (I was told but did not see), and a very large specialty surface grinder. It was an intensive operation and no doubt cost a lot of money to set up and operate.
 
Jack Black said:
It is the same with a great deal of old machinery Bart, and not just the British stuff, look at this US-made printing press :thumbsup:
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JB in SC said:
Older textile machinery commonly used castings (sand cast) for the main frame parts, the part numbers and manufacturer name along with associated patents were usually included. I last visited a textile foundry in the early 2000's, they had a very large room full of wooden patterns, some had been in use since the 40's or earlier from what I was told. They had (IIRC) broaching machines for gears, huge metal lathes for turning shaft ends to proper diameter, a drop forging set up (I was told but did not see), and a very large specialty surface grinder. It was an intensive operation and no doubt cost a lot of money to set up and operate.
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Fascinating, an intriguing insight into the mind of the creators of the early industrial age. I guess people have always placed cutting edge technology on something of a pedestal, not just modern society!
 
B Bartleby

Interesting to note that the term Luddite derives from a folklore tale involving a person by the name of Ned Ludd smashing up knitting frames in England in the early 19th century. The industrial age was not embraced by all. The same applies to technology of today. Some of us are dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century :D
 
JB in SC said:
B Bartleby

Interesting to note that the term Luddite derives from a folklore tale involving a person by the name of Ned Ludd smashing up knitting frames in England in the early 19th century. The industrial age was not embraced by all. The same applies to technology of today. Some of us are dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century :D
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The Luddites were big in the West Yorkshire area where I live now. I was visiting York prison (now a museum) the other day, where many of them were imprisoned and executed. There were other reasons that some forms of technology, such as machine-grinding, were opposed in the Sheffield cutlery industry (Sheffield is in South Yorkshire), and why it was not imposed. The city did take pride in the quality of its products, and anything which might tarnish their reputation was generally opposed, but new machinery would have required a substantial investment, and labour, even skilled labour, was cheap in the trade. Cutlers were for the most part essentially self-employed, and only paid for the work they produced. Things were very different in the steel industry, with constant technological advances, and factory discipline enforced in a way that would have been impossible in the cutlery trade.
 
JB in SC said:
The industrial age was not embraced by all. The same applies to technology of today. Some of us are dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century :D
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I get accused of being something of a Luddite myself from time to time, although I do like the useful aspects of some technology, I don't pursue it for its own sake.
 
Thanks to SteveC SteveC for bring this thread to my attention. At the risk of digging up this 7-ish year old thread, and the confusing discussion of how to define a Tacklers knife (LOL), I regardless thought this recent pickup should be shown here...

J nowill tacklers knife.jpg
 
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