"Sodbuster" - how did it get its name?

"Sod Buster" (two words) is the name trademarked by Case Cutlery for the 2138 pattern 'large' Sod Buster, first released in 1967, the pattern of which apparently has it's roots in older Europe as a farmer's knife of sorts, as a folding 'butcher's knife' apparently. Generically, the term 'sod buster' has been applied to farmers in this country for a long time, and I think the name adopted for the knife by Case is basically an homage to that, in a simple, hard-working, no-nonsense & no-frills sort of way. John Deere famously named a plow the 'Sod Buster', a likeness of which is seen in the etching on Case's older versions and on more recent stainless-bladed versions of the Sod Buster.

These are two of mine, 39 years separating them; a 1970 version (2138) and a 2009 stainless version (2138 SS):



David
 
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Sodbusters was also the name given to the farmers who took over the previously Native Indian land.

In 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Homestead Act, offering millions of rural acres to settlers as a self-sufficient alternative to factory employment in an increasingly industrialized society. Officially declared “public domain,” much of the land was already home to Native Americans but would soon be farmed by whites. The only requirements were a nominal filing fee and a commitment to live on the land for at least five years. The relatively treeless Western plains meant that the settlers had to make their houses out of sod, and the term “sodbuster” was born. The word eventually applied more generally to anyone who plowed the soil, and thus became synonymous with farming and farmers in general.
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http://www.ehow.com/facts_7332228_history-sodbuster.html
 
It is called butcher's knife in Germany, miner's knife in France, the pattern exists also in Italy and Spain.
 
It wasn't popular in the US until Case started making them in the late 60s or early 70s. I think they copied Herder (Germany). If I recall correctly, BRL calls them "farmer's clasp knives"
 
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Dad said Sod busters were farmers or butchers pocket knife. My great uncle had one that when he died looked like an large folding ice pick .
 
I wonder why Case use a hollow grind on theirs, it's not that usual for a traditional and makes the blade weaker than a FFG on what is supposed to be a hard use knife. Never worked that one out. Does everyone use hollow on their sodbuster patterns?
 
I heard somewhere or read somewhere the Congress Whittler got its name because the maker thought congressmen sat around whittling the arm rests of the chairs on the house and senate floors, out of boredom during those long winded say nothing speaches of times past and present.
 
Pomsbz said:
I wonder why Case use a hollow grind on theirs, it's not that usual for a traditional and makes the blade weaker than a FFG on what is supposed to be a hard use knife. Never worked that one out. Does everyone use hollow on their sodbuster patterns?
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I just sharpen them on my old set of my Smith's Crox Sticks. They both cut like a Mora.
 
Pomsbz said:
I wonder why Case use a hollow grind on theirs, it's not that usual for a traditional and makes the blade weaker than a FFG on what is supposed to be a hard use knife. Never worked that one out. Does everyone use hollow on their sodbuster patterns?
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The Jr. Soddies are hollow grind. Unless Case has changed something in the last few years, the original (large version) 2138-pattern is full flat grind. The older 1970 knife that I pictured earlier even has a slight, very shallow convex to the primary grind. Probably designed as a flat grind, but ground on a belt with a little slack in it, I'm guessing. It's very subtle, and really only noticeable when putting a straight-edge against the grind; but it's there.

And the hollow grind isn't that 'weak' anyway. Other traditional knives with flat-ground blades are just as susceptible to damage, and often still thinner than Case's hollow grind anyway. Schrade USA's older OT knives come to mind; they're flat-ground very thin, heat-treated harder and likely more vulnerable to breakage. If anything were to damage a blade based only on the hollow grind itself, it'd have to come about via some sort of abuse. Given how great a slicer the hollow profile is on the Jr. version, I'll take it any day.


David
 
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I've got 3 Sod Buster Jrs (one in my pocket right now, in fact).

The 2137 SS standard black synthetic handled version with the brushed stainless steel blade and plow etching is very definitely a full hollow ground.

The other two I have are the more recent bone-handled variety - 6137 CV Chestnut Bone CV and the other in Amber Bone SS- 6137 SS. Both of those are full flat ground. They have mirror finish blades and there is no distortion in the reflected images - they are flat, except for a slight distal taper towards the tip.

I have no experience with the full-size '38 patterns for comparison.

That 2137 with the hollow ground blade is a laser, though. Also, it was one of the few Case knives that was sharp enough out of the box to not even need stropping. And for less than $20 when I bought it a couple years ago.
 
afishhunter said:
I heard somewhere or read somewhere the Congress Whittler got its name because the maker thought congressmen sat around whittling the arm rests of the chairs on the house and senate floors, out of boredom during those long winded say nothing speaches of times past and present.
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Possibly, but I think it's more likely the name comes from the way the two, four or even six blades fold in from both sides toward the center of the handle. The original definition of the word "Congress":

Late Middle English (denoting an encounter during battle): from Latin congressus, from congredi 'meet', from con- 'together' + gradi 'walk'.

Meeting, coming together, gathering.
 
afishhunter said:
I heard somewhere or read somewhere the Congress Whittler got its name because the maker thought congressmen sat around whittling the arm rests of the chairs on the house and senate floors, out of boredom during those long winded say nothing speaches of times past and present.
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r8shell said:
Possibly, but I think it's more likely the name comes from the way the two, four or even six blades fold in from both sides toward the center of the handle. The original definition of the word "Congress":

Late Middle English (denoting an encounter during battle): from Latin congressus, from congredi 'meet', from con- 'together' + gradi 'walk'.

Meeting, coming together, gathering.
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"Whittler" is a collector term, not a term of art. Same goes for "sodbuster". I haven't seen a definitive explanation of "congress" but r8shell's theory seems like a good explanation to me. LGIV says the origin is still up for debate.
 
Old thread, but I recently learned a little more about one possible origin of the word sodbuster.

In the 1862 Homestead Act, settlers could stake a claim on 160 acres and keep it as long as they met certain conditions. Among those conditions was that within 6 months they built a dwelling of at least 10x12 feet having at least one glass window. Since lumber was not plentiful in many of the plains claims, the next best material to build with was sod. Settlers would cut ~2sqft sods and lay them alternating like bricks. The sod worked great for keeping the extremes of weather out. Naturally, a nickname like sodbuster would lend itself to a claimant who did this.
 
Got the following from a web site:

"The compact Peanut knife, named for the shape of its handle,"
 
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