Stop with the half stops

[Wild Willie]

Hey I know a guy called Basho....he drinks the Dalmeny Bowls Club...but this Bashos philosophy is more ..."Drive my golf cart to the pub for beer...because of my broken leg...and roll it sideways in the mud on the way home.."
Might be a different Basho..

He could however be one in the same. Perhaps we'll never know.

 

[Angry Waiter]

If this is not kosher please strike, Mods, but is this not a blonde vs brunette preference. In the end if you like it, you should…well… admire it??

 

[JohnDF]

The problem with that logic is that it becomes difficult to ensure the back spring is flush in the half stop position.
With a round tang that isn't an issue.

Flush at half stop is a non-issue for me, unless I'm paying big bucks and want to see the maker show his stuff... but I'm kinda cheap, so it's a non-issue again.

 

[Will Power]

I found this old post from Kerry Hampton @KnifeHead , a Knife Maker and friend of the late Tony Bose. I thought it was worth posting here.

A Master has spoken And note what he says about no hard or fast rules, general rule of thumb.

The GEC 38 Whittler is an example of a knife having both Cam and HS, the master is Cam, secondaries HS.

 

[euroken]

One maker told me 1/2 stops were easier to make. He said " for example it's easier to draw a perfect square than a perfect circle."

I think this depends...a truly flush 1/2 stops need precision to make it right.

For cam tangs, many times the blade is stamped from a blank and free hand polished. If the blade is cut free hand and ground/polished, the accuracy doesn't really play into how proper the tang is radiused since you don't have reference point for 'flush' back spring.

 

[Rich S]

Just my unimportant opinion, but I dislike half-stops. Period. Old hands hate the extra work for pull past a half-stop.

 

[euroken]

It's interesting, though, seeing the multiple bladed knives with both half stops AND no half stops. I just got a knife, two bladed, and main blade has a half stop and the secondary pen blade doesn't.

It almost 'seems' intentional.

 

[King of the Cheese]

Anyone ever notice the cap lifter on a SAK has a half-stop, but the can opener does not? I wonder why… hmmm.

 

[Wild Willie]

Anyone ever notice the cap lifter on a SAK has a half-stop, but the can opener does not? I wonder why… hmmm.

I could be wrong, but I think it's so you can use the notch in conjunction with the blade to strip wire like so...

Edit: As far as on a swisschamp and thicker models I'm not so sure.

 

[Blues]

I have a beautiful Joel Chamblin sowbelly that has no half stop on the primary blade, and half stops on the sheepfoot and pen blades.

 

[Nature Boy]

Anyone ever notice the cap lifter on a SAK has a half-stop, but the can opener does not? I wonder why… hmmm.

View attachment 1807323

I could be wrong, but I think it's so you can use the notch in conjunction with the blade to strip wire like so...

Edit: As far as on a swisschamp and thicker models I'm not so sure.

The wire stripper explanation makes sense. I always thought it was to make it easier to use the screwdriver in tight quarters.

 

[King of the Cheese]

View attachment 1807323

I could be wrong, but I think it's so you can use the notch in conjunction with the blade to strip wire like so...

Edit: As far as on a swisschamp and thicker models I'm not so sure.

Yep could be, and also useful for more torque when turning screws… which is why putting a half stop on the can opener would be useful as well.

 

[King of the Cheese]

I don’t believe you NEED to use the knife blade to strip a wire. I think it’s easy enough to do it without it (just the wire stripper) and I wouldn‘t want to drag a copper wire across my blade.

 

[JohnDF]

Anyone ever notice the cap lifter on a SAK has a half-stop, but the can opener does not? I wonder why… hmmm.

You can actually use the screwdriver in the half stop position.

 

[Wild Willie]

I don’t believe you NEED to use the knife blade to strip a wire. I think it’s easy enough to do it without it (just the wire stripper) and I wouldn‘t want to drag a copper wire across my blade.

I use the blade to just score the coating, and then the notch to pull the cut piece off, that is if I use the notch. Usually just a score and the blade to pull the cut end. I've never damaged a knife with the wire, and I wind up needing to do a lot of wiring on trucks and equipment.

 

[rhino]

Everything about it was cooler. My old outfit in NYC was very, very anal about most everything from the format for reports to dress code.

Miami was like the wild west in comparison...and thankfully so. It was a fun time to be in LE.

(I transferred down there from NYC in '87, to give some perspective on what was going on at the time. (It was mostly narcotics, money laundering, arms smuggling, with a sprinkling of anti-terrorism for added flavor.)

I watched "Miami Vice" in those days, so essentially I had the same experience.

 

[dundak]

You can actually use the screwdriver in the half stop position.

I can use my 3 1/2" drop point blade in the half stop position too. I can take awesome EDC photos of it or use it as an inefficient, dangerous tiny hatchet.

 

[King of the Cheese]

I watched "Miami Vice" in those days, so essentially I had the same experience.

$300,000 speedboats are issued only to the best looking guys.

 

[Blues]

I watched "Miami Vice" in those days, so essentially I had the same experience.

"Eef chu say so..."

 

[Blues]

Identities redacted for obvious reasons...