The Inconspicuous Spey Blade

The spayblade is very similar to a scalpel blade only a little more belly towards the tip. When cutting the scrotem open for casterating livestock it is slightly stretched so just barely touching the sharp blade to the skin it will open. After revealing the testes instead of cutting the cords straight through you can make a sideways scrape to sever them so bleeding is diminish. This is the way my dad taught me and our veterinarian also suggested this technique. Spayblade is the farmer and ranchers scalpel.
 
You just have to make sure the anti-kick mechanism is well in place. We started using a clamping device that locks on and you leave it for a few minutes then remove it. No blood, infection....We didn't eat them like a lot of people do, so this worked well for us...
 
All of this castration talk reminds me of my favorite Far Side cartoon. :D

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sassafrassdogs3 said:
You just have to make sure the anti-kick mechanism is well in place. We started using a clamping device that locks on and you leave it for a few minutes then remove it. No blood, infection....We didn't eat them like a lot of people do, so this worked well for us...
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Ha ha! Yes you do need a good strong strapping lad to hold them back legs or a chute with a strap. We did use some banding rings but you have to catch them while they’re little. Otherwise if you wanted calf fries you let’m get at least 400# for some worthwhile oysters. Good eatin!
I wasn’t sure if that would be a bit much for some of the more delicate natured folks but come on this is a blade forum ain’t it? Knives and all! Lol.
 
eveled said:
Maybe he’s confused about the blade shapes?
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No confusion -- I've always liked the rounded end of the spey for slicing material, especially straight cuts guided by a straightedge. If I was using an X-Acto knife for that I'd probably choose a #10 blade.
 
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Ace Rimmer said:
No confusion -- I've always liked the rounded end of the spey for slicing material, especially straight cuts guided by a straightedge. If I was using an X-Acto knife for that I'd probably choose a #10 blade.
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I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks

Haven’t thought about the far side in years. I had the unfortunate luck to be a dead ringer for the school boy pushing on the pull door at the “school for gifted students”.
 
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I keep the spey blade razor sharp and only use it for tasks that require an extreme edge. I have used it instead of an X-acto knife on some occasions.
 
The spey make a pretty nice food prep blade if it's long enough. The belly allows it easy use on cutting boards or other hard surfaces. More recently I started using the spey for fire prep for my camp fire.

So the 3-blade use thing is something I never figured out much myself, so I sold all of my traditionals with more than 2 blades and generally stick with the clean blade & dirty blade rule. I will admit, there are some "really dirty" situations where a 3rd would be nice, like cutting box tape because it seems like they always get glue on them which is annoying to take off. More aesthetic than anything but the gum can make cutting other stuff a little more of a pain with the increased drag.
 
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