The Spey blade.

T

TheGoldenWalrus

Joined
Jul 16, 2011
Messages
433
I rather like the spey blade. probably my favorite for carving, good for cleaning out under the nails, cutting hangnails, etc etc. pretty much anything a pen blade,clip point, etc can do + a bit more (edit: for carving/whittling) . yet everyone seems to dislike them. can anyone explain why? I'm just a bit curious.

Thanks,
Scott

Edit: Title changed due to.... Jack Black giving me the idea to do so?
 
Last edited:
I like the spey, for carving spoons, pipes, things I need to get into and use push cuts up front, much like a chisel. No hate from me :-) useful tool.
 
In my opinion the clip blade can do most, if not all, of what they spey does. The same cannot be said vice-versa I think. In my view the ideal situation is to have a thinly ground, acutely sharpened spey that excels at the slicing tasks for which it was designed, and at least one other different blade profile in the same knife for other tasks.

In practice, that doesn't stop me from enjoying knives like these though.

DSCF0408_zpsd007dd31.jpg
 
TheGoldenWalrus said:
I rather like the spey blade. probably my favorite for carving, good for cleaning out under the nails ... pretty much anything a pen blade,clip point, etc can do + a bit more.
Click to expand...

A stubby blade with no tip is as good as a pointy pen or clip blade for cleaning under your nails? :confused:

I don't mind a long spey blade (like on a trapper), but I never liked the short one on a stockman. I'm willing to risk walking around unprepared to remove the genitals from a large animal. I'm 44 and it hasn't come up so far.

-- Mark
 
Who was talking about hate, this does almost everything I need , I hope you'll not be tierd of this photo :rolleyes:
IMG_4789.JPG


Mike
 
mnblade said:
A stubby blade with no tip is as good as a pointy pen or clip blade for cleaning under your nails? :confused:

I don't mind a long spey blade (like on a trapper), but I never liked the short one on a stockman. I'm willing to risk walking around unprepared to remove the genitals from a large animal. I'm 44 and it hasn't come up so far.

-- Mark
Click to expand...

well you are right there, a pen or clip is better for it. but im clumsy so i stick to the stubby tip XD
 
The spey blade on the A.G Russell Dogleg trapper is one of the sexiest in existence.
I like spey blades for food prep. Try smearing peanut butter with a muskrat blade.
9-08-12b___CMH.jpg
 
The spey blade on my GEC #73 is getting good use with food prep as well. I think I could have used the droppoint blade but the spey works.
 
mnblade said:
A stubby blade with no tip is as good as a pointy pen or clip blade for cleaning under your nails? :confused:

I don't mind a long spey blade (like on a trapper), but I never liked the short one on a stockman. I'm willing to risk walking around unprepared to remove the genitals from a large animal. I'm 44 and it hasn't come up so far.

-- Mark
Click to expand...


What? I'm shocked, Mark. You would willingly pass up the opportunity to sample some fine fried 'Rocky Mountain oysters"?
:D:D

Carl.
 
^ Two nice knives there Corey. I like old Lucy Esox too ;)

I have to say, this is one of my least favourite blade shapes, and I use it less than the other blades on a Stockman for example, but I can see both the functionality of it and traditional reason for its existence. So no hate, but it'd be far from my first choice.
 
I have to admit, when i first saw spey blades on American traditionals, I couldn't really understand why I should get a knife with a spey, providing I'm not going to use it for its intended use. But I have to say, my opinion was highly biased from the habit of using single bladed folders. For a single bladed folder, I would never choose a spey blade, and that's about it.
Yet, now I got used to multibladed knives, my thoughts on spey blades have changed a bit, and I've come to consider it a good option for a main blade, like in the knives posted by Steve, providing it's paired with a smaller secondary with some point (like a pointy pen, or a short wharncliffe).

Fausto
:cool:
 
I don't hate the spey, but it isn't a favorite either. If my knife has one, I'll use it some. But, I'll mostly use the main clip by 20:1.

Ed J
 
well i mean it as a secondary really. like on my carvers congress (Boker) i hardly ever use the pen.... i think i may have used it once around what was probably quite alot of sheeple. the most used would be the sheepsfoot, and seconded by the spey. i've hardly used the coping, probably when the sheepsfoot got too dull while whittling....
hey while i'm here anyone know of a somewhat Moose type pattern with a wharncliffe (or sheepsfoot) and spey?

Thanks,
Scott
 
I love the curves on a spey blade, its distinctive shape, its gentle curving belly, perfectly formed for push cutting, carving and all manner of ectomy.

7055512001_b3a91d5ba1_b.jpg
 
I have to disagree with you assessment that they can do anything that the others do and more. I need a piercing point more often than not, and the longer belly on a clip is useful to me. I also find the little short speys on smaller knives to be ridiculous.

That being said, I like one fine on a bigger knife like a trapper. I like the long ones as they make a good slicing knife and have a small belly with some type of point...... I actually think they may be more useful than a wharncliffe, which is real popular these days.
 
I am more interested now in why the starter of this thread thinks any one who does not like what he likes is a HATER. .....sounds familier doesn't it ??
 
Woodrow F Call said:
I have to disagree with you assessment that they can do anything that the others do and more. I need a piercing point more often than not, and the longer belly on a clip is useful to me. I also find the little short speys on smaller knives to be ridiculous.

That being said, I like one fine on a bigger knife like a trapper. I like the long ones as they make a good slicing knife and have a small belly with some type of point...... I actually think they may be more useful than a wharncliffe, which is real popular these days.
Click to expand...

by more i mainly meant in carving.... as the short belly just does more than the longer belly.
 
WIL TERRY said:
I am more interested now in why the starter of this thread thinks any one who does not like what he likes is a HATER. .....sounds familier doesn't it ??
Click to expand...

i did not call anyone a HATER.... i see alot of people saying that they do not like spey blades. was just curious why :P
the title of the thread says "Why all the hate?" as it sounds better than "why so much dislike?" :P
 
I can't recall ever writing anything bad about spey blades. :confused:

Wharncliffe / sheepsfoot blades on the other hand... :grumpy:


:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top