The Spey blade.

I won't say that I "hate" a spey blade, but I find them to be essentially needless since a clip, spear point, etc. can do virtually everything I need my knife to do and do it IMO better than a spey. Unlike Bob, I also like wharncliffe blades, and will use one often.

As others have said, I simply do not find myself out castrating bulls all day. If I did, then I am certain they spey would be my first choice for such a job. The same can be said of the hawkbill/pruner blade. Until I start doing a lot of gardening, I just have no need for that blade shape.
 
Just a thought, but it'd be great to see this thread title change to reflect what it's actually about, ie the spey blade, which doesn't really seem to have a lot of "hate" directed towards it, even by those who don't particularly care for it.
 
jackknife said:
What? I'm shocked, Mark. You would willingly pass up the opportunity to sample some fine fried 'Rocky Mountain oysters"?
:D:D

Carl.
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Hey, if you're buyin' and there's beer, I'll eat most anything. But that doesn't mean I need to do the cutting.

-- Mark
 
on_the_edge said:
I won't say that I "hate" a spey blade, but I find them to be essentially needless since a clip, spear point, etc. can do virtually everything I need my knife to do and do it IMO better than a spey. Unlike Bob, I also like wharncliffe blades, and will use one often.

As others have said, I simply do not find myself out castrating bulls all day. If I did, then I am certain they spey would be my first choice for such a job. The same can be said of the hawkbill/pruner blade. Until I start doing a lot of gardening, I just have no need for that blade shape.
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The spey does have some good uses besides castration.

The hawkbill is actually really great at cutting long runs of material like cloth or tape on packages. It's a little more ergonomic than other blades for those tasks.
 
Jack Black said:
Just a thought, but it'd be great to see this thread title change to reflect what it's actually about, ie the spey blade, which doesn't really seem to have a lot of "hate" directed towards it, even by those who don't particularly care for it.
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Good move TGW :thumbup:
 
Well when we cut bull calves I usually use the Sheeps foot. Now I ain't a cowboy so we don't rope or use horses. Cut bulls when they are a day or two old or at weaning then they go into a squeeze chute. I find the Sheeps foot has lest jabbing potential than a Spey. When I cut hogs I use a Sheeps foot too. I do use the Spey to castrate but mostly as a secondary or back up blade. I use the Spey mostly as a screw driver.
 
FarmKid said:
Well when we cut bull calves I usually use the Sheeps foot. Now I ain't a cowboy so we don't rope or use horses. Cut bulls when they are a day or two old or at weaning then they go into a squeeze chute. I find the Sheeps foot has lest jabbing potential than a Spey. When I cut hogs I use a Sheeps foot too. I do use the Spey to castrate but mostly as a secondary or back up blade. I use the Spey mostly as a screw driver.
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Great post :thumbup: That sounds about as authoriritive as it gets in that area :)
 
I think there's a certain number of people who don't care for any given knife blade, although it may be a bit heightened with spey blades because their traditional purpose is so outside the experience of most modern people and may make people uncomfortable. My brother-in-law, for instance, is one of those people. On the other hand, spey blades are my favorite full-sized secondary blade, bar none.

FarmKid said:
Well when we cut bull calves I usually use the Sheeps foot. Now I ain't a cowboy so we don't rope or use horses. Cut bulls when they are a day or two old or at weaning then they go into a squeeze chute. I find the Sheeps foot has lest jabbing potential than a Spey. When I cut hogs I use a Sheeps foot too. I do use the Spey to castrate but mostly as a secondary or back up blade. I use the Spey mostly as a screw driver.
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Now that's interesting. I wonder if it's a regional thing, because around here the spey is almost invariably the blade used to cut calves.
 
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I can take or leave a spey blade. I certainly don't have anything against them.
If given the choice of two blades on a knife, one will be a wharncliffe or sheepsfoot and the other a pen or clip blade.

As others have said it's all about personal preference.
 
Peregrin said:
I can take or leave a spey blade. I certainly don't have anything against them.
If given the choice of two blades on a knife, one will be a wharncliffe or sheepsfoot and the other a pen or clip blade.

As others have said it's all about personal preference.
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This.

Sheepsfoot or wharncliffe is blade choice #1, spey , pin or clip are all just gravy.
Long as they're all sharp, that is.
 
I'm likely in the minority here, what with my job and all, but they are one of my fave's. I work with reclaimed lumber, though, and they really do excel at cleaning rot and splinters out of holes and divots. As far as using it outside of work goes, it doesn't get a whole lot of use from me. I will add that i've been wanting a moose with a spey and wharncliff as previously mentioned by Scott.
 
Being a mechanic kinda removed me from the spey blade for the secondary blade to the wharncliffe style for removing gasket material or cutting out a new gasket. I have not encountered many engine blocks needing to be denutted.
 
A Mike Latham www.collectorknives.net SFO Farmer Jack with Garnett Jigged Bone Covers.

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gecfarmerjack2.jpg
 
It may not be the most utilitarian blade but it has it's uses. It has to be a longer blade to be useful though, IMO.

The work great as a camp knife blade for food prep and you can use it for skinning. It can also be useful when making delicate cuts where you don't want to risk puncturing the surrounding area.
 
I´m not a big fan of that blade shape. Especially when there´s just a small speyblade on a stockman pattern. I just don´t have a real need for this kind of blade. When it´s there, it´s ok so far. I´ve tried that kind of blade several times and sometimes it´s useful but the most time a blade with a tip is needed. So I´m not a hater of it.

On the trapper pattern the speyblade is my preference for food prep. The long straight blade makes it just good for this kind of tasks.

Just my .02 Cent
 
It might be a regional thing but using a pocket knife for castration is a thing of the past here. Everybody is either banding or using them scalpel things. I use a knife bc it's much safer than a scalpel. I've seen a lot of guys use whatever blade that is the sharpest. Some guys modifying sodbusters just for castrating. I know when I was out in herford, tx a lot of guys had trappers and used the Spey for their sharp edge and the clip for everything else. I just like using the Sheeps foot bc of the blade geometry and personal comfort.
 
FarmKid said:
It might be a regional thing but using a pocket knife for castration is a thing of the past here. Everybody is either banding or using them scalpel things. I use a knife bc it's much safer than a scalpel. I've seen a lot of guys use whatever blade that is the sharpest. Some guys modifying sodbusters just for castrating. I know when I was out in herford, tx a lot of guys had trappers and used the Spey for their sharp edge and the clip for everything else. I just like using the Sheeps foot bc of the blade geometry and personal comfort.
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Been a while since I've been on the farm but I think most people in NW Minnesota used bands.
 
I'll use bands on new born calves but always cut larger bulls bc a lot can go wrong with a band; it ain't pretty when they swell. I love using the Spey for splitting hoses or scoring drywall stuff like that. I also like stockmen with pen blades too.
 
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