waynorth
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2005
- Messages
- 32,709
This has been discussed a bit in the dim past, but while I'm waiting for my Tribal/Zulu to arrive, I thought I'd share my experience thus far with this interesting blade.
The roots of its latest existence come from two sources.
1) Tony Bose has made what he used to call a "modified wharcliffe" for many years. He raised the point of the Wharncliffe blade a bit to give it a little belly, while keeping a more acute point.
2) ca. 1936, Schrade Cut Co. had a similar idea, for their Balloon jack pattern, and came up with a marketing name for the blade; a Zulu Spear!
I don't know how people liked the name back then, but like most people, I like the "ring" it has to it.
Picture 1 shows 2 modern iterations from the Wizards of Wilfred.
Pictures 2 and 3 show these knives with an original Schrade Zulu, a somewhat earlier Ulster/Schrade regular spear blade, and Sheffield and Schatt & Morgan spears for comparison.
Picture 4 shows a closeup of the Bose and Schrade Zulus, with the regular Schrade for comparison.
You can see Tony studies those old knives closely!!:thumbup:
In pictures 5 and 6, I inserted some various Wharncliffe blades so you can see the source of the design. I think if you use your imagination, you can see how raising the point slightly from the cutting edge would result in the Zulu shape. There are other subtleties too but I leave those to your observations.
(I see my WT wharncliffe is thinner than it used to be. It's been my edc for a while now. Doesn't need much honing, but it gets used!)
Hope you students of this knifery/jiggery like looking at this stuff as much as I do!
Please comment, and please post pics of your Case Collaboration Tribals (maybe with the blades pointing up?) so we can compare then in the mix also.
All opinions thoughtfully considered are welcome!
The roots of its latest existence come from two sources.
1) Tony Bose has made what he used to call a "modified wharcliffe" for many years. He raised the point of the Wharncliffe blade a bit to give it a little belly, while keeping a more acute point.
2) ca. 1936, Schrade Cut Co. had a similar idea, for their Balloon jack pattern, and came up with a marketing name for the blade; a Zulu Spear!
I don't know how people liked the name back then, but like most people, I like the "ring" it has to it.
Picture 1 shows 2 modern iterations from the Wizards of Wilfred.
Pictures 2 and 3 show these knives with an original Schrade Zulu, a somewhat earlier Ulster/Schrade regular spear blade, and Sheffield and Schatt & Morgan spears for comparison.
Picture 4 shows a closeup of the Bose and Schrade Zulus, with the regular Schrade for comparison.
You can see Tony studies those old knives closely!!:thumbup:
In pictures 5 and 6, I inserted some various Wharncliffe blades so you can see the source of the design. I think if you use your imagination, you can see how raising the point slightly from the cutting edge would result in the Zulu shape. There are other subtleties too but I leave those to your observations.
(I see my WT wharncliffe is thinner than it used to be. It's been my edc for a while now. Doesn't need much honing, but it gets used!)
Hope you students of this knifery/jiggery like looking at this stuff as much as I do!
Please comment, and please post pics of your Case Collaboration Tribals (maybe with the blades pointing up?) so we can compare then in the mix also.
All opinions thoughtfully considered are welcome!
