Two Questions for the Price of One

Lenny

Lenny

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 15, 1998
Messages
2,499
Hey all,
I was wondering what the use of the half stop is for slipjoints.
Both the small blades on my GEC # 62 have it, but not the main Wharncliff.
Second, for all you whittlers, where do you get your wood from?
Thanks,
Lenny
 
My understanding is safety for the half stops. The wood question I can not help ya with, sorry.
 
OK, the question about halfstops could have been answered by David :)

About the whittling wood - I can say - I get into my firewood-shag and search for a piece of hardwood, branchets or something like this... and use it as a whittling piece. Though I don´t really whittle too much, my skills there are horrible ;) If you don´t have any firewood you could ask someone how is heatening with wood if you may have look in their places. Or you go outside to the woods and try to find a dry piece. I don´t know the enviroment you live. So little pieces of wood - I wouldn´t pay any money for that.

Kind regards
Andi
 
Thanks for the link David. That response by zerogee is probably one of the best and most concise statements on the matter I have ever read. Probably worth quoting here.

Here is the link to the precise post, and here is the quote:

"Many people will tell you that it's for safety and all that, but really, originally, it had to do more with ease of construction and reliability. For a very long time, blades - particularly the tangs - were filed to match hardened patterns. It's a heck of a lot easier to file a square tang profile (the half stop is the flat end of the tang) than a rounded one (actually the profile isn't quite square, but we'll ignore that for now). Also, for a long time the old mark of quality construction was the "clean and square" joint - basically the square tang was matched to a square bolster, essentially filling the joint, even when closed. This meant that if you dropped your knife in the dirt, the dirt didn't get into and around the joint to foul up the mechanism. (Remington "discovered" this early last century. )

A square tang is largely self cleaning -- the corners sweep debris either toward the end of the knife or back into the body - either way, the debris gets moved out from under the tang/joint mechanism where it can then be removed. Properly cleaning up an old, gunked up knife and getting all the crud out of the mechanism is a lot easier with one that has square tangs.

Also, a square tang causes less wear and tear on the spring over time - assuming the corners of the square tang were rounded a tiny bit in construction. The corners sweep back and forth along a length of the spring in operation. spreading the wear evenly along that length. A round or cam end tang concentrates the wear in a much smaller area of the spring - becoming a problem when proper maintenance and oiling is neglected."
 
Wow, I did not see that post when I searched this last week. The safety thing made since and I moved on. I want to handle a square tang, square bolster knife now. Thanks for this great info guys
 
For wood I'll use anything, scraps of pine etc.
But lately peach pits
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I think that modern knives have square tangs to remind you to get your fingers outta the way of the blade while closing your knife.
I get my wood from many places- scraps from a construction site (only if it's approved for me to take some so rare), scraps from other projects, dead wood from parks, and from my backyard. I have yet to pay a cent for wood bought specifically to whittle.
 
I use a lot of random sticks, but good wood is rare here (heck, any wood is rare here) so I buy basswood carving blocks any time I'm near a Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Pretty tough to do something like this with a random stick.

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How long did it take you? I remember seeing a few chains you have done that where open ended, I know you have alot of practice :)
 
Yablanowitz, don't you have a pic ( if I recall ) of a friends father who owned a lumber yard that carved a continuous chain for years, with hooks on either end? A real work of art.
 
I remember that picture, but it wasn't me who posted it. Rockgolfer, that took about a month, probably a hundred hours or so.
 
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