Wharncliffe blades

P

Pistolero in NM

Joined
Dec 2, 2003
Messages
24
I've noticed a lot of people love Wharncliffe blades, but I haven't warmed up to them quite yet. Can you explain to me the intended purposes of blades shaped this way Where do the wharnies really shine?

Jared
 
I dont know of any special uses, like the spey, but the Wharncliffe is a very strong blade, but still has fine point, so some people see them as a good compromise.
Maybe somebody else knows if they had any special use.

Peter
 
I think this is a question for Thomason, or as I like to call him, Sensei Thom-a-son. :)
 
It's a great blade shape to skin animals. Once you have ringed the neck and legs it slides down the middle like a zipper and because of the shape never snags the internal organs. This to me is where it really does it's magic.
 
You can get a custom maker to do variants,of the warncliffe blade,too.Check out this beautiful bad boy from Joe Allen
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All around general purpose use. With a good point they are good splinter pickers, great detail folders for contracting work like cutting in the hinge notches or refining them out more after routing when installing a door, trimming off the caulking. Just about any use that a Stanley utility knife is good for a Wharncliffe is good for. Note the similarity?

Modified Wharncliffes are technically my favorite where they sway up just a tad toward the tip. This makes for a more versatile user even more IMO. You can see those all over the place from the Byrd Wings folder, to the Calypso Jr. and Delica by Spyderco, to some of the fine examples in customs.

STR
 
They keep the edge sharp when you cut stuff on a plate. With a traditional blade, you can really dull it cutting against something hard.
 
Another benefit that isn't so obvious is, if the tip gets broken off for some reason, it is an easy blade to re-profile. :)
 
kidwholaughs said:
They keep the edge sharp when you cut stuff on a plate. With a traditional blade, you can really dull it cutting against something hard.
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Agreed. I use an Ontario fruit knife that I've turned into a Wharncliffe in the kitchen as a paring, and vegtable knife. The tip is the only part that touches the cutting board and it keeps an edge much longer than a knife with a belly.

I just love 'em for kitchen duty.
 
An interesting ancester of the warncliffe is the norse scramasax of the 9th to 12 century. It was a side knife of 12 to 14 inches for general use from utility to weapon. Having a long strait blade and very strong tip, it was handy for hacking away at anything from a leg of mutton to an English monk while on a raid.
 
jackknife said:
Having a long strait blade and very strong tip, it was handy for hacking away at anything from a leg of mutton to an English monk while on a raid.
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Even if you're not a monk hacker, you gotta love this place! :D :thumbup:
 
I find them pretty handy for most daily tasks, and especialy cutting leather and whittling. It's a pitty that there aren't more wharnnie blades on the market (flat or convex ground). I've got several custom fixed blades and folders with different types of wharncliffe blades that get used a lot.

I wouldn't use them for game prep, but they are great for everything else.
 
Wow I knew there were a lot of fans. I figured on the whittling but I never really thought about skinning, which is strange because I peel a few animals a year! Guess I'm gonna have to add one to the arsenal!
Jared
 
Pistolero in NM said:
Wow I knew there were a lot of fans. I figured on the whittling but I never really thought about skinning, which is strange because I peel a few animals a year! Guess I'm gonna have to add one to the arsenal!
Jared
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I average 100 squirrels, 10 raccoons, 5 white tails, 5 rabbits, 3 nutria and 2 ferrule hogs a year. That’s over a 10 year period. You won’t be disappointed.


All of Gods creatures have a place in this world……right next to the mash potatoes.
 
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