Wharncliffe vs. Quasi-Sheepsfoot (Utility, Not Tactics)

I went to a wharncliffe blade since they are easy to sharpen. If there is any swiss army knife fans the "emergency" blade from long ago is a wharncliffe blade.

From SakiWiki - The Wharncliffe blade was invented around 1832 by Lord Wharncliffe.
 
I love wharncliffe and sheepsfoot blades. The super thin point of wharncliffes, like the yojimbo, makes me nervous. I carry a large auto and a small knife that I actually use to cut stuff. My two favorites are the mini Griptilian with the sheepsfoot and the wharncliffe Delica. As far as use, if I really had to be picky, I prefer the Delica for packages, boxes, and that stuff. I prefer the sheepsfoot for food.
 
sailfish said:
Fresh, straight-edge glory for the collection.


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That one's on my radar for sure!
 
eveled said:
Interesting preference. With all due respect, I cannot tolerate any Belly or Recurve on a wharncliff sheepsfoot coping blade. They have to be laser straight from ricasso to tip.

I do find that it can be beneficial to be slightly narrower at the Ricasso and wider at the tip. It sort of gives the benefit of a karambit or other hook knife without the baggage that goes with the recurve.

To each his own.
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Yup, luckily we have no shortage of different blade shapes to choose from!
 
Velitrius said:
Hi Blues,

The two knives I carry that would fit those profile are the Kershaw Leek (Wharnie) and the Benchmade 555-1 Mini Grip (Sheep-enstein).

The belly on the Grip is superb, and the tip stays out of the way pretty much until I bring it to bear where I want it. I can do some close up slicing with the thumb on the ramp, or even slide my finger on the spine for some X-acto stuff. But mostly it's the amount of belly and the aesthetic of the blade that appeals to me.

The Leek makes an awesome box cutter as you mentioned, as well as letter opener. The tip is like a needle if you need one, and I sometimes do. The straight profile works just fine for cutting up the apple as well, as you don't need any belly to just slice the straight edge through. I also like the aesthetic of this piece.

If you tossed them both out on the table and told me I could only have one of them, I would not consider the straight profiled piece for one second. for utility purposes it is a no-brainer to me to choose one of the modified sheepsfoot examples.

But this is B.F. dot C. man, and here we say "BOTH" with reckless abandon. So I have both.
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Hmmm... I beg to differ. I was about to post about the Leek as a knife which is NOT a straight Wharncliffe. It definitely has a bit of belly to it. Ken Onion designs interesting blades. I'm quite partial to my Leeks.
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knarfeng said:
Hmmm... I beg to differ. I was about to post about the Leek as a knife which is NOT a straight Wharncliffe. It definitely has a bit of belly to it. Ken Onion designs interesting blades. I'm quite partial to my Leeks.
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Well shucks, Frank... I believe this might be the first time anyone has begged to differ with me on these here fora 😁

I'll bite that the Leek is not a straight Wharnie... but I have to say that among the knives in front of me at the moment, it's definitely the straightest profile of the lot.

I've got a Mini Grip with that Sheepsfoot thing, a Kershaw Scallion, the Bugout of course and the very piece that is in your photo there... the CF Leek.

While not completely straight in the edge department, it's the straightest that I've got. And while I love it to death, I tend to use the more "bellied" examples more.

The CF Leek is one I'll never let loose. The steel is one of my favorites, the CF is beautifully done, and I do like me a good liner lock. It's a fantastic EDC to be sure.

I'm still solidly in the "Both" camp.
 
Velitrius said:
Well shucks, Frank... I believe this might be the first time anyone has begged to differ with me on these here fora 😁

I'll bite that the Leek is not a straight Wharnie... but I have to say that among the knives in front of me at the moment, it's definitely the straightest profile of the lot.

I've got a Mini Grip with that Sheepsfoot thing, a Kershaw Scallion, the Bugout of course and the very piece that is in your photo there... the CF Leek.

While not completely straight in the edge department, it's the straightest that I've got. And while I love it to death, I tend to use the more "bellied" examples more.

The CF Leek is one I'll never let loose. The steel is one of my favorites, the CF is beautifully done, and I do like me a good liner lock. It's a fantastic EDC to be sure.

I'm still solidly in the "Both" camp.
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I think the Leek has been around long enough that that are some significant changes in the grind/blade shape.
 
I carried a Kit Carson similar to this for several years, it was terrific in the office or the warehouse. Before that I carried a Bob Terzoula Wharncliffe and loved that blade shape, too.

Kit Carson small Model 21 Coping Blade, Stellite, Micarta:
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Scott Sawby "Skimmer", Julie Warenski engraved, a true Wharncliffe:
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For years and years the sheepsfoot on the Buck 303 and 301 were the most used blade in my everyday life.
I actually preferred the Schrade made 303 and 301 as they had very large for format sheeps blades.
 
I love all those wharnies, along with most of the sheepfoots. I find them very utilitarian and use almost all I have with those blade shapes...
This is probably my favorite and most used - my Franken Rat with blade I designed and had a knife maker form Bulgaria (Tinko Knives) to make the blade.
It differs little bit from the original design but it is still very useful knife ! Steel is M390 at around 62HRC, chisel grind with very steep 12 degrees angle.

iKbgm6.jpg


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I was just thinking that the Yojimbo 2 is not really a true wharncliffe. Its more a hybrid of wharncliffe and reverse tanto. Maybe a whanto?
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
I love all those wharnies, along with most of the sheepfoots. I find them very utilitarian and use almost all I have with those blade shapes...
This is probably my favorite and most used - my Franken Rat with blade I designed and had a knife maker form Bulgaria (Tinko Knives) to make the blade.
It differs little bit from the original design but it is still very useful knife ! Steel is M390 at around 62HRC, chisel grind with very steep 12 degrees angle.

iKbgm6.jpg


r2m90.jpg
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Very cool. I thought it was an Emerson at first glance.
 
K.O.D. said:
I was just thinking that the Yojimbo 2 is not really a true wharncliffe. Its more a hybrid of wharncliffe and reverse tanto. Maybe a whanto?
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I've pretty much dismissed the term reverse tanto as just a high-speed, low-drag way of saying wharncliffe.
 
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