What is cotton sampling

M

mtangent

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Dec 6, 2011
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I have seen Cotton Samplers mentioned, & seen pictures, but I can't imagine what cotton sampling is. Are they used to open a pod, or cut some from a bale, or something else?
 
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They were used to slice a small sample from a cotton bale so that the buyers could ascertain the quality of the batch. I've not been around cotton gins since I was a small child, so I have no idea if this is still done.
 
it does make for a distinct looking blade though doesnt it? semi resembles a corn knife
 
Phil in Alabama said:
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They were used to slice a small sample from a cotton bale so that the buyers could ascertain the quality of the batch. I've not been around cotton gins since I was a small child, so I have no idea if this is still done.
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Phil,

Sounds like any jackknife could slice a sample from a bale.

What advantage is there to the typical cotton sampler blade shape?

I've wondered if the machete shape somehow helped cutting a deep plug from the bale, for better sampling. I could never figure out how that would work, though.

Or is the blade shape a meaningless tradition?
 
It has to go deep enough in the bale to get a good sample that's not contaminated. Last time I saw one used was in the 50's, a fixed blade more like a hawksbill. Cotton is mechanically sampled now while being baled. We sampled bales prior to the opening process at the textile mills for our own testing as well.
 
There is a purpose to the elongated tang, for lack of a better term, as well. Many of these knives have a long flat section just ahead of the tang and prior to the blade profile itself. The purpose of this section is for rolling some of the cotton with the thumb to find out something about the sample that escapes me.
 
ptradeco said:
There is a purpose to the elongated tang, for lack of a better term, as well. Many of these knives have a long flat section just ahead of the tang and prior to the blade profile itself. The purpose of this section is for rolling some of the cotton with the thumb to find out something about the sample that escapes me.
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Ptradeco, if I'm understanding you correctly the "elongated tang" is called the ricasso.
 
I have not heard the term ricasso used in respect to folding knives but in a way I can see this use of the term. In the picture below the part right above what is normally called the tang you will notice a flat piece of blade about 1" long that seems to be an extension of the tang prior to the beginning of the blade profile itself. This is where the cotton is rolled between the blade and the thumb. I probably have not explained this well but I think from the picture you can figure out what I am talking about.

DSCN2717.jpg
 
My ENT doc has told me that I need to start putting a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and distilled water in a quantity of 2-3 drops on a half of a cotton ball and squeezing the liquid into my ear canals and leaving the cotton ball in the opening to reabsorb and liquid that tries to run out. Does this sound like a job for a cotton sampler?

Ed J
 
That is as good a contemporary use as I have ever heard. Seriously, does anybody really carry and use one of these or are they just for collectors? I have had a hard time justifying a purchase of one.
 
ptradeco said:
I have not heard the term ricasso used in respect to folding knives but in a way I can see this use of the term. In the picture below the part right above what is normally called the tang you will notice a flat piece of blade about 1" long that seems to be an extension of the tang prior to the beginning of the blade profile itself. This is where the cotton is rolled between the blade and the thumb. I probably have not explained this well but I think from the picture you can figure out what I am talking about.

DSCN2717.jpg
Click to expand...

ptradeco,

If you want to be pedantic, you can use the term ricasso only to describe one feature of Italian style fencing swords. But the term was so useful it was hijacked by the English language. Not only for swords, but all sorts of knives.

I never thought of a long ricasso as a feature of the cotton sampler. Probably because many examples of the knife do not have one.

So the broad tipped blade scoops some cotton out of the bale. The long ricasso helps you assay the sample.

Suddenly this knife, shaped by meaningless tradition, looks like a specialized tool.
 
This is the first time I have heard of this style of knife. The blade design is intriguing to me. Like a fat over grown spey blade.
 
An animal would NOT appreciate being spayed by one of those suckers!!
Campbell, that's one premier CS collection!!
 
A thought - one of cotton's qualities is length-of-fiber. Maybe wrapping the "ricasso" can give you a relative length.
 
waynorth said:
An animal would NOT appreciate being spayed by one of those suckers!!
Campbell, that's one premier CS collection!!
Click to expand...

I am not sure an animal would appreciate being spayed by any blade :) Especially that one.

Still though a very unique blade pattern. Not one that is commonly seen.
 
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