What is the Definition of Ettrick??

Iris said:
His are in a better condition to be sure. Didn't post pics of his either as thought he might want to himself. I know he will be VERY pleased with them :)
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Iris - if anyone deserves those knives- it should be Charlie - he has done an extremely huge amount of work in enabling us Traditional Knife Lovers to be able to enjoy yesteryear's amazing Patterns, along with Bill from GEC too of course.
Iris, thank you for coming on board in traditionals - lets hope you hang around!
 
Campbellclanman said:
Iris - if anyone deserves those knives- it should be Charlie - he has done an extremely huge amount of work in enabling us Traditional Knife Lovers to be able to enjoy yesteryear's amazing Patterns, along with Bill from GEC too of course.
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Who knows, maybe this will lead to another SFO down the road. :rolleyes: :D
 
SFO = special factory order. When a dealer, person, or group commissions a specific run of knives from a manufacturer just for them to resell. Our annual forum knife is an example of a SFO.
 
Nice to see everything worked out well with your mum's Ettricks Iris, and look forward to seeing more of them here :) :thumbup:
 
Hi Jack :) Thank you very much.
I have no doubt Charlie will post some beautiful pics of them. Better than I could ever showcase them ;) These are ones I never pictured on the forum before. They are not very rusty at all. Still quite new and shiny :) I'm sure he's dying to show them off lol.

Jack Black said:
Nice to see everything worked out well with your mum's Ettricks Iris, and look forward to seeing more of them here :) :thumbup:
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Iris said:
Hi Jack :) Thank you very much.
I have no doubt Charlie will post some beautiful pics of them. Better than I could ever showcase them ;) These are ones I never pictured on the forum before. They are not very rusty at all. Still quite new and shiny :) I'm sure he's dying to show them off lol.
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I just saw Charlie's pic in your original thread Iris, it gave me a big grin to think of him speeding over the border to pic up your parcel! :) I'm looking forward to seeing more of them, and reading Charlie's thoughts on them :) :thumbup:
 
Me too! Especially how old they are!

Jack Black said:
I just saw Charlie's pic in your original thread Iris, it gave me a big grin to think of him speeding over the border to pic up your parcel! :) I'm looking forward to seeing more of them, and reading Charlie's thoughts on them :) :thumbup:
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Well, I finally got some time to take some scans of the now infamous Lockwoods! I was excited indeed, to finally get them home, and start looking them over. There are lots of little details to ponder, and to help you join me in that, I have taken some close-ups as well as life-size scans. Here's a random dozen of the knives, with a "cousin" Lockwood from a different time frame:
Etts%201_zpswydx6yvm.jpg

There are some obvious differences, which you aficionados might pick up.
Most obvious are, the wood handles, the different kick, the blade length, and the size of the tang stamps.
Here are the cousins, compared a bit more closely:
Etts%202_zpswg4brmc3.jpg

The "Stag" handles on the (I will call them the "NZ" knives for brevity) NZ knife is actually Jigged, or Stagged material. Most of the handles look like bone, but some look suspiciously like antler (Stag). For many years, cutlers referred to jigged material as "Stag" whether bone or antler, and to actual Antler with its natural surface as "Genuine Stag".
The back view of the bolsters tell their own story:
Etts%204_zpsbaiepx7y.jpg

The wood Ettrick has thicker bolsters, while the NZ's are quite thin.
The wood's bolster have very asymmetrical placement.
The NZ handle material is not sanded/bevelled to meet the bolsters.

More to follow!!
 
Great pics Charlie, clearly the NZ knives are more recent than your previous Lockwood Ettrick. Is it possible to have close-up pics of the tang-stamps? :thumbup:
 
Are the bolsters on the NZ knives steel Charlie (as opposed to nickel silver) on the other?
 
Continuing, this vertical picture shows some of the obvious differences between the knives.
Etts%205_zpsz0tqtcrz.jpg

A closer view of the blades, showing the differences in blade shape, grinds and stamping.
Etts%206_zps4zlqyulv.jpg

Closer yet, the tang stamps;
Etts%207_zps7dlb2ycs.jpg


I thought the comparison pictures would help point to details that varied over the years of Sheffield knifemaking.The details would in turn, help us to date the knives. Of course we all want to know how old our knives are!!:D

If it were simple we could say for example, "pointed kicks" indicate newer knives, and "thin bolsters point" to older construction. But as Jack Black has pointed out, they do things in old-fashioned ways in Sheffield, even today as we speak!!
So, what do you say folks? How old are these NZ knives? For that matter, how old is the wood-handled knife??
 
Jack Black said:
Great pics Charlie, clearly the NZ knives are more recent than your previous Lockwood Ettrick. Is it possible to have close-up pics of the tang-stamps? :thumbup:
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A little bit missing on the tangs, but should show enough.
 
Always hard to say Charlie, but personally I'd say the wooden-handled Ettrick knife is older than the NZ knife. I wouldn't put the NZ knives any older than the 1950's. The wooden-handled knife, pre-WW2. What's your own opinion, how's the fit and finish on the knives?
 
waynorth said:
They are both steel, Jack! Strongly magnetic!
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I had thought the wooden-handled Ettrick had nickel-silver bolsters (just checked the nickel-silver bolsters on the A.Wright Ettrick in front of me, and they're magnetic), they seem to have a yellow tinge :confused:

waynorth said:
A little bit missing on the tangs, but should show enough.
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Thanks Charlie :thumbup:
 
How dum am I?! :rolleyes: I knew there was something familiar about 'Young's Sheep Dips' and Ettricks. Five years ago, I posted a pic of a knife a friend of mine had found. It was made by H M Slater (who ended up owning the Elliot and Lockwood marks). I've only seen the knife once, and it's not clear from the photo my friend took of his knife (ignore the hole, he added that), but it has 'Young's Sheep Dips' etched on the blade! :eek:

 
Just to make things confusing, here is a picture of the tang stamp on my Lockwood. To me, it looks more like Charlie's wooden-handled one. However, it has the pointed kick like the NZ.

 
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They both have odd details in their fit and finish.
The mechanical function of the NZs is quite a bit better than the Wood one.
Snappy and flush in all three positions, the NZs have half stops as well; quite superior!!
The Wood has no half stop, and though it has seen little use, snaps poorly both ways.
No extra finishing on the NZs - everything is squared off; very square handles, with no taper at the bolsters.
Both knives have "wrap around" springs, filling the opening left by the short blade.
 
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