Guardians of The Lambsfoot!

[Jack Black]

Wishing all the Guardians a healthy and immunity-filled 2021!

...

Thanks for the interesting observations about the book, Jack.
You have a worrisome inventory of symptoms, Jack. Keep a close eye on yourself to make sure nothing suddenly gets out of hand!
Thanks for the compliment on my photos.

...

Congrats on the modified lambs foots, Jack!
And plaudits to Reaper AL for his thoughtful generosity!

...

Great to read that you're experiencing some relief, Jack! I hope your back feels better each day as 2021 proceeds, and that your "cold symptoms" clear up ASAP!

...

Cracker Jack wishes us all a peaceful and healthy 2021, too:
View attachment 1483534

- GT

The same to you my friend, and sincere thanks for your well wishes, your Cracker Jack is a great Lambsfoot to start the year with

Happy New Year Guardians !

(recycled pic ... but I can only pull this one out once a year lol)

And it's a great pic Dan! Happy New Year amigo

As is my tradition, I spent a good part of New Year's Day pruning...plum, peach, apricot, fig, mulberry, and grapes. My ebony Wright joined the tool set for the day.

Good to see you here good sir, and I hope you have a healthy and happy 2021 Nice set of tools there

Hope everyone is well after New Years Eve celebrations, and have a relaxing day today. Seeing as there has been a tool post to start the New Year, thought i would join in, there is a Sheffield connection. Found these being thrown out completely covered in rust and seized up. Bit of loving and they have been given a new lease of life.

I have a pair very much like that Leon, but without the paint. Obviously I see a lot of old pliers because of my mate's tool stall, and I regularly see them with WW2 stamps. Happy New Year mate

Happy Friday/New Year's Day Guardians!!

That's a really great pic Taylor, your Waynorth Lambsfoot looks better and better

All the Christmas stuff is back under the stairs except for this sleigh, and whatever else I missed.

That sleigh is pretty old isn't it Jer? I sometimes put the decorations away early myself, usually by the time we get to January, I am glad to get back to 'normal'. Unfortunately, this year 'normal' is still a way off

Stop sugar-coating it, Jack!

Lmao, I almost quoted that same part of Jack's post, it made me laugh when I read it!

LOL! And then there's the health and safety....

Not that Wright's have any shortcomings in that department, but in the past, cutlery hulls (which is what they were traditionally called in Sheffield) had a terrible reputation. Some of the worst, and I have seen plenty of them first-hand, were the workshops of the small independent cutlers, the 'Little Mesters'. Because they are self-employed, a lot of the safety laws don't apply to them, and many had scant consideration for their own health, working in filthy conditions, with dangerous machinery, and a lack of ventilation or dust extraction. Most of the factories weren't much better, it has to be said, even in recent times, and historically a Sheffield cutler who lived to his mid 30's was an old man.

So, ya don't know ya born sonny!

We always took the decorations down on New Year's Day.
Usually I'm ready to be done with them by NYD. Not so much on this grizzly, drizzly, ice-threatening day.

But Spring is right around the corner!

No fried squirrel for you my friend! A nice brace of Lambsfoot knives there

Good morning Guardians, hope everyone has swept away the New Year cobwebs, and that 2021 is off to a reasonable start for you, even with the challenging times ahead. Have a good day folks This pic is from last night, rather than from this morning!

 

[Jack Black]

Thought I'd slip this Sheffield Lambsfoot, re-built and re-covered by @jdistin, and gifted to me by Reaper AL , in my pocket today

 

[Reaper AL]

Thought I'd slip this Sheffield Lambsfoot, re-built and re-covered by @jdistin, and gifted to me by Reaper AL , in my pocket today

Great looking cinnamon giraffe bone imho

 

[donn]

Well, that's how the factory system works David, and you can see the Fordist logic behind it. It means that one guy gets really good at making bolsters or shields, or polishing blades, it increases production, and you don't have to pay him much, or worry about him competing with you, or even working for your competition, except doing precisely the same job. Fortunately, the factory system never truly took hold in Sheffield, like it did elsewhere, and most cutlers, while badly paid, were effectively self-employed. This is one of the reasons Sheffield cutlers were so notoriously militant, bad time keepers, and heavy drinkers, because they didn't have 'factory discipline', but were task-orientated, boozing half the week, then working all the hours of the day, in their back-yard workshops, to get their jobs (knives or parts of knives) finished at the end of the working week.

You can count Wright's entire workforce on one hand, and a couple of those couldn't make a decent knife, but they're all 'on wages'. None of their standard knives are made by just one cutler. They've struggled to find employees in the past (both cutlers and apprentices), because most ordinary folk would rather work just about anywhere, (even a call-centre), than in some old, poorly-lit, damp, cold, and draughty building, with no canteen facilities, doing the same dirty work, making the same product, which is rushed-out and mediocre, for little money, in a dying, unprestigious industry

Your not selling it Jack.
I think that's the same of many industries now; they have trouble recruiting as people want the easy life, when in fact some of these 'easy' jobs are the most mind-numbing soul destroying jobs you can do. I believe the armed forces have the same problem. I actually wouldn't mind working at Wright's but that's 'cos I've have some real crap jobs that make that sound quite a decent place to work. I guess it's different for youngsters who are brainwashed into taking the university/college route.

They were OK, but I think they try to be clever too much with their brews, brewing beers to impress other 'craft-brewers' rather than seasoned beer drinkers.

Edit - A bit of 'photo-journalism'

Yeah I know when brewers are trying to be clever; it's when I can't actually make out what the beer is on the label.

Seems lie quite a peaceful resting place, David; thanks for sharing it with us.
Thanks also for your positive response to the Cracker Jack pic.


Outstanding photos from your hike, David, and may 2021 be filled with positive experiences for you!

Cracker Jack wishes us all a peaceful and healthy 2021, too:
View attachment 1483534

- GT

Thanks GT, and the same to yourself, and indeed everyone else.
Hope we'll see many more fine sunny pics of your flock this year.

Happy New Year Guardians !

(recycled pic ... but I can only pull this one out once a year lol)

It's time we made that bird an honorary Guardian.

Hope everyone is well after New Years Eve celebrations, and have a relaxing day today. Seeing as there has been a tool post to start the New Year, thought i would join in, there is a Sheffield connection. Found these being thrown out completely covered in rust and seized up. Bit of loving and they have been given a new lease of life.

Snap.

We always took the decorations down on New Year's Day.
Usually I'm ready to be done with them by NYD. Not so much on this grizzly, drizzly, ice-threatening day.

I sometimes put the decorations away myself, usually by the time we get to January, I am glad to get back to 'normal'. Unfortunately, this year 'normal' is still a way off

Doesn't tradition say that's it's bad luck to take your decorations down early, just as it's bad luck to leave them up after Twelfth Night.

A cold crisp clear day here.

 

[Jack Black]

Great looking cinnamon giraffe bone imho

Thanks Al, I think @jsdistin did a fantastic job, they are great knives

Your not selling it Jack.
I think that's the same of many industries now; they have trouble recruiting as people want the easy life, when in fact some of these 'easy' jobs are the most mind-numbing soul destroying jobs you can do. I believe the armed forces have the same problem. I actually wouldn't mind working at Wright's but that's 'cos I've have some real crap jobs that make that sound quite a decent place to work. I guess it's different for youngsters who are brainwashed into taking the university/college route.

Yes indeed David, that's very true. I certainly did worse jobs when I was a youngster, and I'd much rather work in a cutlery workshop, or indeed just about anywhere, than in a call-centre. When I left school in 1977, there were still plenty of cutlery factories, but there were plenty of alternative jobs too, and the lads I knew who went into the factories only did so because they were dense or desperate, or perhaps had a family connection, and often spent their time sweeping up or fetching sandwiches rather than learning a proper trade. I can't recollect a single one who saw their apprenticeship out, either because they packed it in, or the firm closed down. Wright's took on a few apprentices from the local trade colleges, but none of them lasted long. I think that to do well in that environment, you have to be enthusiastic about making knives, and good at it, or else rather dull, and happy just doing any job

Yeah I know when brewers are trying to be clever; it's when I can't actually make out what the beer is on the label.

Northern Monk have done a virtually all-black can

Thanks for the added Lambsfoot content mate

Doesn't tradition say that's it's bad luck to take your decorations down early, just as it's bad luck to leave them up after Twelfth Night.

It does. And putting shoes on the table, standing on a crack in the pavement, putting an umbrella up indoors, walking under a ladder, and a lot of stuff to do with cats!

A cold crisp clear day here.

Looks nice there my friend It's snowed here for most of the morning, but it hasn't settled much

 

[screened porch]

January first isn't early for me.
I've heard two reasons for the ladder thing. One is, somebody up there might drop something on you. The other is you used to have to walk under the ladder to get to where they put on the noose and hauled you up Tyburn tree.

Knocking on wood to disarm these silly superstitions.

 

[Pt-Luso]

 

[Onebigbill]

The same to you my friend, and sincere thanks for your well wishes, your Cracker Jack is a great Lambsfoot to start the year with



And it's a great pic Dan! Happy New Year amigo



Good to see you here good sir, and I hope you have a healthy and happy 2021 Nice set of tools there



I have a pair very much like that Leon, but without the paint. Obviously I see a lot of old pliers because of my mate's tool stall, and I regularly see them with WW2 stamps. Happy New Year mate



That's a really great pic Taylor, your Waynorth Lambsfoot looks better and better



THat sleigh is pretty old isn't it Jer? I sometimes put the decorations away myself, usually by the time we get to January, I am glad to get back to 'normal'. Unfortunately, this year 'normal' is still a way off





LOL! And then there's the health and safety....

Not that Wright's have any shortcomings in that department, but in the past, cutlery hulls (which is what they were traditionally called in Sheffield) had a terrible reputation. Some of the worst, and I have seen plenty of them first-hand, were the workshops of the small independent cutlers, the 'Little Mesters'. Because they are self-employed, a lot of the safety laws don't apply to them, and many had scant consideration for their own health, working in filthy conditions, with dangerous machinery, and a lack of ventilation or dust extraction. Most of the factories weren't much better, it has to be said, even in recent times, and historically a Sheffield cutler who lived to his mid 30's was an old man.

So, ya don't know ya born sonny!



No fried squirrel for you my friend! A nice brace of Lambsfoot knives there

Good morning Guardians, hope everyone has swept away the New Year cobwebs, and that 2021 is off to a reasonable start for you, even with the challenging times ahead. Have a good day folks This pic is from last night, rather than from this morning!

Thought I'd slip this Sheffield Lambsfoot, re-built and re-covered by @jdistin, and gifted to me by Reaper AL , in my pocket today

Nice photos of very nice knives Jack. Glad 2020 is being us but a little nervous of what's ahead. Still have the Bagpipe Ebony in my pocket. Glad your back is feeling better.

Good morning Guardians and all. Hope for the very best in 2021 for you all. Same photo because it is very overcast to day for a new one.

 

[r8shell]

Your not selling it Jack.
I think that's the same of many industries now; they have trouble recruiting as people want the easy life, when in fact some of these 'easy' jobs are the most mind-numbing soul destroying jobs you can do. I believe the armed forces have the same problem. I actually wouldn't mind working at Wright's but that's 'cos I've have some real crap jobs that make that sound quite a decent place to work. I guess it's different for youngsters who are brainwashed into taking the university/college route.

Growing up, everyone said "Get an education. You don't want to work in a factory!" and later they said, "Learn computer programing. That's where the good jobs are."
I stopped by a friend's programming job, and saw a big room full of cubicles, everyone typing away at their keyboards. It just looked like a factory, but with nice air conditioning and ergonomic chairs.

Are we doing Lambsfoots and tools today?

 

[Dschal]

 

[Modoc ED]

 

[Jack Black]

January first isn't early for me.
I've heard two reasons for the ladder thing. One is, somebody up there might drop something on you. The other is you used to have to walk under the ladder to get to where they put on the noose and hauled you up Tyburn tree.

Knocking on wood to disarm these silly superstitions.

I suspect a lot of common superstitions are very old indeed

Always carry a Lambsfoot when the day ends with a 'Y'

Nice photos of very nice knives Jack. Glad 2020 is being us but a little nervous of what's ahead. Still have the Bagpipe Ebony in my pocket. Glad your back is feeling better.

Good morning Guardians and all. Hope for the very best in 2021 for you all. Same photo because it is very overcast to day for a new one.
View attachment 1483946

Thanks Bill, you seem quite smitten with your piper

Growing up, everyone said "Get an education. You don't want to work in a factory!" and later they said, "Learn computer programing. That's where the good jobs are."
I stopped by a friend's programming job, and saw a big room full of cubicles, everyone typing away at their keyboards. It just looked like a factory, but with nice air conditioning and ergonomic chairs.

Are we doing Lambsfoots and tools today?

Folks said exactly the same here Rachel! I grew up hearing the mantra, 'You don't want to end up in a factory' (like almost every adult male I knew, and many of the women too). I didn't, I ended up in a large garage for the local authority, which was certainly dirtier and more dangerous than the factories my dad worked in

A few months back, I was looking for some cutlery sets, and came across one of those draughtsman's sets (if that's what they're called). Can't seem to lay my hands on it now

I like that stag Dave

 

[Fodderwing]

Happy New Year Guardians!

 

[cudgee]

Growing up, everyone said "Get an education. You don't want to work in a factory!" and later they said, "Learn computer programing. That's where the good jobs are."
I stopped by a friend's programming job, and saw a big room full of cubicles, everyone typing away at their keyboards. It just looked like a factory, but with nice air conditioning and ergonomic chairs.

Are we doing Lambsfoots and tools today?

. Nice compass set. You cannot get them like that anymore, unless you are prepared to pay plenty from a specialist draughtsman supplier.

 

[r8shell]

A few months back, I was looking for some cutlery sets, and came across one of those draughtsman's sets (if that's what they're called). Can't seem to lay my hands on it now

It may be American spelling, but I see them called draftsman sets, or drafting tools.

. Nice compass set. You cannot get them like that anymore, unless you are prepared to pay plenty from a specialist draughtsman supplier.

Thanks. I actually use some of the tools for planning designs and crafts like scrimshaw. It's frustrating when a tool that I want to use is now an antique collectible but I have found I can get one of these sets for not too much money if it's missing a tool or two. Less valuable to the collectors that way.

 

[donn]

Yes indeed David, that's very true. I certainly did worse jobs when I was a youngster, and I'd much rather work in a cutlery workshop, or indeed just about anywhere, than in a call-centre. When I left school in 1977, there were still plenty of cutlery factories, but there were plenty of alternative jobs too, and the lads I knew who went into the factories only did so because they were dense or desperate, or perhaps had a family connection, and often their time sweeping up or fetching sandwiches rather than learning a proper trade. I can't recollect a single one who saw their apprenticeship out, either because they packed it in, or the firm closed down. Wright's took on a few apprentices from the local trade colleges, but none of them lasted long. I think that to do well in that environment, you have to be enthusiastic about making knives, and good at it, or else rather dull and happy just doing any job

The best job I ever had was working on the London's fresh produce markets. That was the real world. If I could do it all over I'd do a stonemason's apprenticeship at York Minster's Stoneyard. And I wouldn't care how many pots of tea I had to brew

https://yorkminster.org/latest/go-behind-the-scenes-at-york-minsters-stoneyard-open-day/

Northern Monk have done a virtually all-black can

Probably an IPA

It does. And putting shoes on the table, standing on a crack in the pavement, putting an umbrella up indoors, walking under a ladder, and a lot of stuff to do with cats!

We've seen pictures of your kitchen table Jack. There's no room for shoes.
Or cats.

Looks nice there my friend It's snowed here for most of the morning, but it hasn't settled much

It clouded over and snowed again here, big fat flakes. Clear again now but fingers crossed for more overnight.

January first isn't early for me.
I've heard two reasons for the ladder thing. One is, somebody up there might drop something on you. The other is you used to have to walk under the ladder to get to where they put on the noose and hauled you up Tyburn tree.

Knocking on wood to disarm these silly superstitions.

I know some folk tying nooses at the mo'. When I asked one of them how many he'd tied, he just smirked and said "not enough".

Growing up, everyone said "Get an education. You don't want to work in a factory!" and later they said, "Learn computer programing. That's where the good jobs are."
I stopped by a friend's programming job, and saw a big room full of cubicles, everyone typing away at their keyboards. It just looked like a factory, but with nice air conditioning and ergonomic chairs.

Are we doing Lambsfoots and tools today?

We had all that brainwashing at school, "go to college, go to college". I eventually ending up going to university twice as a mature student and met some of the stupidest people on the planet. Now the richest guys in the room working the fewest hours are the folks who learnt a trade like builders and plumbers.
That's a gorgeous draftsman's set, no doubt used by folk who knew their onions; the sort of people who put man on the moon using that technology. I hope that's a family heirloom.

This beer was part of a generous gift from Mr Black in the summer which I saved for Christmas. Very subtle but nice all the same. Pretty much done the same all afternoon while watching the extended Good, Bad and Ugly.

 

[Pt-Luso]

 

[r8shell]

That's a gorgeous draftsman's set, no doubt used by folk who knew their onions; the sort of people who put man on the moon using that technology. I hope that's a family heirloom.

Thanks. No, it's not a family heirloom (at least not from my family) I bought a few sets, because I wanted to use a few of the tools. Now I can't resist keeping an eye out for them whenever I'm in an antique shop or browsing ebay. I'm afraid I may have become a collector.
Jack sent me a small set he found, but I can't seem to find the picture of it. Oh well, I'll have to pull it out and pose it with a lambsfoot to stay on topic.

 

[Jack Black]

Happy New Year Guardians!View attachment 1484123

Hey Dwight, I was hoping you'd call in to say Happy New Year Hope you're doing OK my friend, great pic

. Nice compass set. You cannot get them like that anymore, unless you are prepared to pay plenty from a specialist draughtsman supplier.

I imagine they are very expensive new, but I don't think I've ever paid more than £20 for a vintage one

It may be American spelling, but I see them called draftsman sets, or drafting tools.

Thanks. I actually use some of the tools for planning designs and crafts like scrimshaw. It's frustrating when a tool that I want to use is now an antique collectible but I have found I can get one of these sets for not too much money if it's missing a tool or two. Less valuable to the collectors that way.

I had to check Rachel, but it seems it's a spelling difference. At least we all spell 'tomato' the same way!

The best job I ever had was working on the London's fresh produce markets. That was the real world. If I could do it all over I'd do a stonemason's apprenticeship at York Minster's Stoneyard. And I wouldn't care how many pots of tea I had to brew

https://yorkminster.org/latest/go-behind-the-scenes-at-york-minsters-stoneyard-open-day/

I really don't know what I'd do, I started out as an apprentice mechanic, but I had a very varied career before I started writing professionally when I was 30. I enjoyed working in a brewery, and being a wine lecturer was fun and very well paid, but I enjoyed being an outdoor writer, writing about rock-climbing, hiking, and the outdoor pursuits I love/d. If you can make a living from something you enjoy, I think you're pretty lucky. Since I have never had much interest in cars (motorbikes, yes), I only ended up as an apprentice mechanic because of my bullying father, who had no knowledge of my interests. For some reason, he wanted me to be an electrician, which was the job I applied for with Sheffield Works Department, but all the apprenticeships were already spoken for that year, and they offered me the mechanics job instead. I did carpentry right through school, and always enjoyed working with wood, but I wasn't allowed to be a joiner. I also had a job offer from the BBC, and having got the highest score in the printing union exams that year, was offered one of two printing apprenticeships. I wasn't allowed to take either, so I did the mechanics job until I was old enough to get a passport (17), and then left home

Probably an IPA

You know it!

We've seen pictures of your kitchen table Jack. There's no room for shoes.
Or cats.

We had all that brainwashing at school, "go to college, go to college".

College? My school didn't even want me to go to school!

This beer was part of a generous gift from Mr Black in the summer which I saved for Christmas. Very subtle but nice all the same. Pretty much done the same all afternoon while watching the extended Good, Bad and Ugly.

I'm glad you enjoyed it pal I think I have another case of those somewhere (honestly, I have so much beer in, I keep losing stuff!)

Great film! I was just watching the very inferior re-make of The Day The Earth Stood Still, but I had to turn it off, as I just couldn't stand to watch Jaden Smith. I love kids, but what an irritating little %$%£!

Got this one for Christmas, not sure I've ever tried it before

 

[Onebigbill]

Jack, let us all know whatnot think of the single malt.