Guardians of The Lambsfoot!

Blake the Blade said:
Interesting info Jack, thanks. So nice to have something of age and which is hand crafted. Sad about the demise of the craft though.
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Thanks Mark :) Yes indeed, there are many factors which led to the decline of the traditional Sheffield cutlery skills, I'm not sure the market GEC appeals to even existed then, certainly not in Britain. Had quality pocket knives been more highly-prized, things might have been different. Then as now, the most important factor for the majority of buyers was price. Wright's sell many more of their inexpensive Rosewood models with the unpolished blade, for every one of the fancier Lambsfoot knives. In the 60's and 70's folk even seemed to value 'modern materials', such as plastics, more than traditional materials like bone and horn, and Sheffield's attempts to copy more modern knives, like the SAK (which are as ubiquitous in Sheffield as anywhere) were decidedly poor.

JTB_5 said:
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It came! Thanks again @traumkommode for such beautiful work! It is perfect and has outstanding action.
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Glad you got it Joshua! :) :thumbsup:

traumkommode said:
JTB_5 JTB_5 Glad it arrived, bud. I hope it slices and dices too the cows come home.
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Nice work :) :thumbsup:

I'm carrying my 2017 Guardians Lambsfoot today :thumbsup:

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Corrugated beauty this morning.
 
Jack Black said:
Cicero? Really great job on that Lambsfoot blade :thumbsup:
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Yes, Cicero is correct! Yes, Andrew nailed it on this modification. The action on this knife is the best I've experienced in any of the GECs I've owned or that have passed through my hands.
 
JTB_5 said:
Yes, Cicero is correct! Yes, Andrew nailed it on this modification. The action on this knife is the best I've experienced in any of the GECs I've owned or that have passed through my hands.
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Wow! I'm not as thick as I thought! :D Well done to Andrew :) :thumbsup:
 
Jack Black said:
I'd say by hand, they were still hand-cutting files in Sheffield well into the 20th century. Labour was cheap, and most of the Sheffield cutlery gaffers never liked investing in machinery.



Yes David, I also think that during the post-war period, when the Sheffield firms were struggling to survive, fashions in pocket cutlery were changing, I don't even recall seeing anyone with a jigged bone pocket knife as a kid. With the losses during WW2, there were plenty of jobs in the 1960's, and how many kids, leaving school wanted to work as a bone-jigger? Nobody even wanted to go into the cutlery trade, the way things were in Sheffield, it was badly paid, dirty, dangerous, not at all prestigious, and you'd just be waiting to get thrown out of a job due to the firm closing down. A former brother-in-law of mine was regarded as a bit of a 'thickie', leaving school with no qualifications. He was one of the last apprentices taken on at Joseph Rodgers, ended up at Richards when what was left of Rodgers moved there, and then on the dole when they closed down. I'm not sure he even finished his apprenticeship, from what he told me, it sounded like the apprentices spent more time sweeping floors than they did learning to make pocket knives :(
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Absolutely Jack thanks for posting that. My statement was very simplistic and there must be multiple reasons why the industry declined. You mention a change in pocket cutlery fashion which was probably just part of the massive social change in post-war Britain as a whole. I always look at the post-war housing boom; urban housing for an urban population. The post-war boom in the urbanite civil service. People wanted the middle-class life-style with the middle class jobs. Who needs a jigged bone pocket knife in the new modern world?
Combine that with an attitude in industry that was probably tired and worn out by war. One of my dad's mates had a theory about that. Everyone who had that "snap" and "get up and go" attitude in Britain had either died in the war; as they were the sort to lead from the front. Or had emigrated; to the US, Australia or places like Rhodesia. They helped make those countries great. I know my mum's cousins did; they emigrated to the U.S. The ones who were left just weren't enough to keep Britain "great".
I don't think though that the treatment of your ex-brother-in-law was particular to the cutlery trade. I knew lads in the the 1990's on the YTS (Youth Training Schemes) apprenticeships who were just treated as tea-makers. :rolleyes: And the same attitude still exists. I'm a staff nurse and the way our trainee (student) nurses are treated is disgraceful :rolleyes:

Half/Stop said:
Stag is good any day of the week, not just Saturday! Y’all have a great Friday! :D
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Thats stunning. Is that an A.Wright? If so it's got much better stag on than my A.Wright Ettrick :thumbsup:

Todays.
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Jack Black said:
Yes indeed, Tuesday now! o_O But they reckon they're stellar, just need to put the etch on the horn models :thumbsup:

That sure is a looker Ron :) :thumbsup:
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Stellar is good! :thumbsup::cool: Thanks Jack! I really like this small Sambar Lambsfoot. Ever time I carry it I find myself admiring the Stag! It is one of the best I have from anywhere! :D

Old Engineer said:
We certainly agree on that !!!

Harry
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I know that’s right! :D

donn said:
Thats stunning. Is that an A.Wright? If so it's got much better stag on than my A.Wright Ettrick :thumbsup:
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Yes sir, it is an A. Wright. Thank you for the compliment! I am extremely proud to own it! I have another that is running an extremely close second to this one! :D
 
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