Guardians of The Lambsfoot!

Jack Black said:
While packaging up a Lambsfoot for one of our brethren just now, I noticed that the knife in question had a particularly nice, crisp tang-stamp, with a different font to usual. The photo below shows the tang stamp on the left next to the usual Wright tang-stamp. I wanted to get Herder and his son one each when they visited, so ordered four Lambsfoot knives from Wright's, mirror-polished with 'special buffalo' covers. When Herder and I visited the factory, John Maleham said that with very short runs, they put the stamp on with a fly-press, rather than the heavy presses seen in my photo thread about the factory, so maybe this stamp was applied like that? Looks good in my opinion :)

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The Tackler I purchased recently had the usual stamp as illustrated on the right, while the Lambfoot I purchased at the same time had the more clearly stamped version, as seen on the left. The stamp on the left also appears to cause less deflection/deformation of the tang than the more usual one, as may be seen even in examining the photo. The left hand version sure does look a bit better!
 
Bartleby said:
The Tackler I purchased recently had the usual stamp as illustrated on the right, while the Lambfoot I purchased at the same time had the more clearly stamped version, as seen on the left. The stamp on the left also appears to cause less deflection/deformation of the tang than the more usual one, as may be seen even in examining the photo. The left hand version sure does look a bit better!
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That's very interesting Bart. Vendors sometimes have stock sitting around for a while, but the two knives in my photo were made within days of each other (the other knife is my recently purchased large buffalo Lambsfoot). When I first saw the new (?) stamp, I thought it might have been lazered, but it's definitely a stamp, just more finely applied. Those big old presses out in the shed are foot-operated, and have a lot of tonnage, whereas a fly-press gives a lighter stamp, and is hand-operated. I do prefer the new (?) font, as well as the way the stamp is applied. I shall have to investigate further! ;) :thumbsup:
 
Jack Black said:
That's very interesting Bart. Vendors sometimes have stock sitting around for a while, but the two knives in my photo were made within days of each other (the other knife is my recently purchased large buffalo Lambsfoot). When I first saw the new (?) stamp, I thought it might have been lazered, but it's definitely a stamp, just more finely applied. Those big old presses out in the shed are foot-operated, and have a lot of tonnage, whereas a fly-press gives a lighter stamp, and is hand-operated. I do prefer the new (?) font, as well as the way the stamp is applied. I shall have to investigate further! ;) :thumbsup:
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The fly press stamp definitely looks crisper and less "crushed in" if that's the right way to say it!. I prefer the look.
 
Bugdoc said:
That looks quite medieval Jack. I like the lighter touch too. Seems it's not yet clear if this change is permanent?
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No Tom, I suspect that they have quite a few stamps, and (if I'm correct), that one was the one in the fly-press. I was amazed at how many versions of his own mark Stan Shaw has, he must have 20 or 30 stamps, but then he does produce a large variety of patterns.

These are the doors of the out-room where the heavy presses are located, I reckon they're even older than the presses! :eek: :D :thumbsup:

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Nice one r8shell! :D:thumbsup:

That fly-press tang stamp's very nice - now you have me wondering whether Wright's might have an old, but still usable 'Real Lambfoot' or 'Real Lamb Foot' blade stamp in their collection - the classic ones with serif font.

That'd be really cool.:cool:

Etching's nice, but a well done stamp just elevates a Lambsfoot to another level IMO:

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8D42FF81-861C-4DA9-A972-232431A1D98C-5822-000005412F2FFB93.jpeg I really enjoyed all the insight and pictures on the various methods used to stamp the Lambsfoot tangs. Thank you all for sharing :thumbsup:

I have been fascinated with the 'Real Lambfoot' stamp ever since I saw the picture posted here of Mallory's knife recovered from Everest.
 
Cambertree said:
That fly-press tang stamp's very nice - now you have me wondering whether Wright's might have an old, but still usable 'Real Lambfoot' or 'Real Lamb Foot' blade stamp in their collection - the classic ones with serif font.

That'd be really cool.:cool:

Etching's nice, but a well done stamp just elevates a Lambsfoot to another level IMO:

View attachment 703999
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That was my thought as soon as I saw those fly-presses my friend. If Wright's don't have an old stamp, there are a couple of old boys in the city still making stamps up ;)

Bugdoc said:
:rolleyes: Forum knife! Forum knife! Forum knife!:D
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Stop it! :D

StoneBeard said:
View attachment 704035 I really enjoyed all the insight and pictures on the various methods used to stamp the Lambsfoot tangs. Thank you all for sharing :thumbsup:

I have been fascinated with the 'Real Lambfoot' stamp ever since I saw the picture posted here of Mallory's knife recovered from Everest.
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That is an incredible piece of Lambsfoot (and mountaineering) history, and a knife I would love to try and recreate at some point. A couple of hurdles would need to be overcome in order to do it properly, but it would be something really special :thumbsup:

Carrying my Needham Lambsfoot today :)

Needham Lambsfoot Jack 4-6.jpg
 
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I always enjoy seeing Mallory's Lambsfoot, Stonebeard, my friend - thanks for posting it. :thumbsup:

One thing I wonder, looking at the blade stamp, that I don't recall from previous discussions of it: was it established who the maker was?

I seem to recollect reading a blog or post somewhere about someone getting in touch with the person who did the photography, perhaps?

Not to veer too far off topic, but the last time I was poring over this Lambsfoot, I thought a thread for knives of famous historical figures would be interesting. I ended up doing a bit of research along that line, but there weren't a heap of ones I could find that hadn't been thoroughly discussed before.

Nights are getting colder here, and you can feel that Antarctic chill from down south sometimes in the rain. Time for some hot chestnuts from the backyard! Roll 'em in a tiny bit of oil, and roast in a good cast iron pan, with a wee bit of salt to dip 'em in: delicious!:)

I thought the Unity Co-op might enjoy the taste of home again as I used it to score some more Xs...
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Jack Black said:
That was my thought as soon as I saw those fly-presses my friend. If Wright's don't have an old stamp, there are a couple of old boys in the city still making stamps up ;)
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Nice one, my friend.:thumbsup:

A Mallory styled Lambsfoot would be a very worthy objective.

Err, but I think that's called 'pouring petrol on the fires of speculation'!:D:p

Alright, alright, let's give the lad some elbow room shall we?:D;)
 
Cambertree said:
I always enjoy seeing Mallory's Lambsfoot, Stonebeard, my friend - thanks for posting it. :thumbsup:

One thing I wonder, looking at the blade stamp, that I don't recall from previous discussions of it: was it established who the maker was?

I seem to recollect reading a blog or post somewhere about someone getting in touch with the person who did the photography, perhaps?

...

Nights are getting colder here, and you can feel that Antarctic chill from down south sometimes in the rain. Time for some chestnuts from the backyard. Roll 'em in a tiny bit of oil, and roast in a good cast iron pan, with a wee bit of salt to dip 'em in: delicious!:)

I thought the Unity Co-op might enjoy the taste of home again as I used it to score some more Xs...
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That are quite a few pics of George Mallory's knife online, but Charlie got in touch with the photographer (see http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the-silence-of-the-lambsfoot.1069771/page-10#post-15934968). The knife itself was made by W.E. Oates of Sheffield.

Here's a couple of pics from my PB account (I think I have 8 pics of the knife in total):

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Another great pic Chin, I love chestnuts, and it's always cool to see your Unity Lambsfoot in use :thumbsup:

Cambertree said:
Err, but I think that's called 'pouring petrol on the fires of speculation'!:D:p

Alright, alright, let's give the lad some elbow room shall we?:D;)
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Thanks pal! :D :thumbsup:
 
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