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- Dec 2, 2005
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Archie: firstly, welcome! And I'm glad that you liked the Lambsfoot pattern enough to give it another go, after your experience with your first knife.
I have five A. Wright knives: three of them are Lambsfoot patterns, all of them are straight edged blade designs.
I'm going to be absolutely honest with you. None of them are perfectly straight in the blade, however, having said that, no knife blades are exactly laser straight. It's in the nature of a geometrically varied shape, to dimensionally alter when it goes through an extremely stressful thermal process like heating to induce austenitic transformation, and then rapid quenching to transform that austenitic structure to martensite.
Although I'm not a metallurgist (so take my words with a large grain of salt), the transformation from austenite to martensite involves crystalline 'grain' growth of up to 14%. Variations in the blade steel cross section, like plunge lines, nail nicks, swedges, and the tapering thickness from the spine to the edge, can all induce some level of ripple, or 'curvature' along the blade flats, as you say. Also. as Charlie noted, any retained austenite in the steel, post heat treat, can transform to martensite later, either from working, or just from the passing of time. Considering the dimensional difference between cubic austenite, compared to tetrahedral martensite, this is what creates the bending over time which can happen, which the Case representatives referred to. This is also why (in general), heat treating should aim at minimal retained austenite.
So, essentially I think, what we are looking for, is a blade that is not so rippled that it drags on one side in cutting, due to longitudinal bending, and, as you observed, can lay flat on a bench stone for sharpening.
Of my three A. Wright Lambsfoot knives, I have actually sharpened them in three different ways, as I also observed the same issue you did. I should also say here, that I was taught how to assess blade straightness by my friend, ABS Mastersmith, Murray Carter, and it's a double edged sword, that I certainly haven't employed to assess all of my knives. Murray mentioned that it's impolite to give a rigorous straightness inspection to custom knives in front of the maker, and there are many, many knives which are far more expensive than these A. Wright working tools, which are very rippled on close scrutiny. This includes master forged katanas, and the highest end kitchen knives. The two best of my A. Wright Lambsfoot knives are, for my purposes, well within the margin of acceptability.
One of these - my Ebony Lambsfoot, I sharpen with ceramic rods, which 'follow' the slight deviation along the edge apex. I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker, but a Lansky crock set, or a ceramic/diamond or traditional metal steel will also be effective. My stag handled Lambsfoot (a generous gift from a very generous Porch member) has been sharpened in a different way. I laid it with the spine very close to touching a coarse 400 grit Chosera waterstone, and stripped off a lot of material just behind the edge, to thin it out behind the edge apex, then applied an apex 'bevel' with the Spyderco Sharpmaker. The 'curvature' is visible in the varying bevel height, but it is extremely sharp, and also very easy to resharpen, and that is what is important to me.
My golden ox-horn handled Lambsfoot was more problematic, and I believe this is probably the most similar to the issues you described with your first Lambsfoot.
I have described my treatment of this knife before in this thread, and in the end, I would recommend the following options.
-Return it and contact me by PM for a more reliable dealer, who will examine, and possibly hand select your knife before shipping.
-Use the technique I did on my golden ox-horn Lambsfoot of grinding the flats heavily, to recentre them and thin them out as much as possible, before applying the edge apex.
-Use a rod based sharpening system with a small contact area, that 'follows' the slight blade ripple.
I should add that it is my belief that A. Wright & Son have increased their QC over the last few years, as their workers have gained in experience, and as they have become more aware of what collectors deem important (which is not at all the same as what makes a good usin' knife IMHO.) A. Wright & Son are one of the only makers I am aware of in Sheffield who have put on apprentice cutlers in recent years (who, I understand have now completed their apprenticeships). This is a practise that, personally, I am willing to support with my business, and that I applaud, and am also willing to give a little leeway for.
It is also worth stating that I understand that some of the very fine work on this recent superb run of Guardians 2017 Lambsfoot knives was performed by some of those newest Sheffield working cutlers, who were recently apprentices in training at A. Wright.
I'm very sorry Chin, I completely missed your excellent response to Archie's post until now! I think I had already started writing my post. Yet another great post my friend
Just in terms of your last paragraph, yes indeed, when I saw how well the bolsters had been ground on the Guardians Lambsfoot, I assumed they had been done by one of the older fellers, who had probably done this style of bolster before. I asked John Maleham about it, and he told me that the bolsters had in fact been ground by one of the younger cutlers. He clearly has a lot of skill