Guardians of The Lambsfoot!

During my recent searches for a Lamb foot of my own, I have seen from some British re-sellers a few German post war examples of the Lamb foot pattern for sale on-line, as well as some CK marked Italian versions, but I disregarded them as knock-offs, rather than proper Lambs foot knives. To me they were probably seen in their day much like the more recent Chinese made Outdoor Edge "Lamb foot" pattern (which seems to have been discontinued in the UK, but is being flogged as the Tekut "Biltong" in South Africa, although with different scales), as serviceable copies. Many were no doubt in use, but were probably not thought of as worthy of saving as Dad's or Grand dad's knife.
 
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That's interesting about the re-branding of the Outdoor Edge knives Bart. The most recent CK knives I've seen are like this, pretty awful in my opinion :barf: They are very cheap, and sold in garden centres and a few hardware stores here.

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Those are available from a UK based hardware store here as well. Made in Italy, perhaps by the same company that did the older bolstered CK "Real Lamb Foot" marked version sold used on line (caveat emptor!). The handle becomes brittle with age (avoid oil!), as I witnessed in my neighbor's garden back when I lived in the UK.

I stumbled upon the images of the South African Tekut branded knife quite by accident. I was reading some older posts and found references to the "biltong knife," which I had not heard of (perhaps since we have "Jerky" here rather than "Biltong"), and so had to look it up (especially since a friend returned from a mission trip over there recently, sparking an interest).
 
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I had never heard of a Biltong Knife either, until r8shell kindly gifted me a small Okapi Sheepsfoot which bears that name. I think it's probably just a South African designation :thumbsup:
 
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Jack Black said:
I had never heard of a Biltong Knife either, until r8shell kindly gifted me a small Okapi Sheepsfoot which bears that name. I think it's probably just a South African designation :thumbup:
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What a nice gift! You ought to sharpen it up and give it a carry. I would be interested in your take in it, as you seem to be quite objective. While they are made to cut chew-able bits of biltong (literallyt translated as "rump" and "tongue" from the cuts of meat), it appears that they are used as general utility work knives, much like their more robust English Lambsfoot cousin! Though certainly these are not a true Lambsfoot in any sense.

BTW, Jack, this post has been most informative (not to mention generally quite interesting), thanks much for getting it going and keeping it in play. Always great stuff!

I really find the sway back haft of the Lambsfoot pattern very comfortable as a general user. I am also very impressed with the quality of the knives being turned out by Wrights at this time. I am going to give Taylor's a try as well, once they settle in at the new location, based on the super nice ram's horn version that Old Engineer recently posted.
 
Bartleby said:
What a nice gift! You ought to sharpen it up and give it a carry. I would be interested in your take in it, as you seem to be quite objective. While they are made to cut chew-able bits of biltong (literallyt translated as "rump" and "tongue" from the cuts of meat), it appears that they are used as general utility work knives, much like their more robust English Lambsfoot cousin! Though certainly these are not a true Lambsfoot in any sense.

BTW, Jack, this post has been most informative (not to mention generally quite interesting), thanks much for getting it going and keeping it in play. Always great stuff!

I really find the sway back haft of the Lambsfoot pattern very comfortable as a general user. I am also very impressed with the quality of the knives being turned out by Wrights at this time. I am going to give Taylor's a try as well, once they settle in at the new location, based on the super nice ram's horn version that Old Engineer recently posted.
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I've carried it a few times, it's a useful knife :) Thanks, I really appreciate all the great contributions here. I took a few pics at Wright's the other day, I'll post them asap. Look forward to seeing what you get from TEW :thumbsup:
 
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Jack Black said:
I've carried it a few times, it's a useful knife :) Thanks, I really appreciate all the great contributions here. I took a few pics at Wright's the other day, I'll post them asap. Look forward to seeing what you get from TEW :thumbup:
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You the man, Jack! Look forward to seeing 'em!
 
The conversation in this thread is most thoughtful and stimulating!
That "kitchen Lambfoot" Kudamono is most intriguing Bugdoc!
The theme of the Oregon Knife Show this year is Paring Knives - yes you heard right! As an extra to the usual array of traditional knives, everyone is invited to display/study/buy, sell and trade those humble but necessary knives, which of course are also traditional!! I will be searching out a Kudamono for sure, along with other Lambfoot blades in folding config!
 
Glad your hike went well, Jack. :thumbup:

That's great you had a chance to stop by Wrights again. :)

Bugdoc said:
Cambertree It is called a Kudamono. Henkels describes it this way: "ZWILLING Pro 3" Kudamono Paring Knife - Small Asian vegetable knife with a strong blade, straight cutting edge and firm tip, mostly hollow ground. Cleans, peels and cuts small fruit and vegetables. Also suitable for cutting out spots and blemishes."

From what I can tell this is not a traditional Japanese pattern, but does appear in several European cutlery catalogs. So, whomever designed it may very well have been influenced by the humble Lambsfoot. Or not, and we have a case of convergent evolution.:confused:

Jack, know that my motives were pure in posting this ersatz Lambsfoot. I will continue the quest!:D
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Thanks Bugdoc, I'll be looking out for a Kudamono to try out, I think.

If I can stretch the bounds of this thread briefly, for the sake of this discussion, I've been using a larger kitchen knife with a similar Lambsfoot-like profile for nearly a year. Not a true Lambsfoot of course, but there's that blade shape again - this time in this custom rendition of the traditional Japanese Honesuki pattern.
(Pictured at bottom in this old photo.)

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Bugdoc said:
Jack, know that my motives were pure in posting this ersatz Lambsfoot. I will continue the quest!:D
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May the road to Guardianship be swift and easy for you my friend ;) :thumbsup:

waynorth said:
The conversation in this thread is most thoughtful and stimulating!
That "kitchen Lambfoot" Kudamono is most intriguing Bugdoc!
The theme of the Oregon Knife Show this year is Paring Knives - yes you heard right! As an extra to the usual array of traditional knives, everyone is invited to display/study/buy, sell and trade those humble but necessary knives, which of course are also traditional!! I will be searching out a Kudamono for sure, along with other Lambfoot blades in folding config!
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Happy hunting Charlie :thumbsup:

Cambertree said:
Glad your hike went well, Jack. :thumbup:

That's great you had a chance to stop by Wrights again. :)
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Thanks pal, interesting knives :thumbup: I went to Wright's primarily on a mission for Charlie (I'll be in touch soon Mr C), but I do have a few pics :thumbsup:
 
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These are my notes on my other Wright Lambsfoot.

The Black Lambsfoot

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When I'd decided to try this pattern for myself, and was considering which type of handle material and Lambsfoot type to get, the classic Ebony, single-blade swayback was my first choice. The choice of timber seemed to fit what I was after: a good, solid version of a basic English workingman's pocket knife of the latter half of the 19th century. As stainless was out then as a blade steel, an A. Wright was the main option.

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And this knife certainly delivered. As soon as I had the four A. Wrights out and had examined them, there were things that I liked about each one - but it was evident from the start, that the Ebony Lambsfoot was the most comfortable, and had the best snap and pull for everyday use. It was also able to consistently be pinched open.

After a bit of refinishing and sharpening as detailed in the Tackler thread, this knife has served very well in an EDC capacity. If you live in an area where this kind of pocket knife is not what you want to use in all social situations, then it would also pair up well with a smaller knife, with a bellied blade.

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The 'clipped off' tip profile seems to feel a bit handier, and safer in use than long, needle pointed Wharncliffe-style straight edges. Yet the Lambsfoot design still affords a very precise and fine point, with better 'visual indexing' than a sheepsfoot blade.

The way the swayback curve of the handle rests in the palm of your hand, is not only very comfortable, but adds to the sense of finely directed, but firm, blade and tip control.

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One of the ways in which my two Wright Lambsfoots varied in handle shape, was the back end of the underside of the handle, where your pinky normally rests. The Ebony Lambsfoot was pretty much a straight line from the bolsters, but the Ox-horn Lambsfoot featured a subtle curve at the back, which paralleled the swayback curve on the top of the handle. I'll have to look out for which Lambsfoots have the latter handle shape now, but it seems to be a better, more comfortable design.

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Not that the Ebony Lambsfoot isn't comfortable - quite the contrary. It's civilised pull and snap, and 'pinchability', and razor-keen straight edge, has meant that this has been the number one Wright of my recently acquired quartet, in terms of pocket time.

This is a fine example, a lineal descendent of that late nineteenth century English working knife that I was hoping for - and with a little reworking and refinishing, it now shows its worth as a great, and quite diversely suited EDC knife.
 
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Thanks for another excellent report Brother Chin, your ebony Lambsfoot is looking good my friend :thumbsup:
 
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I ground this back 1/8", trying to preserve the angle from back to edge, to get it down to 3", for jurisdictional purposes.
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Free-handing with a file was a mistake. My garage-sale wet grinder worked great.
 
I didn't realise you had those sort of jurisdictional issues SP :eek: Nice work :thumbsup: What happened with the file if you don't mind me asking?
 
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Bartleby said:
I really find the sway back haft of the Lambsfoot pattern very comfortable as a general user. I am also very impressed with the quality of the knives being turned out by Wrights at this time. I am going to give Taylor's a try as well, once they settle in at the new location, based on the super nice ram's horn version that Old Engineer recently posted.
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I hope that you do order one from Eye Witness . It will take you a while to get it ( 6 to 10 weeks ) and the Ramshorn does not always look like what came on my Lambsfoot . I posted some pictures in the Taylors Eye Witness thread today of my 4 Eye Witness knives . One of them is a Barlow with Ramshorn Covers that will show a different look to them and are not as Translucent .

Harry
 
Jack Black said:
I didn't realise you had those sort of jurisdictional issues SP :eek: Nice work :thumbup: What happened with the file if you don't mind me asking?
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I'm not sure exactly , but the band-aid on my impudence finger is a clue. I was holding the file in my left hand and drawing the knife along it. Those ripply auto-body files really eat up the steel, but not so much when the steel is hardened.
 
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