Wharncliffe Knives
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
The packaging alone is probably worth more than $11.00. Honestly, I don't know how they can do it...I can only suppose that they must rely on high volume sales. But, mark my words, just like what happened with the Iain Sinclair CardSharp wallet knife (https://www.iainsinclair.com/en/knives.html), it started out at $20.00 and before my order had even arrived, there were Chinese knockoffs that could be purchased in bulk orders of 100 for the same price I paid for one original.
~Q~
~Q~
~Q~
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
jerryd: I'm actually worse than you think; I said I bought TWO...I was planning to sell the second one to you for $22 so I could end up getting mine for free! Hey, isn't that called "Free & Open Market Capitalism"? It's the Great American economic way, baby!jerryd6818 wrote:~Q~ you ornery pup. Now see what you did? For $11.00 I had to go buy one. You're a bad influence on me pal.
Honestly...I was going to send it to you as a bomb...now I'm going to have to change the 'coordinates'.
I'll have to check to see who's next on my target list....Hmmm...who could it be??
Well, I guess we should know soon enough.
If I have your address, it could be YOU (yes, you...the one reading this)
~Q~
~Q~
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Re: Wharncliffe Knives
That's what I get for being such an impatient old fart.
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Q
You beat me to it, I was just getting ready to order one. Nice to know it good quality. Never know what you get for $11. Thanks for the review.
You beat me to it, I was just getting ready to order one. Nice to know it good quality. Never know what you get for $11. Thanks for the review.
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Well..."Good Quality" is a highly subjective term. I guess I should have qualified my assessment by saying that it's better quality than I was expecting for a knife costing only $11.00.
My personal experiences with super inexpensive knives like this is to have very low expectations when purchasing. That way, if it ends up being a half-decent knife, I am pleasantly surprised. But, if you order a cheap knife because you think you're getting some kind of super bargain, that's usually a recipe for disappointment.
~Q~
My personal experiences with super inexpensive knives like this is to have very low expectations when purchasing. That way, if it ends up being a half-decent knife, I am pleasantly surprised. But, if you order a cheap knife because you think you're getting some kind of super bargain, that's usually a recipe for disappointment.
~Q~
~Q~
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Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Mine was $11.95
It has this odd clicking sound on the first few degrees of opening and then again on closing. I think if I were going to carry it, I would take the clip off. Not a bad knife for light duty stuff like opening envelopes, cutting food, etc. I like it. I'm glad I bought it. This is not a Wharncliffe but I think it belongs here anyway along with other straight edge blades. The only Okapi I was familiar with up to this point was the ring release clip blade edition. Another letter opener & food cutter, this is certainly different and I like this one as well.
It has this odd clicking sound on the first few degrees of opening and then again on closing. I think if I were going to carry it, I would take the clip off. Not a bad knife for light duty stuff like opening envelopes, cutting food, etc. I like it. I'm glad I bought it. This is not a Wharncliffe but I think it belongs here anyway along with other straight edge blades. The only Okapi I was familiar with up to this point was the ring release clip blade edition. Another letter opener & food cutter, this is certainly different and I like this one as well.
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
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Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Not a very good pic, but here's a custom that my brother designed and built about 15 years ago. I EDC'd it for about 10.
Titanium liners, nickel silver bolsters, ivory Micarta handles and blade/backspring are ATS-34.
WB
Titanium liners, nickel silver bolsters, ivory Micarta handles and blade/backspring are ATS-34.
WB
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
A handmade custom wharnie is definitely a hard act to follow...but someone's got to do it, so I guess it may as well be me with this pair of Case Wharncliffe Mini Trappers.
~Q~
~Q~
~Q~
- jerryd6818
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- Location: The middle of the top of a bastion of Liberalism.
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Edit: This entire post is a copy of a blog by/at Knife Depot: note the link in the first line.
History of the Wharncliffe Blade (copied from ---► https://blog.knife-depot.com/history-of ... ffe-blade/ )
January 16, 2018 / Tim / 6 Comments
Tracing the origins of anything related to knives is difficult.
The sheer length of time knives have been used by humans makes going back to the first anything often impossible. Who made the first knife? Well, it depends on what you classify as a knife, but it was probably some unnamed Australopithecine dude more than two million years ago.
But when you have the ability to trace a single invention related to knives to a single moment, it’s always cool.
In a series of posts, I will be examining the history of specific innovations and evolutions in the knife community.
This first post will deal with the Wharncliffe blade.
____________________________________________________
The Origins of the Wharncliffe
____________________________________________________
The year is 1820 (or thereabouts). For a look at what was going on in the world, Maine had recently become the 23rd state in the burgeoning United States of America.
According to the 1878 edition of “British Manufacturing Industries,” the first Lord of Wharncliffe — James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie — was having dinner with his relative Archdeacon Corbett in Great Britain.
During wine, the conversation turned to cutlery and the lack of innovation in “spring knives,” which I assume meant slip joints. Here’s an excerpt:
Not wishing to criticise where they could not improve, they laid their heads together, and with the assistance of a practical man succeeded in producing a new pattern knife.
Lord Wharncliffe was the patron of Joseph Rodgers & Son — Cutlers to Their Majesties and one of the most important figures in the famed Sheffield cutlery industry — and so he presented the pattern to him. The blade was created and called the Wharncliffe blade after the Lord himself a few years later.
(To say that the Wharncliffe first appeared in the 1820s may be a bit disingenuous.
Sometime before the 11th century, the Vikings had a fixed blade called the Seax or Sax that had a straight edge and a straight tapering toward a point. This looks like the present day interpretations of the Wharncliffe pioneered by Michael Janich as you’ll read later in this article.
But I still argue the origin point of the Wharncliffe blade is in the 1820s and 1830s.)
__________________________________________________________________
What is a Wharncliffe Blade?
__________________________________________________________________
Anecdotal evidence says that Lord Wharncliffe wanted a knife with a thick and strong blade. The result was the blade known as the Wharncliffe.
The original Wharncliffe blade had a rounded spine that tapered gradually toward a point and a straight full flat-ground edge. Like this (though maybe even thicker):
The standard definition has since broadened a bit to include any blade with a straight edge that tapers toward a point. (Although I’d argue some light curves in the blade don’t immediately disqualify it from being a Wharncliffe.)
The Wharncliffe is widely mixed up with the sheepsfoot blade and lesser known lambsfoot blade. In fact, manufacturers will often mislabel the blade style.
Whereas the Wharncliffe has a spine that gradually tapers to a point, the sheepsfoot blade has a spine and edge that remains parallel until the spine more dramatically curves to the edge. The result is lack of a piercing point. The lambsfoot has a spine and edge that start gently tapering toward one another and has a point somewhere between a sheepsfoot and Wharncliffe. This one is rarer to see classified though. For even more nitty gritty, there is a coping blade that is kind of like the reverse of a lambsfoot because it tapers outward. Some people debate on this one — whether it is a cut off pen blade or something else. These are exaggerations of each to better see the difference, but if I am off base with these definitions, let me know in the comments.
__________________________________________________________________________
Early Wharncliffe Uses and Models
__________________________________________________________________________ Case Seahorse Whittler
From what I found, the original intent of the modern Wharncliffe blade was for woodworking. Those early models from Sheffield had really thick blades that could be used for everything from whittling to splitting wood.
There are advertisements from 1852 showcasing Rodgers Wharncliffe Whittlers, according to Rod Neep.
The pattern rose in popularity in the late 1800s and the knives were exported to America. Eventually the pattern was picked up by companies like Case. Someone more versed in the history of Case could likely tell you when the Wharncliffe was adopted in American knives, but Case did eventually adopt the blade design.
Other slip joint companies in the early days of America used the Wharncliffe pattern in whittlers as well.
________________________________________________________________________
From Woodworking to Tactical Applications
________________________________________________________________________
For the most part, the blade’s length, thickness, and design lends itself to whittling. And for decades, that was the primary purpose of the Wharncliffe.
But these days, you see the Wharncliffe making a comeback in a decidedly different category than whittling: the tactical and self-defense arena.
This can be traced back to one man: Michael Janich.
Janich wrote a very detailed and fascinating piece in the Knives 2018, 38th Edition from Blade describing how the Wharncliffe went tactical (which I would say is almost like Dylan going electrical).
I won’t go into great detail because you should absolutely read his piece, but Janich was interested in knife fighting and combat knives growing up. When he made his first knife, it reflected his original belief that a fighting knife should be a Bowie-like knife with a curved blade.
But when Sal Glesser reached out to Janich — the pioneer of Martial Blade Concepts — about making a knife under Spyderco in 1997, he reconsidered his approach because most fighting knives cut poorly. After some experiments, he found Frank Centofante’s Wharncliffe-style gentleman folders to cut the best.
Here is a look at one: So Janich and Mike Snody, who we now know for his Spyderco, Benchmade, and KA-BAR collaborations, got together to design Janich’s Wharncliffe idea. Snody was skeptical of the radical design but was soon persuaded after actually making the knife.
Here is my favorite excerpt from the chapter:
"After Snody’s underwhelming initial response, I thanked him for his offer and suggested that he abandon the project to move on with his new career. He politely agreed, only to call me back several days later. His first words when I answered were, “You evil _______ [expletive deleted]! I’ve never cut with anything like this before!” It was then I realized that he actually made my design and, more importantly, did some cutting with it."
The result was the Ronin, which had a straight tapering spine toward a piercing point and a straight edge. Spyderco later picked it up for a short time.
After some back and forth and other ventures, Janich most recently came back at Spyderco with Ronin 2 and the Yojimbo 2 — the second iteration of his folding version of the Ronin for Spyderco. It was better received at that point because people were beginning to understand the merits of Wharncliffe blades on tactical knives thanks to Janich.
And the rest is history.
Nowadays you can see Wharncliffe blades on knives as diverse as whittlers and last-ditch self-defense fixed blades. It’s been a long road since Lord Wharncliffe had that meeting with his relative in the 1800s.
History of the Wharncliffe Blade (copied from ---► https://blog.knife-depot.com/history-of ... ffe-blade/ )
January 16, 2018 / Tim / 6 Comments
Tracing the origins of anything related to knives is difficult.
The sheer length of time knives have been used by humans makes going back to the first anything often impossible. Who made the first knife? Well, it depends on what you classify as a knife, but it was probably some unnamed Australopithecine dude more than two million years ago.
But when you have the ability to trace a single invention related to knives to a single moment, it’s always cool.
In a series of posts, I will be examining the history of specific innovations and evolutions in the knife community.
This first post will deal with the Wharncliffe blade.
____________________________________________________
The Origins of the Wharncliffe
____________________________________________________
The year is 1820 (or thereabouts). For a look at what was going on in the world, Maine had recently become the 23rd state in the burgeoning United States of America.
According to the 1878 edition of “British Manufacturing Industries,” the first Lord of Wharncliffe — James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie — was having dinner with his relative Archdeacon Corbett in Great Britain.
During wine, the conversation turned to cutlery and the lack of innovation in “spring knives,” which I assume meant slip joints. Here’s an excerpt:
Not wishing to criticise where they could not improve, they laid their heads together, and with the assistance of a practical man succeeded in producing a new pattern knife.
Lord Wharncliffe was the patron of Joseph Rodgers & Son — Cutlers to Their Majesties and one of the most important figures in the famed Sheffield cutlery industry — and so he presented the pattern to him. The blade was created and called the Wharncliffe blade after the Lord himself a few years later.
(To say that the Wharncliffe first appeared in the 1820s may be a bit disingenuous.
Sometime before the 11th century, the Vikings had a fixed blade called the Seax or Sax that had a straight edge and a straight tapering toward a point. This looks like the present day interpretations of the Wharncliffe pioneered by Michael Janich as you’ll read later in this article.
But I still argue the origin point of the Wharncliffe blade is in the 1820s and 1830s.)
__________________________________________________________________
What is a Wharncliffe Blade?
__________________________________________________________________
Anecdotal evidence says that Lord Wharncliffe wanted a knife with a thick and strong blade. The result was the blade known as the Wharncliffe.
The original Wharncliffe blade had a rounded spine that tapered gradually toward a point and a straight full flat-ground edge. Like this (though maybe even thicker):
The standard definition has since broadened a bit to include any blade with a straight edge that tapers toward a point. (Although I’d argue some light curves in the blade don’t immediately disqualify it from being a Wharncliffe.)
The Wharncliffe is widely mixed up with the sheepsfoot blade and lesser known lambsfoot blade. In fact, manufacturers will often mislabel the blade style.
Whereas the Wharncliffe has a spine that gradually tapers to a point, the sheepsfoot blade has a spine and edge that remains parallel until the spine more dramatically curves to the edge. The result is lack of a piercing point. The lambsfoot has a spine and edge that start gently tapering toward one another and has a point somewhere between a sheepsfoot and Wharncliffe. This one is rarer to see classified though. For even more nitty gritty, there is a coping blade that is kind of like the reverse of a lambsfoot because it tapers outward. Some people debate on this one — whether it is a cut off pen blade or something else. These are exaggerations of each to better see the difference, but if I am off base with these definitions, let me know in the comments.
__________________________________________________________________________
Early Wharncliffe Uses and Models
__________________________________________________________________________ Case Seahorse Whittler
From what I found, the original intent of the modern Wharncliffe blade was for woodworking. Those early models from Sheffield had really thick blades that could be used for everything from whittling to splitting wood.
There are advertisements from 1852 showcasing Rodgers Wharncliffe Whittlers, according to Rod Neep.
The pattern rose in popularity in the late 1800s and the knives were exported to America. Eventually the pattern was picked up by companies like Case. Someone more versed in the history of Case could likely tell you when the Wharncliffe was adopted in American knives, but Case did eventually adopt the blade design.
Other slip joint companies in the early days of America used the Wharncliffe pattern in whittlers as well.
________________________________________________________________________
From Woodworking to Tactical Applications
________________________________________________________________________
For the most part, the blade’s length, thickness, and design lends itself to whittling. And for decades, that was the primary purpose of the Wharncliffe.
But these days, you see the Wharncliffe making a comeback in a decidedly different category than whittling: the tactical and self-defense arena.
This can be traced back to one man: Michael Janich.
Janich wrote a very detailed and fascinating piece in the Knives 2018, 38th Edition from Blade describing how the Wharncliffe went tactical (which I would say is almost like Dylan going electrical).
I won’t go into great detail because you should absolutely read his piece, but Janich was interested in knife fighting and combat knives growing up. When he made his first knife, it reflected his original belief that a fighting knife should be a Bowie-like knife with a curved blade.
But when Sal Glesser reached out to Janich — the pioneer of Martial Blade Concepts — about making a knife under Spyderco in 1997, he reconsidered his approach because most fighting knives cut poorly. After some experiments, he found Frank Centofante’s Wharncliffe-style gentleman folders to cut the best.
Here is a look at one: So Janich and Mike Snody, who we now know for his Spyderco, Benchmade, and KA-BAR collaborations, got together to design Janich’s Wharncliffe idea. Snody was skeptical of the radical design but was soon persuaded after actually making the knife.
Here is my favorite excerpt from the chapter:
"After Snody’s underwhelming initial response, I thanked him for his offer and suggested that he abandon the project to move on with his new career. He politely agreed, only to call me back several days later. His first words when I answered were, “You evil _______ [expletive deleted]! I’ve never cut with anything like this before!” It was then I realized that he actually made my design and, more importantly, did some cutting with it."
The result was the Ronin, which had a straight tapering spine toward a piercing point and a straight edge. Spyderco later picked it up for a short time.
After some back and forth and other ventures, Janich most recently came back at Spyderco with Ronin 2 and the Yojimbo 2 — the second iteration of his folding version of the Ronin for Spyderco. It was better received at that point because people were beginning to understand the merits of Wharncliffe blades on tactical knives thanks to Janich.
And the rest is history.
Nowadays you can see Wharncliffe blades on knives as diverse as whittlers and last-ditch self-defense fixed blades. It’s been a long road since Lord Wharncliffe had that meeting with his relative in the 1800s.
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
jerryd--I think this is a BRILLIANT idea. I heartily support, enthusiastically encourage and ardently applaud your ambitious undertaking and can't help but think that the information you propose to present is something every serious knife collector (or even a cutlery enthusiast of any degree) would find essential, informative and interesting. Surely even the 'weekend hobbyists' would like to know what it is they've got and perhaps even why the knives they're drawn to "call out" to them...for whatever reason.jerryd6818 wrote:In a series of posts, I will be examining the history of specific innovations and evolutions in the knife community.
It's undoubtedly a daunting undertaking in relentless research combined with years of meticulous (one might even say obsessive) first-hand experience and determined, detailed documentation with a vast assortment of patterns, verified historical (and anecdotal) evidence and even potential discrepancies in the "official" historical record (you may want to include citations to other research references).
This could even turn out to be an article that Tom "bestgear" might consider for publication.
~Q~
~Q~
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Re: Wharncliffe Knives
jerry you have given us a wonderful exposition. Thank you very much. Looking forward to the next one.
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Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Thanks for sharing Lord Jerry!!
SCOTT
HOME OF THE BRAVE! (not the scarety cats)
Colonial Knife Company History ebook:
https://gumroad.com/l/ZLDb
HOME OF THE BRAVE! (not the scarety cats)
Colonial Knife Company History ebook:
https://gumroad.com/l/ZLDb
- jerryd6818
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Re: Wharncliffe Knives
No, no, no. Slow down there stud. You missed the very first line in my post. Except for the first line, that entire post is a copy of some dudes Blog. That wasn't me taking on a gargantuan task like that. It were him, whoever 'him' is. I humbly apologize for not making that clear.QTCut5 wrote:jerryd--I think this is a BRILLIANT idea. I heartily support, enthusiastically encourage and ardently applaud your ambitious undertaking and can't help but think that the information you propose to present is something every serious knife collector (or even a cutlery enthusiast of any degree) would find essential, informative and interesting. Surely even the 'weekend hobbyists' would like to know what it is they've got and perhaps even why the knives they're drawn to "call out" to them...for whatever reason.jerryd6818 wrote:In a series of posts, I will be examining the history of specific innovations and evolutions in the knife community.
It's undoubtedly a daunting undertaking in relentless research combined with years of meticulous (one might even say obsessive) first-hand experience and determined, detailed documentation with a vast assortment of patterns, verified historical (and anecdotal) evidence and even potential discrepancies in the "official" historical record (you may want to include citations to other research references).
This could even turn out to be an article that Tom "bestgear" might consider for publication.
~Q~
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
- Quick Steel
- Bronze Tier
- Posts: 16983
- Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 5:39 pm
- Location: Lebanon, KY
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
So, if "Wharncliffe" initially referred to a specific blade profile, I wonder at what point (and why) it subsequently became synonymous with a particular frame style as well?
I know there's been some discussion on this issue previously on AAPK, but I don't recall ever reading a definitive answer.
~Q~
I know there's been some discussion on this issue previously on AAPK, but I don't recall ever reading a definitive answer.
~Q~
~Q~
- jerryd6818
- Gold Tier
- Posts: 39184
- Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:23 am
- Location: The middle of the top of a bastion of Liberalism.
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
~Q~ my friend, I think it best you take an anti-OCD tab because I very seriously doubt there is a "definitive answer".QTCut5 wrote:So, if "Wharncliffe" initially referred to a specific blade profile, I wonder at what point (and why) it subsequently became synonymous with a particular frame style as well?
I know there's been some discussion on this issue previously on AAPK, but I don't recall ever reading a definitive answer.
~Q~
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
There was an article written in the June 2018 issue of "Knife Magazine" covering the history of the Wharncliffe knife.
Basically, both the blade and handle shape together create a true Wharncliffe knife.
Here is a "Wilds" Wharncliffe model from circa 1850 along with a few catalog illustrations from around the turn of the twentieth century.
Basically, both the blade and handle shape together create a true Wharncliffe knife.
Here is a "Wilds" Wharncliffe model from circa 1850 along with a few catalog illustrations from around the turn of the twentieth century.
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Here are three cuts from around 20's,Western cut is from 1921 catalog. There it is ,do with it as you see fit. Notice "Whorncliffe" in all three cuts.
1. Enderes
2. Utica I think made the Western and probably the Enderes
3. Western States
1. Enderes
2. Utica I think made the Western and probably the Enderes
3. Western States
I buy roosters combs and farmers..........................................................jack knives [/b]
GEC SFOs and others at LICK CREEK CUTLERY- www.allaboutpocketknives.com/wlf
May the Father and Son bless
Lyle
GEC SFOs and others at LICK CREEK CUTLERY- www.allaboutpocketknives.com/wlf
May the Father and Son bless
Lyle
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
This Challenge is the only vintage Wharncliffe I have in the collection.
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
John that indeed is one beautiful wharncliffe Whittler and the stag is incredible
Lloyd
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Duffer wrote:John that indeed is one beautiful wharncliffe Whittler and the stag is incredible
Lloyd,Dan, thank you very much.danno50 wrote:that is a beauty, John, great stag!
Re: Wharncliffe Knives
Wow John R, what a beauty.
"It's what people know about themselves inside that makes them afraid." -No Name, High Plains Drifter