Quote from: 50ft-trad on August 07, 2017, 03:19:29 PMQuote from: pomsbz on August 07, 2017, 02:46:06 PMI believe that the Sodbuster is originally a German design. I also have a feeling that the majority of US traditional knives were originally British patterns?I don't know if the American companies copied the designs that we were already selling them, or if our patterns were influenced by the fact that we were selling heavily into the American market .... or a mixture of both. There doesn't seem to be a complete mirroring either. Lambsfoot blades and Wharncliffe's seem to be less popular in the States, and such as the Congress seems less popular over here. There seems to be less traditional double-ended penknives (aka sleeveboard) about these days too. My grandfather always carried penknives rather than the larger "farmers knives" that he would consider many traditional slippies to be.Do you mean your grandfather carried something like these Hartkopf knives?
Quote from: pomsbz on August 07, 2017, 02:46:06 PMI believe that the Sodbuster is originally a German design. I also have a feeling that the majority of US traditional knives were originally British patterns?I don't know if the American companies copied the designs that we were already selling them, or if our patterns were influenced by the fact that we were selling heavily into the American market .... or a mixture of both. There doesn't seem to be a complete mirroring either. Lambsfoot blades and Wharncliffe's seem to be less popular in the States, and such as the Congress seems less popular over here. There seems to be less traditional double-ended penknives (aka sleeveboard) about these days too. My grandfather always carried penknives rather than the larger "farmers knives" that he would consider many traditional slippies to be.
I believe that the Sodbuster is originally a German design. I also have a feeling that the majority of US traditional knives were originally British patterns?
Quote from: Ronald Schröder on August 07, 2017, 06:02:11 PMQuote from: 50ft-trad on August 07, 2017, 03:19:29 PMQuote from: pomsbz on August 07, 2017, 02:46:06 PMI believe that the Sodbuster is originally a German design. I also have a feeling that the majority of US traditional knives were originally British patterns?I don't know if the American companies copied the designs that we were already selling them, or if our patterns were influenced by the fact that we were selling heavily into the American market .... or a mixture of both. There doesn't seem to be a complete mirroring either. Lambsfoot blades and Wharncliffe's seem to be less popular in the States, and such as the Congress seems less popular over here. There seems to be less traditional double-ended penknives (aka sleeveboard) about these days too. My grandfather always carried penknives rather than the larger "farmers knives" that he would consider many traditional slippies to be.Do you mean your grandfather carried something like these Hartkopf knives?Like the top one, yes
I like the looks of that one too. But I went to a shop to see it in real life and found it had a lot of blade play. I asked the salesperson if he had some more, he did, but they were all equally bad. (These were the plastic handle versions)
Quote from: Ronald Schröder on August 07, 2017, 07:35:24 PMI like the looks of that one too. But I went to a shop to see it in real life and found it had a lot of blade play. I asked the salesperson if he had some more, he did, but they were all equally bad. (These were the plastic handle versions)They are supposed to be primitive!But the Mercator, the Okapi, the Douk-Douk and the Opinels are all sturdy designs.
I always thought the Barlow design originated in Sheffield but later became heavily adopted in the US?
According to Laurence A. Johnson (1) the Barlow knife was probably first manufactured by Obadiah Barlow at Sheffield, England, around 1670. (2) Obadiah’s grandson, John Barlow, joined the business around 1745 and it was he who was chiefly responsible for developing the exportation of the Barlow knives to America. Another source says the barlow knife was also made by Luke Furnace of Stannington, which in the eighteenth century was a small village on the outskirts of Sheffield. Luke Furnace’s name occurs in the Sheffield directories from 1774 and 1787, but not in the 1797 directory, so he was presumably dead by then. He put the mark “1760” on his knives. The original Barlow, after whom the knives are named, was working in Sheffield at the same time as Luke Furnace.An 1823 directory of Sheffield, England cutlers (knife makers) shows Samuel Barlow on Neepsend (Street). In the Sheffield suburb of Stannington, Barlow Bros. is listed as a cutler.
I also have a few Sodbusters by Böker with plastic handles and back lock. But it's too dark for pics now.
I really like the Sodbuster's blade shape.