Andrew

[Andrew]

000Robert wrote:

I heard that they called it a sheepsfoot blade because it is shaped like a sheep’s foot. It is good for cleaning horse hooves if I remember right.

I read that it looks like a sheepsfoot, but that feels like a stretch to me (read uneducated opinion based on not much). Understand that I also laugh at the ancient greeks (or whoever did this) who looked up into the sky and said “yeah, that square cluster of stars up there, that is a guy riding a horse with a bow”.

I never heard of anyone cleaning a horse hoof with a real knife. I used a farrier hoof knife often enough for the task, but that has a curved edge similar to a spoon (or bowl) carving knife (curves back in a U shape) or maybe more like those fake springy running legs / feet for people who lose a lower leg. Have not done it since the early 80’s so my memory is likely fuzzy at this point.

 

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AmyTurner

[Andrew]

tcmeyer wrote:

My Buck 301 Stockman has a sheepsfoot blade instead of a wharncliffe.

Grumble, operator head-space. Yes, Sheepsfoot (apparently designed for trimming sheep hooves), not a wharncliffe (designed for use by sailors is one story I have heard).

Not everyone agrees see https://blog.knife-depot.com/history-of-the-wharncliffe-blade/

 

[Andrew]

tcmeyer wrote:

I have a rancher friend in NE Wyoming who carried a small Case folder which he used to convert bulls to steers. The blade was really slender, looking more like a Texas tickler after many, many sharpenings. This would be one of those applications which would benefit from a toothier edge, maybe 800 grit.

Wowser, at my house, we used a scalpel, and it was goats, not cows….

[Andrew]

Spey blades were originally used to castrate animals. The shape should not catch on things that it should not. These days, I doubt if they are used for such, but it is still a common blade on the Stockman pattern knives. The Case small stockman almost always has a pen blade rather than a spey blade. On a stockman, the other two blades are always (I think) a clip and a wharncliffe.

I only know about spey blades because I like stockman knives.

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GJHM28

[Andrew]

I do own a Tormek, and I have the knife jig. I was not aware that Tormek had come out with a “small” knife jig. Looks interesting.

000Robert, what angle are you using on your Buck 301?

Although I like the spey blade, it is one of the more difficult ones to sharpen on the Stockman.

 

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