Cool group! Understanding the knives and companies making knives in Sheffield is key to understanding the traditional pocket knives as we know them today.

Thanks and welcome to group knifegirl, Ken, Jan and Handmade blades.

Welcome Steve. Glad you joined us.

Welcome Ron. That's a beautiful knife. Thanks for posting it here. This is another Ablett knife. I like his knives and they are reasonably priced IMO.

great looking knives guy's i think i will try one. thanks for showing us your pictures....

Warm welcome to our new group members. Thanks for joining us.

Those are great looking knives Ron. Thanks for posting them. I'm always amazed with file work like that.

A gentleman’s multi bladed pocket knife. The side plates on both sides are silver and hallmarked. The silver parts are hallmarked Q for 1899 with a Chester hallmark - not Sheffield Desormeaux Saunders & James Francis Hollings - Frank Shepherd. Not a Sheffield knife but worth looking at. More pictures on sheffield-gb.com

We have a new range with snakewood handles and ebony handles. The snakewood with hand file work has sold out but will shortly be available in different blade types some with hand file work and others without.

I am not aware of any Olympic Games official knives in the field I deal in. The new knives are the ebony and snakewood handles. The snake wood with the hand file work are sold out but more in a couple of weeks. Trevor has a lower out put than he used to have and all the redwood handles have gone - the stock position on http://www.sheffield-gb.com is more or less up to date but with Trevor's knifes you should buy them whilst they are still being made.

Thanks for the update M., Trevors knives are pocket and user friendly..Also very nice looking 

This is a picture of Trevor Ablett in his workshop in Sheffield.

Your photography is very good. I use a light tent with colour balanced lighting and a pentax with a single arm tripod but do not shine on the blades -http://www.sheffield-gb.com

If you have time perhaps you could tell me how you do it. regards Malcolm

I think my trying to achieve the right colour consistency with the knives takes away some of the shine and brilliance. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scissors-Knives-from-Sheffield-Englan...

If you would like to put that picture on our facebook page people would like to see it. regards malcolm

This is a Sheffield knife and ruler combination from around 1900. It does not belong to me but is interesting as a scarce combination. I visit some of the more obscure antique markets in London but except for fruit knives nothing much shows up these days. I may have posted this twice on account of my consumption of Merlot last night.

That's a great old ruler knife. This one is from the 1930s.

This a typical Victorian multi-bladed knife usually the body made in Sheffield and the silver Birmingham. This is dated 1893 but the other marks are indistinct

I have spent a few days travelling around looking up some of the more obscure places where you can find knifes. Waterloo station London because of the Olympics has extra security guards everywhere and to get in you have to walk through a security check. Walking in with a large vintage Bowie inside my jacket and three other knives in my pockets the security guard without speaking held his arm up in front of me at forty five degrees.  I thought oh no this is it - big trouble. I ignored him and walked round his arm and just carried on walking, nothing happened and not a word was spoken during the entire event. 

I don't know whether there is a moral in this but am still pondering the matter.

Hello everyone, I normally stick to the American made knives but there was 1 Sheffield made knife that I couldn't resist. Was made by Joseph Hepworth & Sons circa 1850. It has smooth bone handles, silver bolsters and a silver inlaid shield. measures 4 1/8 closed. All blades are tight and snap real good!

This is a new handle made from Ox horn - the horn is translucent and the colours are at various depths within the horn. Much more colourful than the buffalo and they really look like works of art. http://www.sheffield-gb.com

M.,

OMG, thanks for the heads up!  That is certainly fantastic.  Just ordered two of them and placed this pic with your site info on the iKC facebook (hope you dont mind)

Ordered on Sunday night.  Got confirmation  of the mailing on Monday, just waiting for the knives :)

Donnie is so excited we have wanted  a knife from these folks for quite a while.  If you have not checked them out, you should.  Ron Dumeah has pics of a few of his up also :)

I recently acquired a Northfield UN-X-LD 4 blade,congress style,with mother of pearl handles.Some info i read  on iknife tells me it was made in 1990,and only 50 were made.I was told it is a Sheffield knife.Any info,value?

Hi Joseph. Based on your description, I don't think that you have a Sheffield knife. The Northfield name has appeared a few times over the years but these knives were originally associated with Northfield CT and most recently Great Eastern Cutlery. Please post a photo and we should be able to provide further information.

Malcom,

The twin beauties came home but it was so dark the pics dont do them justice. I will put this one up but I will take more on a better evening.  Thank you...these are exceptional.  The oxhorn is so translucent it gives the knife a depth and dimension you do not see in buffalo horn

Hello I think you had the best bits of the Ox. It's very difficult to take a picture of them because the colour is in layers in the horn. Many thanks for your order. regards Malcolm

The length of time it took the knives to arrive sent airmail is terrible. Thank you for your patience. The build up to Christmas will be even worse. We were in Paris last weekend looking at some of the knives on offer in the flea markets but they were quite impossible to buy because of the dire warnings on the euro-star of taking knives back even in your luggage. regards malcolm

http://www.sheffield-gb.com

Even in checked luggage?

I think customs has alot to do with the length of time on international shipping.  No matter the shipping method, they can hold up about anything

On the euro-stars you carry your luggage with you and can watch your prized possessions being tossed into a bin. regards Malcolm 

Here are some pics of the Northfield,i mean Sheffield,i mean Parker.

Any info anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

Joseph,

I have some questions out to a few contacts that may be able to help

Greetings - hope you are all well. The new ox horn handled knives are going to be made with the lambsfoot and sheepsfoot blades. It's only one piece of horn not a regular supply and so when they are gone they are gone and it will be probably six months or so before another similar chunk arrives. Some of Trevor Ablett's knifes are out of stock but a new supply will arrive in about three weeks but that will be it until well into the new year. http://www.sheffield-gb.com

Happy Christmas to all of you. No snow but masses of rain and flooded roads. The last of my Christmas rush orders have all gone and this year it's been authentic Scottish dirks which have been in demand. These are difficult to post because of the size and my fear of incapacitating postal workers. Anyway the Christmas tree is in the window so Merry Christmas from http://www.sheffield-gb.com - that's me and my wife - and the cat.

Hello all, just thought I'd share some of my Sheffield knives with you, they are all users, so some aren't too pretty, but man Sheffield steel sure takes an edge.

Happy New Year to you all!

Firstly and old Richards Cutlers Kitchen knife, I use this as an all around, rough 'in the shed knife. 

New picture of Sheffield scissors made by Sheffield's last handmade scissor maker.

http://www.sheffield-gb.com - bit artistic the picture as I got a mini ipad for Christmas and it can be used as a light box for photography. Truly amazing what you can do with computers now. 

Hi Everyone,

Thank you very much for joining the group and posting your contributions. I'm sorry I have not done much with this group recently. I have some ideas once I am settled again. Please continue to post your Sheffield cutlery and any suggestions for future developments.

Thanks, Steve  

Hi folks! I will post a photo soon. I have a 1850-80's Sheffield made,  large stag cattle knife. Marked on the master clip blade: SHEFFIELD CUTLERY, while all the other blades are marked, FOUR ACRE. I am researching the original owner also. Any one familiar with the Four Acre area, around Sheffield England?! Thank you, Rick.

Talking to a few of the remaining Sheffield knife makers today it would seem that the industry is about to decline even further from it's present parlous state. Three of the best knife makers are now approaching eighty and two of the others are over seventy. When you consider the size of the industry pre 1900 when it must have had tens of thousands of people working in it it's a bit sad. Even the Sheffield scissor makers have shrunk to a couple of small establishments. regards Malcolm http://www.sheffield-gb.com

MC,

It is a shame to see the knowledge and traditions of such a major contributor to the knife industry dwindle down and become a lost art.  It makes me sad.  I am glad I have purchased some of these from the last remaining makers.

Can you tell me, is there an effort going on to get some apprentices in the shops? 

The problem is some of these chaps are so old that they no longer have the energy and whatever field you are in if you are making quality handmade items it is not a lucrative profession. Who these days wants to stand there six days a week hand making knives. It's not just knives it's a whole host of products made in Northern England for centuries are disappearing. One or  two manufacturers have younger people in. 

If you look at scissor manufacture Sheffield scissors are hand made using carbon steel - if you go into a shop you can buy a pair of scissors for say 3 dollars but they are rubbish. A decent pair of precision made carbon steel nickel plated Sheffield scissors will cost ten times that amount so only a few people buy them.

There are three of the knife manufacturers now whose output is so small it's a waste of time even trying to order the knives. Some people who buy the stag horn handled knives complain that the stag is not straight and will not accept that antlers are bent and some are convinced the Buffalo horn is plastic but it's not they are all handmade using natural materials. I even get asked whether any animals were hurt in making the knives. The right answer to that would be only my wifes cat if it get's in the way whilst I am packing them. regards malcolm  http://www.sheffield-gb.com

Malcom,

ROFL- I even get asked whether any animals were hurt in making the knives. The right answer to that would be only my wifes cat if it get's in the way whilst I am packing them. regards malcolm  http://www.sheffield-gb.com

What a very starnge question about a knife with some type of horn.  Kind of like asking if any trees were harmed in making my table

Hard to find much about this makers but the details tell me he was a fantastic maker

An original Sheffield Bowie made in 1850 by William Nicholson

More pics in my photos

This is a really nice rare item. William Nicholson was a general dealer in all sorts of cutlery. He may not have made it but had it made for him. You would be most unlikely to find anything like this at antique fairs in the UK. From about 1860 he is listed as a fine cutlery manufacturer at a different address. Knives of this type are still made in Sheffield but without the embellishments. http://www.sheffield-gb.com 

Jan,

That is one BEAUTIFUL knife... oh my, I love it!

 THE PEARL RAZOR IS A W PREIST 246 OXFORD ST. AND ALSO HAS PINWORK

 the ivory one with pinwork is a I. ROBERT

I ALSO LIKED THE LITTLE ABALONE KNIFE THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL

THAT IS A WONDERFUL LOOKING DIRK TOO JAN