The Tragedy of The Ettrick Knife...

Salutations, Ladies and Gentlemen! Today, I have a bit of a sad story–one that unfortunately, I felt a need to bring to light. As many of you may know, I am a massive enthusiast and collector of Ettrick knives. The Ettrick is a pattern that has existed for nearly two-hundred years, and is still being made by a small bunch of makers, today. I have exactly eight Ettrick knives, two of which are by Michael May, while the other six are by Arthur Wright & Sons. Among the knives I own, I find the Ettrick to be one of my most favoured, not to mention, most carried designs. Sadly, that may have changed.

The trouble began with a brief touch-up on the edge of my M. May Wharncliffe Ettrick. Upon sharpening the blade, I found, quite horrifyingly, that the tip was now protruding out of the knife's frame. (Proud tip) Seeing that this was clearly an issue, I attempted to fix the knife using a variety of useless methods, simply to give up after realising I'd only made things worse. I ended up taking the knife to a professional for re-profiling. After this instance, I figured I'd encountered a fluke...however, when sharpening a batch of knives, (including a set of Ettricks) I found this problem was reoccurring. And, in a moment of my perfectionistic stupidity, I (once again) attempted to remedy the issue on my own. And just like before, I was forced to concede and bring the knives in to be fixed.

Now while I certainly could have done a better job of dealing with this problem, the point is that I shouldn't HAVE to. This is a major flaw in the design of these knives, as customers shouldn't have to go through such a hassle in fixing something that is quite avoidable on the side of the manufacturer. As it would seem, not all Ettricks are made equal, as one particular example, that being the A. Wright in Olive, was made in such a way that prevents the tip from being easily exposed. Sadly, if all my other Ettricks were built this way, there wouldn’t have been any issue.

Overall, this has been a learning experience for me, as I now pay very close attention to the knives I own and buy, for the sake of spotting this problem before it can arise. Again, the user should be able to sharpen their knife for years before a proud tip could even be possible. I understand some designs are more at risk of this issue, but seeing that one of my Ettricks is free from this problem, despite the others being riddled with it, I find it hard to excuse as merely “part of the design”.

In the end, this has led to me moving to other knives as the focus of my collecting. I find my interests drifting heavily to French regional knives. This is partially due to their impressive selection and historical value, but also the frequency to feature a blade tip that rests on the inner backspring, which allows for extensive sharpening without the risk of a proud tip.

Regardless, I urge knife owners and collectors to pay close attention to their knives. I, for one, was shocked as to how many blades sat dangerously close to being proud…



#edc

#knives

#gentleman

#britishblades