A Stiddy From Camillus Cutlery

[orvet]

Is the term Stiddy or Steady?

What is the proper name for the anvil used by a person who makes slipjoint knives?
Here is a link to an interesting discussion on British Blades Forum.
http://www.britishblades.com/forums/sho ... p?p=386289

If the fellow in British Blades is right then the term came from the Sheffield cutlery industry, so for my purposes here I guess I will use the term stiddy. It seems to be used in this forum as well.


All this is to introduce an artifact from the Camillus Cutlery that has recently found it’s way onto my workbench.

I have taken several pictures and would like to thank Tom Williams (CAMCO) for introducing me to Wallace Rockwell, one of his fellow former Camillus co-workers.
Tom had told me about a tool used at Camillus to compress the backsprings of knives while being assembled for repaired. He told me I should have one for my repair work.
Tom introduced me to Wallace over the telephone, and Wallace generously agreed to send me a Camillus knife vise. I will post this knife vise in a different thread. I say this by way of introduction because Wallace also sent me a cutler's stiddy that was made at Camillus.

You'll notice in the pictures that this stiddy has no base, but has a tapered leg that fits into a hole cut in the top of a workbench. The horn of the stiddy (the part used to peen handle pins without disassembling the knife) is detachable by the means of an Alan screw. I thought this was quite ingenious, and makes it much easier to make a stiddy such as this one rather than the one-piece type that I had. I am hoping this winter to fashion a few stiddy's based loosely on this Camillus design.

Wallace told me that this stiddy and many others were made at Camillus Cutlery and were used there. As you can see in these pictures, this stiddy has been used and even has some dirt/grease from the cutlery still attached.

I thought some of you here might enjoy seeing the pictures of a Camillus stiddy.


I would like to thank Tom for introducing me to Wallace, and especially to thank Wallace for his generosity and sharing such a unique artifact.

I hope you enjoy the pictures,
Dale

[jonet143]

too cool, dale! i think you'll make a great steward of that piece of history.

[Darksev]

Lucky devil!

[smiling-knife]

That's very interesting Dale . I believe Stiddy is an old Sheffield term for a cutler's anvil. s-k

[Sauconian]

That's very interesting Dale . I believe Stiddy is an old Sheffield term for a cutler's anvil. s-k

It may have been steady, but you know how funny our friends in the U.K. speak.

I missed a great opportunity once, because I didn't know what the heck a girl from Manchester was saying.

I have an older book here, The Story of Cutlery written by J.B.Himsworth, a " Freeman of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire".

He uses the term ' stiddy ', and many other interesting words for the tools, materials, and processes of the trade.

Terminology aside, you have a great tool, and an enviable piece of American cutlery history.

Isn't the helpfulness and generousity of fellow knifers amazing ?

Fran

[Hukk]

Very Nice! That's a great tool to have as well as a nice piece of history. I like that set screw set up, it allows you to make custom tools to mount on the stiddy. CONGRATULATIONS!

[4ever3]

What a great piece of history Dale... You're a lucky man to own it

[glennbad]

Very cool Dale. I'm jealous...

Glenn

[Phil Gibbs]

Wally Rockwell is also the best knifemaker Camillus Cutlery had from the 80's till the end.
He handmade almost every sample & prototype made!

I had some stupid ideas over the years, and Wally could always make them work!!

[orvet]

What a great piece of history Dale... You're a lucky man to own it

I don't view myself as the owner, merely the custodian for the time being of a unique piece of history.

Dale

[orvet]

Phil,
Thanks for your comments. I am especially grateful when you, Tom, or any other of the former Camillus employees takes time out of your busy day to stop by our forum and share a little with us.
I have talked to Wallace a couple times on the phone and could tell he definitely knew what he was talking about when it came to knives. It was very generous of him to share such a unique piece of history with me, and the members of this forum.

Please stop by again soon. I especially enjoy your insights and the insights of others who worked for Camillus. It gives us a window into the cutlery world that most of us would not experience otherwise.

Thank you very much,
Dale

[9ball]

That be one nice piece there Orvet. Thanks for posting photo's and the history.
9ball
Now I am outta here for today! Show Time...........

[upnorth]

That's a nice tool, Dale! All the more because it has a rich history!
I have used a stiddy just enough to be dangerous , but I can see how beautifully that baby is set up to crink a blade without totally marring it up!
Beautiful, functional tools are like a taste of Heaven if you are handy at all!!!

[Ripster]

What a great piece of history Dale... You're a lucky man to own it

I don't view myself as the owner, merely the custodian for the time being of a unique piece of history.

Dale

Dale , was reading thru some old posts today . This one is a great read and was wondering if you still have the Stiddy ?
That’s some piece of Camillus History there !

[Ridgegrass]

Dale, I'd like to see a pic or two of a knife in/on the stiddy just to get an idea of it's operation. Thanks, J.O'.

[orvet]

I will get since new pictures. I just used it two days ago. Works great!

[orvet]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get these pictures posted.
The Camillus stiddy of course sets in the workbench in a tapered socket. It can be easily removed by tapping at lightly on the bottom and it pops right out if you want to move it somewhere else to use it. I'm sure the workbenches that Camillus had tapered square holes in them, so it was probably not an issue for them.

I have two stiddies on this bench, The one to the left is rather crude but it was the first of a number of stiddies I made it home from railroad track. The last picture shows that stiddy best.

This homemade steady is rather crude and as you can tell by looking at it the welding is pretty sloppy. It turns out the railroad track has a certain ally in it that makes it very difficult to weld unless you have railroad welding rod, specially formulated for welding railroad track. This first steady was a gift to Johnnie Fain, (jonet143), my mentor in being a moderator. When he passed in 09 his wife sent me several of the tools he used as well as a lot of parts knives. I have had many stiddies over the years and I believe I made over a dozen of them myself, but this does this old thing does everything I really need it to.
Since someone always asks, the heavy aluminum washer is what I used to peen the handle pins when attaching spun pins to handles. The soft aluminum provides support to the head of the pin without deforming the brass head like a steel support would.
In truth that thick piece of aluminum does get in the way sometimes that's when I use the Camillus stiddy.
The Camillus stiddy is far prettier and much more historic than the first one I made, I keep it for sentimental and functional reasons.

[eveled]

Not sure if its really a weld rod issue. If you preheat the railroad track, you may have better results.

Just an idea.

thanks for sharing your stiddies. I need to make one myself someday.