Sheffield Made pocket knives made using walnut from a Lee Enfield Rifle Butt

The Sheffield made pocket knives and other items on this page are all made using the walnut from Lee Enfield rifle butts. The Sheffield knife made by one of Sheffield's finest knife makers has a blade which has been developed over the centuries and is still in use today. It’s an exceptional opportunity to own a piece of our British heritage. The Lee Enfield has been around during some crucial moments in British history - some glorious and some not so glorious and in it’s own quite right can be said to be as iconic and emblem of our wars as the Spitfire. The sgian dubhs made with it are on our other web site http://www.sheffield-gb.com

The Lee Enfield traces it’s roots back to 1888 when the British army adopted a rifle created by James P. Lee.  For over three hundred years up to the middle of WW2 walnut was the favoured wood for rifle butts. It’s a beautifully toned wood. These particular items were produced for wartime contracts and manufactured by H. Morris & Co of Glasgow. They were unissued and stored every since. The Lee Enfield was with British soldiers in battles from the Somme to the storming of the Normandy beaches. Again as with all our wood it’s difficult to find and in limited supply. We have used the wood to to produce truly superb heritage items each one unique in it’s own way. The British army early in WW2 abandoned walnut and moved to easier to obtain woods like Birch.

For those people with an interest in military history these make fine presents and unlike the mass produced rubbish which now passes for military themed gifts these items truly preserve the military heritage of Britain and it’s allies. The knives as always are handmade in Sheffield in the traditional patterns by some of Sheffield’s folding knife makers. Time passes and it’s easy to forget that the walnut used in these items has been in store for around seventy  years.

Remember all these items come gift boxed and the price is the total price including 1st class postage within the UK

This is an example of how the coin will come to you boxed and rebated into the walnut wood from Lee Enfield rifle butts.

If you wish you can email us m.carpenter519@btinternet.com or telephone us on 01474 879923

Amongst our many new items we have some fine Scottish sgian dubhs. Handmade in Sheffield in the traditional way with carbon steel blades these are the historic sock knives carried in to battle for centuries by Scottish regiments. We have made some with the walnut from Lee Enfield rifle butts the standard infantry rifle of the British army for many years. These days they are used for ceremonial purposes. The Sgian Dubh’s made with the walnut from Lee Enfield rifle butt stock are all different. Each one has a different curve resulting from the curves of the butt stock. The rifle butt is full of drilled holes and these Scottish knives are all different as a result of the curves and bends in the walnut. You could not have a more poignant reminder of Scottish military history than this combination of blade and wood and they are not imported they are Sheffield made. You do not get much wood of the requisite thickness out of a Lee Enfield rifle butt and utilising that wood as the scales for a knife takes care and patience. It’s a hand made job but at least you know you are getting an item of real historical worth not a mass produced Asian import. Each sgian dubh comes in a red drawstring bag and is gift boxed. The Lee Enfield walnut sgian dubhs come with a letter on hand made paper describing the origins of the walnut wood.

Our latest sgian dubh comes with a blade derived from a sniper plate from the Western Front. In order to preserve the character of the sgian dhu we have preserved a strip of the original weathered steel. In all it makes for an historic item and a work of art. We have had leather sheaths specially made for it and you can see the page with this item on by clicking on the image above.