All About Pocket Knives

I'd be interested in seeing some photos if possible please. s-k

smiling-knife wrote:I'd be interested in seeing some photos if possible please. s-k

I got these four knives years ago while on a road trip with my Father down to Florida.
Stopped at a roadside flea market in Georgia and got all four knives for $10.00 .
Got a story from the seller that they were found in a very old abandon house in the area that was in dilapidated condition.
From the look and condition of the knives they do look like they were exposed to the elements.
Obviously the seller took a grinder or heavy sandpaper to the blades to get the corrosion off probably to read the stamp.
At first they looked to be Civil War era kitchen knives from the lead inlay but then I noticed the stainless steel blades.
I figured what the heck I like the old way they look so I bought them.
The seller was asking $10 each and I talked em down to $10 for all of them because of the condition.
Over the years I’ve done some research and have come up with a lot of different answers.
From being made in an old foundry in Georgia, being from Norway or Scandinavia to even being made in the 60’s or 70’s by Hippies.
I had them for so long and they just sat in a drawer so I decided to restore at least one of them.
So I picked the only one that was a small butcher type and started the restore.

“sorry no before pictures. I wasn’t thinking” But the knife was in the same condition as the others but has a better and more legible makers stamp.


Reshaping and cleaning up the blade as the tip was corroded and most of the edge, was fairly easy.
The hard part was replacing the missing inlayed pewter.
I couldn’t get the new lead solder (which I used instead of pewter) to stick to the old original pewter. It just kept falling out.
But after thinking over it for awhile I thought why not use flux like you do when you solder.
Worked like a charm.
The wood which I think is walnut or Mahogany was so weather beaten that when the lead inlaying and hand sanding was done I decided to soak the handle in linseed oil to stabilize everything then a couple of coats of tung oil on top to waterproof.
The knife turned out pretty well and makes a mean little fishing knife.
The other three knives I think I might restore in the near future if I can’t find some definitive answers to the history of them. They'll make good filet knives.



P S - One of the knives has different stamp lettering than the others (what’s left of the stamping)

J W

JW- I think originally they used pewter for the casting.
Pewter is an alloy of tin, though I guess the lower grades of pewter can contain lead.
I am not an expert on it, but I imagine the pewter might be easier to cast than the lead.
Nice save though!

orvet wrote:JW- I think originally they used pewter for the casting.
Pewter is an alloy of tin, though I guess the lower grades of pewter can contain lead.
I am not an expert on it, but I imagine the pewter might be easier to cast than the lead.
Nice save though!

Yea, Dale I know you are right.
Pewter is what the castings are made of.
I was a little tired when I wrote this post and wasn't thinking straight.
Old Pewter is mostly tin with some copper and lead added.
They don’t use lead anymore.
I just used what I had laying around which was a bar of lead solder for old cast iron waste pipes. It contains mostly lead some nickel, copper and a little silver.
It worked and looks just like the original pewter.
I don't plan on using the knife in my kitchen every day and I don't think the small amout of lead would hurt you even if I did.
I guess I need to edit my original posting.
I don't think these knives are worth much but I do like the look of them.
Hopefully I will be able to find the true story behind them some day.
Thanks

J W

I agree, they are neat.
I have several old forks with the pewter inlays.
Cool, but not worth much; usually $1-$3 at a flea market.

I H Anderson was my great grandfather. He made knives in the early 1900's in Highland Ohio.
The only knife that I have is made by Shaw & Slavsky Cutlery Detroit ,Mi. It says that it is a handmade hollow ground stainless steel knife made under his secret formula.There is a U.S. patent number 154,710 on the handle. Jack Jones

Jack to AAPK!

It as always great to have someone who has a family connection to the old craftsmen who made the knives we all admire and collect.
We would love to hear more about him.

Dale

JACKHACK wrote:I H Anderson was my great grandfather. He made knives in the early 1900's in Highland Ohio.
The only knife that I have is made by Shaw & Slavsky Cutlery Detroit ,Mi. It says that it is a handmade hollow ground stainless steel knife made under his secret formula.There is a U.S. patent number 154,710 on the handle. Jack Jones

Mr. Jones,
Any more info on your Great Grandfather would be appreciated.
I have been searching for years for info about these knives and so has a lot of other people.
Were these particular knives with your Great Granddad's name marked on them his own creation or did he always work for a cutlery company?
What was your Great Granddad's first and middle name (I. H.)?
Any more info would help.
Thanks very much~

J W

Thanks Mr. Jones for sharing with us and do come back to see us. Neat knives and neat history.

The patent number was wrong. It is 754,719,but that does not connect to the knives.I have pictures to send and a letter with his letter head.Give me some time to figure how to get them to this forum. I am somewhat computer illerate, but I will figure it out. Jack Jones

This is a letter from I H Anderson to my father in 1939. They didn't have spellcheck back then. If this works I'll have more to follow. Jack Jones

Wecome to AAPK's Jack and thanks for sharing your letter!

Very cool Jack.
Thanks for sharing.

Lots of profound and good advice written in that letter.
Those kinds of words can only come from someone with years of experience.
Older folks have years of wisdom to share.
Anyone out there who still has there Grand parents or elderly parents,
spend as much time as you can with them. They can still teach you many thing you can't learn in school.

Thanks for sharing your letter.

J W

<PS>what's the (I H) stand for in your Great Grand Dad's name?

I know that his first name was Ira. My father's middle name was Harvey. I think it came from his grand father.

I have about ten more pictures to share. You will know as much as I do after I share them about I H Anderson. Jack Jones.

I H Anderson knife photo.

I H Anderson menu of prices.

This is the other side of I H Anderson's menu.

Neat stuff!
Please keep posting!

Great stuff, guys!

Hay JW, I have some pewter you can have. I harvested some from
a few old NYKC utensils that had some nice bone I wanted.

PM me your address.

.... Joe

These are rest of the images of my I H Anderson knives that I have. Jack