The Western Rounded End Knob?

In 1911, H. N. Platts, was able to draw on his extensive friendships and family connections in the cutlery world to start Western States Cutlery and Manufacturing of Boulder Colorado. At first only a jobbing business, by 1920 construction and machinery purchases were underway to begin manufacture of knives. Through name changes--to Western States Cutlery Co. in 1953, then Western Cutlery Co. in 1956--and moves first across town and later to Longmont Colorado, the company stayed under the leadership of the Platt family until 1984. In that year, the company was sold to Coleman, becoming Coleman-Western. Eventually purchased by Camillus in 1991, Western continued until Camillus expired in 2007.
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pinnah
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The Western Rounded End Knob?

Post by pinnah »

I'm glad this forum is here and hope that perhaps somebody can point me in the right direction.

Could somebody point me towards reading material on the history of the development of the Western fixed blade knives? In particular, I'm interested in the US emergence of the distinctive rounded end knobs.

This eHow article (http://www.ehow.com/about_5074885_weste ... story.html) claims that
The pocket knife remained the company's staple product until 1930 when Western patented a unique double tang sheath knife. These rugged belt knives also featured aluminum end knobs in a pattern that eventually became the standard of the American cutlery industry.
I'm wondering if that shape existed in Europe or in other places first. If they really did start it, I'm wondering by who and when it got picked up by others such as Case and Buck.

Related, somebody in one of the other threads in this forum stated that the the carbon steel was of high quality. Would love to hear more about that.
Dave "Pinnah" Mann, Bahston, MA
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chautauqua
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Re: The Western Rounded End Knob?

Post by chautauqua »

id be interested in that also,are u talking about the round pommel on the handle end of knife ? i believe he oldest i know of are the ones made by remington and marbles i believe they were slightly before case kinfolks and western and seem to show up around the time of world war1 probably left overs from govt contracts also there is a mistake in the ehow article it was not elridge pa it was eldred pa where platts factory was
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coffeecup
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Re: The Western Rounded End Knob?

Post by coffeecup »

The aluminum pommel appears to have been developed/introduced by Marble's.

The Marble's Ideal was introduced in 1901, using a stag pommel. In the third edition of Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values, Levine notes that the 1908 Marble's catalog mentions that they planned to replace the stag pommel with lignum vitae. Instead, they apparently chose aluminum.

A friend of mine had a Marble's Ideal with aluminum pommel he purchased in 1911. This is the earliest datable use of the aluminum pommel by Marble's that I have been able to find. That would probably put the introduction of the aluminum pommel sometime during the years 1908-1911. While I've only casually looked, I've not seen a datable example or illustration/catalog cut showing the mushroom-shaped symmetrical aluminum pommel by any maker prior to this.

The Marble's Ideal was copied by many knifemakers in both Europe and the US. The 1931 catalog showed Western's version of the Marble's Ideal: the Western G46. At that time, Western was still using the Marble's-style pommel that appeared symmetrical when viewed from the side on most patterns. However, the 48-pattern knives were using the asymmetrical pommel by then.

According to The Knife Makers Who Went West, Western adopted the asymmetrical cap for at least some models when the patented twin-tang construction began to be used. By the time illustrations were prepared for the 1936 catalog, more fixed blade models had been introduced (or were illustrated) and used the asymmetrical pommel.

The 1941 catalog still shows several patterns using the symmetrical cap, but re-use of older illustrations was a not-uncommon practice. All knives produced for military use during WWII appear to have used either the asymmetrical cap (in aluminum or bakelite) or to use a flat washer cap as seen on the G46-8, SeaBee, some of the G46-6s.

As for reading material, the best reference for Western knives is The Knife Makers Who Went West by Harvey Platts, grandson of the founder and president of Western Cutlery Co at the time he wrote the book. Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values editions 1-4 are an excellent source for information on early 20th century knives by various makers. (Note: Levine had no editorial connection with the 5th edition and doesn't recommend it.) Various catalogs from manufacturers and wholesalers/retailers would be another possible source, if you can find them.

Good luck in your search!
Jim
Quality should not be an accident. So what is the explanation for some of the knives we've seen in the past few years? (from A Knifebuyer's Manifesto)
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thawk
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Re: The Western Rounded End Knob?

Post by thawk »

In The Knife Makers Who Went West, it states the first fixed blade knife Western States Cutlery & Mfg made was in 1928. It did not have an end cap or guard. It was a 63 Pattern (pg 59) handled with bone stag. (jigged cow bone). Great book to read and look at too by the way.
Hal
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FRJ
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Re: The Western Rounded End Knob?

Post by FRJ »

The Book.
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