The Rogers Bone Thread

[jerryd6818]

861?

[tongueriver]

861?

In the Camillus lineup it would be a 69. or.... Schrade Cut.Co. 8613, Schrade open-stock 861 (as you say), or 61OT. One of my favorite patterns.

[carrmillus]

.....whatever it is, I like that bone!!!................. .......................

[tongueriver]

Here is another Camillus for Sears.

And another.

Here is another one; I don't know who made it for Henry Sears 1865. Queen was one of their trademarks, unrelated to the Queen company.

[jerryd6818]

861?

In the Camillus lineup it would be a 69. or.... Schrade Cut.Co. 8613, Schrade open-stock 861 (as you say), or 61OT. One of my favorite patterns.

Yes, that's what I'm talking about.

Dale gave me a shield and I've epoxied it in since this picture was taken.

Haven't seen it in a while but IIRC the handles are bone, just not Rogers Bone.

[JohnR]

Picked up this 4 line Camillus that was dirty and rusted, after some cleaning its a pretty decent knife with some beautiful bone which I think is the Rogers Bone.

[jerryd6818]

Wow! That is a sweetie and that bone is gorgeous. The steel pins make me think WWII.

[carrmillus]

....that is a beauty, JR!!!!......looks like rogers bone to me!!!......... ..............

[JohnR]

Thanks guys, was a pleasant surprise to find that under the dirt and rust, wish I had a before pic.

[peanut740]

Ditto.

[Mumbleypeg]

I like it!

Ken

[bighomer]

Wow that's a beauty, it must to got dirty and rusty lying in a box in the barn, most that I find of that age have been sharpened to death.

[RalphAlsip]

This is a Case XX 6165 flat ground blade handled in red Rogers bone.

I don't think this knife is a particularly good implementation of the Rogers jigging. I think it would look better if it were more densely and more crisply jigged comparable to JohnR's Camillus pictures a few posts earlier. I do think the overall knife is pretty.

[LongBlade]

Beautiful knife Ralph ... was Rogers bone dyed for some other cutleries as well or are there other examples of cutleries using red dyed jigged Rogers bone - or is this a Case knife attribute or a Case knife "thing"? Just curious... did Rogers dye the bone or the Case factory in this example??... while I may not have the experience of you or many others - I never quite thought all Rogers bone had a particular jigging pattern... for me certain cutleries jigging patterns just don't seem consistent over the years that many existed and if indeed Rogers did the jigging that may have changed due to the individual doing the work even at Rogers... just a thought... and my 2 cents or opinion... For me identifying the majority of knife handles based on a jigging pattern is really difficult but maybe that is just me...

[orvet]

This may answer a few questions about Rogers bone.
This is an article written by Bernard Levine and was published in Knife World Magazine #119; ©1987


"Rogers bone was made by the Rogers Manufacturing Company of
Rockfall, Connecticut. On the telephone I interviewed Mr. Vincent
Bitel, Senior, president of the Rogers Manufacturing Company, and his
son, Mr. Vincent Bitel, Junior.
Mr. Bitel, Senior, informed me that the firm started in business in
1891, making manufactured bone products, and also bone fertilizer.
They began to make jigged bone pocketknife scales around the turn of
the century. Other manufactured bone products included combs,
toothbrush handles, baby pacifiers, and one of their biggest sellers,
corn-cob pipe bits. This particular item was discontinued in the
1950s.
Early in the century, one of this firm's competitors in the bone
business was Rogers & Hubbard. About the time of the First World War,
Rogers Mfg. Co. traded its bone fertilizer operation to Rogers &
Hubbard, and received in return the other firm's manufactured bone
products business. From that time forward, Rogers Mfg. Co. was the
nation's largest maker of manufactured bone products.
At first, all of the bone used by Rogers Mfg. Co. came from domestic
cattle. By the 1920s, and perhaps even earlier, all of it was coming
from overseas, mainly from Argentina.
Most of Rogers's pocketknife handle material was made in the
distinctive jigging pattern that collectors call "Rogers bone," but
that the firm in fact called "Rogers Stag." Rogers Stag was made
using a specially designed jigging machine which the company still
has, but that has not been used since 1962 (they have no interest in
starting it up again). They also made small quantities of other
styles of jigged bone for pocketknives.
Rogers Mfg. Co. also made jigged bone for hunting knives and for
kitchen utensils. For hunting knives, they made a style of jigging
they called "Indian Trail." This is a long random "worm" style of
jigging. Their biggest customer for bone kitchen utensil handles was
Landers Frary & Clark, who used the bone mainly on kitchen forks.
During the Second World War, Rogers's production of jigged bone
handles continued without interruption. Many of those handles wound
up on cutlery items made for the government.
The bone used by Rogers during the war was all imported. It came
from Argentina, Brazil, and a new source: Australia. The Australian
bone came mainly from old (15+ years old) tough range cattle, and so
was very thick and dense and strong. This heavy Australian bone was
used mainly for hunting knife handles.
In the 1950s, cost-conscious cutlery manufacturers began to
discontinue the production of bone handled pocketknives. Rogers Mfg.
Co. changed with the changing times, and began to offer synthetic
pocketknife handles. Mr. Bitel, who started with Rogers in 1955, was
involved in the transition. He states that Rogers Mfg. Co. was the
first firm to produce pocketknife scales made out of Delrin (a DuPont
acetal resin). One trademark Rogers used for synthetic handle
materials was Romco.
Rogers Mfg. Co. last sold bone pocketknife handle material in 1962.
The firm still supplies limited quantities of synthetic handle
material to the cutlery industry, but domestic and foreign competitors
have taken most of that specialized business away."

[Duffer]

Mumbleypeg (Ken) asked me to post pictures of this Schatt & Morgan Jack with worm groove bone handles here on this Rogers Bone thread also. Here is my original post if you missed it http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... avid+Clark. Thanks and Happy Holidays Lloyd

[LongBlade]

Thanks for posting that article Dale ... I wasn't aware that company was so long lived...

Nice knife Duffer ... Rogers bone and worm grooved jigging, nice tribal spear blade... beauty....

[Tsar Bomba]

I'll bump this thread with my only confirmed example of Rogers bone (besides the newer Case "Rogers-branded" jigged bone knives, model numbers prefixed with "ROG") -- this Voos barehead jack I acquired from Scott (TripleF on AAPK). In case there's any confusion it's the middle knife:

[philco]

Great looking bone on that one TB.

[Tsar Bomba]

Great looking bone on that one TB.

Thanks, Phil, it feels great in hand too. A HOK if ever there was one.

[jlw257]

Three Early Rogers Bone Trappers

Larry

[RalphAlsip]

Beautiful bone and beautiful knives Larry! I really like the Tested trapper

[CheckSix]

the one I know for sure that has Rogers bone...

Cattaraugus Dogleg Jack

[jlw257]

Very nice Dave

Thanks Jerry

Larry

[CheckSix]

Thanks Larry!

Here is one I was told that was Rogers... but I don't have enough experience to recognize it and know for sure.

Camillus 4 line Harness jack...