All About Pocket Knives

This is not a Stone knife but his partner, Ralph Bone. You sure can tell the two worked together, not sure who copied who, I bought this knife in 1967 or 8 in Boulder, Co. It has been on several elk and deer hunts, really good knife. I met Ralph in 1980 at the NRA convention in K.C., he was a stock maker then and engraver of guns. Very talented guys. Terry

Those knives are so similar that I would be hard pressed to say who-s was who-s.
They look like the same maker on different days but the sheaths are very different.

No matter, I love the flow of those blades.

Actually the sheaths on earlier Stone fixed blades look like that. I'd bet they were made by the same person.
I've heard it speculated that during their partnership Stone actually made most of the knives, even though Bone's name was on some. Bone did most of the gunsmith work. Whether that is true or not I do not know, but looking at their knives I can see how one could get that impression. Fine work, either way!

Ken

Since Ralph Bone made knives in Lubbock also I've heard some guys talk about him. His earlier knives had a S below the Bone stamp. The way it was told to me those were the only knives actually made by him????

I can live with that as a distinct possibility.

I used to have a partner building race boats (19-21') out on Long Island.
He was the outboard mechanic, and I was the designer, and builder of the boats.

Once in a blue moon (let's call him Joe Dirt) Joe would feel a bug where he wanted to add his ideas to a hull. If we were slow, and nothing else were interrupted, I would build his hull but I would NOT put my name on it.

It was his idea, and his burden. I just made it happen... Today there are maybe 1/2 a dozen "Joe Dirt" hulls around but I know who really built them.

I can see the same/similar thing happening here.

The sheath on my Bone knife was made by Johnson's Leather, Casselberry , Fl. So neither Bone or Stone made it. Johnson's made sheaths for a lot of early Randall knives, after Heiser Saddlery made them for Randall. Since I bought it new in a shop, it is original to the knife. A little trivia for you. Also the tang stamp is the "dog bone" with Bone, Lubbock,Tx stamped on it (no S)? The opposite side tang has C 525 stamped on it. Maybe Ralph made knives when in Lubbock, I'm not sure if Stone was with him then. Terry

terryl308 wrote:This is not a Stone knife but his partner, Ralph Bone. You sure can tell the two worked together, not sure who copied who, I bought this knife in 1967 or 8 in Boulder, Co. It has been on several elk and deer hunts, really good knife. I met Ralph in 1980 at the NRA convention in K.C., he was a stock maker then and engraver of guns. Very talented guys. Terry

Beautiful knives. May be just me but I am seeing a strong Bo Randall influence.

Terry, I hadn't noticed your Ralph Bone knife was marked "Lubbock". It wasn't likely made by Stone. Bone moved to Lubbock, while Stone remained in Richardson.

Cal, I agree about the Randall influence. G.W. readily acknowledged admiration for and inspiration from Randall. But he had many unique (at the time) original designs of his own, which in turn inspired later generations of knifemakers. Here's a few Stone originals (not my knives).
As posted previously, Stone's knives were renowned and prized for their steel. viewtopic.php?f=19&t=45241#p597662 He couldn't keep up with demand, plus some customers wanted folders. So to satisfy his customers it's said that he started buying Buck folding hunters and re-blading them with his blades. That was quicker because he didn't have to build the frames.
Ken

Schrade fixed blade knives.

Very nice Schrade collection! I guess I'll have to go to Australia to find the good ones.
It's funny how the major makers influence other makers down the line, Scalgel influence on Bo Randall, Randall on a bunch of makers (including me1) like Bone and Stone. Also Blackjack used Randalls models on their knives. I don't see many stone knives up here in Nebraska, wish I would run across one, I'll keep looking! thanks for the response Ken. Terry

That is some serious set of Schrades!!!

That's a impressive collection of Schrade's... ...some very nice knives.
The Western pattern G 46-8 is a favorite of mine.
Top knife is WW II vintage. Middle knife with the birds head pommel I'm thinking 60's - 70's, not real sure.
Bottom knife has a rather large pommel, probably 80's, another guess.

Most impressive!!
Thanks for showing everyone.

WelderBob wrote:That's a impressive collection of Schrade's... ...some very nice knives.
The Western pattern G 46-8 is a favorite of mine.
Top knife is WW II vintage. Middle knife with the birds head pommel I'm thinking 60's - 70's, not real sure.
Bottom knife has a rather large pommel, probably 80's, another guess.

For the middle one, with more detailed pics of the stamps, I can narrow it down a little.

For the bottom one, look at the single letter in the 3rd row of the stamp. Western started date-stamping their knives in 1977 with a singleton "A", then a "B" in 1978, and so on. On my monitor, I can't quite see the letter clearly. Kinda looks like a B, D, or E.

Some pic's of tang's on the middle knife. I like the feel and balance of this one, nice handles.
Bottom knife is a E so 1981. Did they use this style pommel to the end ?

ZZ thanks for the information, I have one more, its a blade only with a serial number on it, I'll dig it out.

Nice knives everyone.
Very interesting Bone and Stone knives.

Schrade made this set in 2000. D'holder and Lake & Walker, both have BG42 blades. Ken.

Schrade RL2 the first Loveless knife made by Schrade.

Bob, short answer, between 1955 and 1972 for the middle one.

Long answer -

That pile side model number means that earliest it was made is 1955, when Western first stamped model numbers on the blades. Starting in 1973, Western dropped reference to Boulder Colorado in their blade stamps.

In 1968, Western shifted the model number to the guard. Except for the L46-x for some reason. The L46-5, L46-6 and L46-8 retained the pile side model numbers. The only reason I can come up with is that they still had a huge pile of pile marked knives to sell. I believe that the L46-x series were discontinued NLT 1973 as I have never seen one without "Boulder Colo" on them.

Based on looking at these for nearly 40 years, I have NEVER seen a guard marked L46-x or W46-8. To me at least, this is highly persuasive circumstantial evidence that they never made any guard stamped 46s of any flavor.

As far the calf's foot pommel (CFP) goes, it first appeared in 1960 on the F14 Black Beauty large hatchet (Camp Axe in ads). It was described as a form fitting handle. The 1960 small hatchets (just called an Axe in ads), the F10 and L10, had the bird beak pommel or "aluminum end knob".

The 1968 catalog reprints are the first appearance of the CFP on something other than the F14. It was now the pommel on the L10 small hatchet and the F10 small hatchet. The F10 and L10 were only shown as part of the L6610 or F6610 knife/axe combos, but they were available for sale on an individual basis as well.

The L46-8 was replaced with the W46-8, PROBABLY in 1973. The W46-8 was in the 1975 "Western Knives and Knife Nostalgia" booklet but not the L46-5.

Wow, some very nice blades.
I just picked up this Helle Eggen. What a great knife. Took it right out into the woods and did everything I needed it to with no problems. Now it will be my hunting knife. Might have to get another one

Scandinavian knives are truly classic outdoor knives. And yours has great looks as well J1890.

I enjoy your pictures (and the stories) very much, thanks all.
Here's a cheep one from china, nothing special but my EDC at the moment.

It may be cheap, and it may be from China but that is one heck of a looker!!!

I would happily own one of those.

Ditto what Ken said. One can't really be sure about a knife until one has it in hand. But in the photo it looks kind of special to me. Very attractive. I prefer larger ricassos, but that is a quibble.

Thanks.
It sells for $45.76 at aliexpress

I am loving all these knives; thanx, guys, and special thanks to ZZ for the Western info. I just got this early 1960s R.H.Ruana. The blade is 7 13/16" so it is a beast for a sticker. The flapover sheath is also in tiptop condition. The elk antler inserts are starting to show some knice patina.