All About Pocket Knives

Don't see any sign of one, Charlie. Definitely been carried and used, might have been worn off. Have any other examples you know of, been stamped with the "Patent App. For" mark and was Robeson actually given a patent on these?

WB

They made the MasterCraft knives with the bronze bearing attached to the end of the tang. There were two to three dovetail type indentions on the blade end to hold the bearing in place.

As David said, those had a tendency to come off.

It has been written elsewhere that after Emerson Case was brought in to run the company in 1940, they moved the bearing from the tang to the backspring.

I have no idea whose idea that might have been. Might have been Emerson Case or might have been a Mr. Cooper, a long time innovative employee that was responsible for most of Robeson's patents.

I forget his first name at the moment. Might have been James.

Charlie

Well this one operates smooth as glass, so i'd say it was a pretty decent idea.
Thanks for the info guys, i've learned something new.

WB

Gang,

I have always admired Robeson knives, but never owned one. I think this one is really different and hoped Charlie might expound about it for us.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Robeson ... 1129514901


What would it be called, what was its use? Truly a unique pattern.

PA, I saw that yesterday. I think it's a corn knife. I have two, one with bone like this one, the other with pearl.

One of my knives has the usual corn blade, the other has an unusual scimitar type blade.

I'll post pics of them later, cannot do so from this computer or you can see them in the Knife Gallery I on www.RobesonsRme.com.

I think the blade on the Ebay knife is down a bit.

It is an unusual and seldom seen pattern. I think that is only about the 4th or 5th one I've ever encountered.

Charlie

I wonder about it being a corn knife, doesn't seem to have a razor edge for trimming skin? The choil area is certainly different, but then if its been honed, I may not be seeing the true blade. Very interesting pattern and the upturn on the end is unique, again I wonder if that had a purpose or simply a design idea.

Here are my two.

They both have the same pattern number as the Ebay knife, except of course the pearl starts with "7" instead of "6".

Charlie Noyes

PA Knives wrote:What would it be called, what was its use? Truly a unique pattern.

PA Knives wrote:I wonder about it being a corn knife, doesn't seem to have a razor edge for trimming skin? The choil area is certainly different, but then if its been honed, I may not be seeing the true blade. Very interesting pattern and the upturn on the end is unique, again I wonder if that had a purpose or simply a design idea.

David, they are Castration knives.

Still made in some European countries, you will see this style more often than not made by German and English knife companies.

Robeson is one of the very few American companies I have seen that made this particular style, the most common to be found are the all Stainless Steel ones made by Ulster & Utica on these the blades do not have the extended tang or the thumb groove however the blade is shaped the same.

Like this one. http://www.ebay.de/itm/Taschenmesser-Dr ... 5af57e2388

Just goes to show that even after 40 years of knives I can still learn something. AWESOME

Not disagreeing with Dimitri, but these three Robesons are only 3 3/16" in length. Does that fall into a length range consistent with castrating knives?

Just asking.

Charlie Noyes

RobesonsRme.com wrote:These three Robesons are only 3 3/16" in length. Does that fall into a length range consistent with castrating knives?

Yes, all the English examples I have are between 3"-3 1/4" long.

Thanks. Now I have to change the descriptions in my database.

Charlie

I bid on an old Robeson postcard last evening. I thought it was an image of the factory I'd never seen before.

I was outbid.

So, I copied the auction photos.

Today, I did some simple rotating and cropping and suddenly, the postcard looked more familiar.

Here are two postcards.

First one is the card I copied and edited.

Second one is a card I have owned for some time.

Look at the four individuals on the cards, an adult and two children facing the street and another adult facing the building.

They are the same on both cards.

Telephone and power poles and two wagons have been removed, but I think their shadows remain.

So, just how long has PhotoShop been around?

Charlie Noyes

DEF. SAME PIC
interesting

Great knives Charlie, both area really beautiful. I am Glad to learn that they are for castration. Another blade pattern added to the list.
Also, nice photographs Charlie. A thread of just old cutlery company photographs would be good.

Try this thread Beechtree.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 35&t=26977

WB

In all the years I've been collecting Robeson pocketknives, I've never really had an opportunity to acquire their pre-WWII, circa 1920's to 30's bone handled swell-end two blade electrician's jack, pattern numbered 622806.

I've never even actually been able to hold and examine one. Neither junkers nor anything even resembling decent. They just don't seem to be out there.

There was a beautiful example that sold on Ebay a couple of years ago, but it went for several hundred dollars and was out of reach quite quickly. I posted photos of that knife to AAPK shortly after it sold.

This past week, two popped up on Ebay. Go figure.

One, once again, was a beautiful knife with fully etched master spear/wire stripper blade in almost mint condition. It was listed as a regular absolute auction.

The other was used, grey and pitted, offered with a Buy-It-Now price of $179.00.

I wasn't especially interested in the used knife at that price, but the almost mint example was a sight to behold.

So, I put a bargain basement bid on it, knowing full well it would not hold as I suspected the knife would go in excess of four hundred dollars.

I sort of forgot about it.

I checked my E-mail last PM and Lo and Behold, I'd won the knife. Not only had I won it, but I'd gotten it for less than the Buy-It-Now price on the used and pitted one!

I'm ecstatic! Cannot wait to have it in hand. Sure hope I haven't bought a pig-in-a poke.

Here are the auction photos. They are quite good, so I'm going to post them in lieu of waiting to scan my own photos. They should expand with a left click.

Charlie Noyes

AMAZING CONGRATS!

Fantastic, great news Charlie. A great price for such a rare and fine knife.

Well done Charlie.You won't find a better one.......not for that price.

Well, the Robeson 622806 3 5/8" EO Electrician's Jack arrived today.

This knife is better than I thought. Better than suggested by the auction photos. In fact, it's as nice as any knife I own and I own some very nice Robesons.

It snaps like a bear trap. The blades are perfectly centered between the center and outer liners. The original Robeson glaze finish is near perfect. This knife has not been cleaned in any way. It's very close to a "factory fresh" knife. The backsprings look like mirrors. The brown bone handles are not cracked or chipped. It has never been used and appears to have never been carried.

Now, the kicker. In my post above, I referenced a similar knife that sold on Ebay a few years ago for several hundred dollars. Actually, it sold for $354.00 plus shipping.

Here is the post I made to AAPK re' that knife with some of its auction photos:

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 35&t=22846

I have compared that knife to the one I just received.

They are the very same knife.

I just paid less than half what the knife had sold for previously to get something I was outbid on in the original auction.

What a deal on a superlative piece of utilitarian pocket cutlery.

Charlie Noyes

This sweet little tear-drop Robeson jack sold on Ebay the other day. I was quite interested, but I was bidding on the above electrician's jack and, so, did not bid on this one.

It's nice, but has some wear and a tipped master blade, but what a nice, interesting old pattern.

Tom Kalcevic, in Knives Can Talk!, describes and illustrates this stamp, but the knife he shows has "ENGLAND" on the back of one blade.

He dates the stamp 1885 to 1890.

The Ebay seller said nothing about a country of origin on this knife. I suppose if the knife dates 1885 or so, there would be no country of origin, as that was not mandated until about 1891.

I think it looks English.

I'm beginning to regret not going after this knife. It sold for $73.33.

Charlie Noyes

As I've said ,no one I know that I would rather have gotten that electricians knife.Great story.Charlie as I've told Charlie Campagna,you reap what you sow.Hey , stop antagonizing my competitors.