All About Pocket Knives

Hi. It is an ink eraser... circa late 1800s. s-k

smiling-knife wrote:Hi. It is an ink eraser... circa late 1800s. s-k

Possible right there with Ink Eraser. I just did a lot of looking around the net and they say the ink earasers had a round point (but they look just like this knife does to me). They call them Ink Eraser, Scalpel, Bleeder, Fleam. So I guess they had many uses back in the day.

I also found out E. FABER was - Eberhard Faber;a maker of pencils,pens,and ink. So you might have hit it right on the head with ink eraser.....thanks for the input, it helped me learn more.

Draac

S-K got it right;it is an early style ink eraser and the handle doubled as a "folding bone" for making envelopes.This was before commercially made envelopes were available.

Eberhard Faber is still in business;they are a huge manufacturer of pencils and related items so this was probably either a giveaway item or contracted out from another manufacturer.I doubt they made it.A lot of companies made them;Joseph Rodgers;W.H.Morley;Wostenholm;and Miller Brothers to name a few.

Here's a few more examples by various makers.The handle materials include wood,bone,Bakelite,and sterling silver.

WOW ! a whole draw of them. very nice

Draac:
These two folding scalpels would probably qualify for that era.The handles are genuine tortoise shell and they have a small sliding lock to lock them open and closed.Medical instruments that were all steel were manufactured some time after the 1870's so as to allow them to be properly sterilized.
I have also enclosed a picture of a small medical kit (probably a dissection kit rather than one for working on living beings) by Bausch & Lomb and manufactured by(or for)Codman & Shurtleff in Boston Massachusetts.They went out of business right around the start of World War One.Note the handles on the scalpels are made of wood(probably ebony).Not sure what the tapered tube is for(middle of picture)but it is probably something gruesome.Also a large surgeon's knife with checkered ebony handles.That was part of a huge medical kit that I had a chance to buy and did not.Kicking myself for that now.

Draac wrote:Question: Could the second one with the antler handle accually be a scapel ?

Draac

No, and the handle is a poor replacement.

I see these advertised all the time on fleabay as Civil war scapels and the like.

They are ink erasers nothing more

Miller Bro`s wrote:

Draac wrote:Question: Could the second one with the antler handle accually be a scapel ?

Draac

No, and the handle is a poor replacement.

I see these advertised all the time on fleabay as Civil war scapels and the like.

They are ink erasers nothing more

Thank you "knife7knut" and "Miller Bro's". for the info....that will help me in my quest.

Draac

I did win this one last night but I do not think it dates to the Civil War (not sure what the date would be) but it's cool item to me. the price was right too $15.28.

Vintage Medical SANDS Scalpel Castration Blade Knife

Description: A Medical Sands BIG 4 5/8 inch closed knife. It has super snap, scalpel and castration blade. From Sands – a medical company. A very rare piece of medical cutlery. Mortician / autopsy blade / knife in great condition.

Draac

That's a nice knife. The main blade appears to be a corn knife, don't know about the thin secondary but probably has some function for the feet.

That Sands folding scalpel is a bit unusual in that it has a back spring;every one I've seen has either a sliding lock or a blade stop(usually a pin).The master blade is definitely a scalpel blade and the secondary is I believe a bistoury.Could have seen use as a veterinary tool;possibly for castration.It was likely made around 1900 or after but not too much after as it looks to be carbon steel rather than stainless which started around 1914.
I have a small collection of medical instruments;some of which are good for carving soft materials.You have to be careful using them for that purpose because the blades are so thin and so hard that they don't take side loading very well without breaking.
Here are some more instruments.

That particular blade is known as a Udall's teat bistoury.You can Google it for the use;it's pretty graphic.The name could possibly be Walker & Son or Walker & Hall.Their mark was W&H inside a flag and Levine's list them as being from Sheffield and in business from 1867 to 1900 which sounds like the right time frame.

I ended up picking up 5 similar to that I have done research and have been coming up with nothing if anyone can help me out please email me at fnye@hotmail.com

What information specifically are you looking for?

I am looking for possible dates, values, and if this one might doctors scalpel or blessed from the civil war. I can email pics of what I have.

Please post pictures in this thread, if you cannot, email them to me and I will post them for you