All About Pocket Knives

I just received this wonderful specimen of an old I*XL Farrier's knife today. According to the marks on the tang Goins says it was made between 1890-1971 but based on the condition, steel, and overall appearance I would say maybe 1900's. This is one really well made tool, it's no wonder why so many of them have withstood the hands of time. My question is other than the knife blades, saw, steel toothpick, tweezers, awl or punch, hoof pick, and screwdriver on the end what were the other tools used for? Why does a horseman's tool have a cork screw, drill, and what heck is a Fleem used for? It looks like George Worstenholme copied the SAK with a couple of extra's. Thank you for looking and I welcome your feedback on the age of the knife and how you think the tools were used.
Richard

Man! That thing is gorgeous!! Nice snag!!!
Think horse doctor.

WB

The fleem was used for blood-letting, believed to "let the poisons out" and might have been responsible for killing George Washington. If your horse was feeling under the weather, try releasing the bad blood.

Which tools are you unsure about? Sweet knife!

The drill is handy to drill into a hoof to relieve a hoof abscess. Sometimes a stone bruise will form a pocket of infection up in the hoof, to heal it has to be drilled into.

Most of the farriers we dealt with over the years were pretty knowledgeable of vet practices. Don't you suppose in earlier times the farrier did a lot more vet work for people than they do today and the cork screw would be for the corks/stoppers in medicine bottles, liniments, etc.?
Fine lookin' old knife .
Treefarmer

Wow guys that is a some great information, I had no idea, obviously!! Thank you so much for the info.
Richard

So I got the answer on the tools which was very interesting but what do you guys think about the age, does my estimate sound pretty accurate and I know it's just an estimate.
Thanks again,
Richard

There is one more tool that most don't know about.If you look at where the hoof pick pivots you will notice a cutout in the frame of the knife.On the underside of the hoof pick there are incised V notches.The purpose of the notches is to hold a nut firmly in the cutout while the hoof pick is pushed down on it;cracking the nut.Probably used for chestnuts as they are very slippery and hard to crack.

knife7knut wrote:There is one more tool that most don't know about.If you look at where the hoof pick pivots you will notice a cutout in the frame of the knife.On the underside of the hoof pick there are incised V notches.The purpose of the notches is to hold a nut firmly in the cutout while the hoof pick is pushed down on it;cracking the nut.Probably used for chestnuts as they are very slippery and hard to crack.

Knifenut,
Wow that is so interesting!! Someone asked me about it but I had no idea, may I ask where you found that great piece of information because I did several searches on Google but couldn't find anything? No one ever answered the question about the copying of the SAK but it really looks like they did or maybe the Swiss Army people get their idea's from the Farrier knives?
Thanks,
Richard

bladeguy58 wrote:

knife7knut wrote:There is one more tool that most don't know about.If you look at where the hoof pick pivots you will notice a cutout in the frame of the knife.On the underside of the hoof pick there are incised V notches.The purpose of the notches is to hold a nut firmly in the cutout while the hoof pick is pushed down on it;cracking the nut.Probably used for chestnuts as they are very slippery and hard to crack.

Knifenut,
Wow that is so interesting!! Someone asked me about it but I had no idea, may I ask where you found that great piece of information because I did several searches on Google but couldn't find anything? No one ever answered the question about the copying of the SAK but it really looks like they did or maybe the Swiss Army people get their idea's from the Farrier knives?
Thanks,
Richard

I don't recall exactly where I read about it;probably in one of Bernard Levine's books.I have a couple of very old nut crackers that have exactly the same notches on the insides of the arms.And I remember my grandfather(who raised me)used to love chestnuts and always had a bowlful of them next to his rocking chair.He would sit there on Sundays and crack open chestnuts and tell stories.Fond memories.He passed in 1965 while I was in the Navy.

As for the copying;farrier's knives have been around a LOT longer than SAK's so if there was any copying done it was the Swiss.

knife7knut wrote:

bladeguy58 wrote:

knife7knut wrote:There is one more tool that most don't know about.If you look at where the hoof pick pivots you will notice a cutout in the frame of the knife.On the underside of the hoof pick there are incised V notches.The purpose of the notches is to hold a nut firmly in the cutout while the hoof pick is pushed down on it;cracking the nut.Probably used for chestnuts as they are very slippery and hard to crack.

Knifenut,
Wow that is so interesting!! Someone asked me about it but I had no idea, may I ask where you found that great piece of information because I did several searches on Google but couldn't find anything? No one ever answered the question about the copying of the SAK but it really looks like they did or maybe the Swiss Army people get their idea's from the Farrier knives?
Thanks,
Richard

I don't recall exactly where I read about it;probably in one of Bernard Levine's books.I have a couple of very old nut crackers that have exactly the same notches on the insides of the arms.And I remember my grandfather(who raised me)used to love chestnuts and always had a bowlful of them next to his rocking chair.He would sit there on Sundays and crack open chestnuts and tell stories.Fond memories.He passed in 1965 while I was in the Navy.

As for the copying;farrier's knives have been around a LOT longer than SAK's so if there was any copying done it was the Swiss.

A friend of mine brought up a good but rather disgusting point about using that tool to crack nut after using it for everything else it was designed for! Somehow I don't think they were as hygienic in those days as were are today. Good memories of our grandparents are some of the greatest.
Thanks again,
Richard

Gorgeous old knife.

In a book printed in 1816 those knives were referred to as "sportsman's knives"
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8529037p/f96.item

Linked from here.
http://allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_f ... 35&t=41445

Owd Wullie wrote:Gorgeous old knife.

In a book printed in 1816 those knives were referred to as "sportsman's knives"
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8529037p/f96.item

Linked from here.
http://allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_f ... 35&t=41445

Owd,
Thanks that was a great link!
Thanks again,
Richard

Fantastic and beautiful old knife bladeguy
K7K, fantastic information, thanks for sharing those tidbits. Hearing about your grandfather makes me want to crack into a few Chestnuts, or pecans at least, right now.

Beechtree wrote:Fantastic and beautiful old knife bladeguy
K7K, fantastic information, thanks for sharing those tidbits. Hearing about your grandfather makes me want to crack into a few Chestnuts, or pecans at least, right now.

Thanks Beechtree, I've gotten a lot of compliments on it, there's something about a tool that is that old and in that great of shape that makes you feel like you've gotten something special.
Bladeguy~