Gunsil wrote:Sorry about the typo. I had always thought it was 1886 for the Hammer Brand, but looked in Goins' who says 1878. There are a few mistakes in Goins' and I think the 1886 is correct. Still, as I have stated there were many NYK knives in the Hammer Brand era with only etched Hammer brand marks so the lack of a Hammer Brand stamp is no indicator that a knife is fake. I agree that the knives referred to here are not good knives. The lack of nice top grinds (improperly often called "swedges") is a good indication of a modern fake.
Totally agree with you there Gunsil, I have a few of those etched knives, although two of them have both the etch and the Hammer Brand stamp.
The most glaring red flag to me is the pen blade on the pile side, I've never seen a New York Knife (or Wallkill River Works) jack with that configuration, either in person or in catalogs. The pen blade is always first with a full length top grind on the pile side for ease of access to the big spear, which should also have a straight pull and not a crescent. The Wallkill pattern comes close to a NYK pattern, but the bolsters are completely different, blades are again backwards. I'd be surprised if the shields are pinned.
Eric