Old Miniature Knives

This forum is dedicated to the discussion and display of old knives. The rich history of all the many companies that made them through the early years will be found here as well as many fine examples of the cutlers art. Share pictures of your old knives and your knowledge here!
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Miller Bro's
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Miller Bro's »

Mason wrote:That's a beautiful little dagger which looks very well made. The sheath appears German, any ideas on the knife's origin?
The sheath,blade design and tang all resemble German boot daggers made between WWI & WWII. This is a dead ringer in miniature scale.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

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Mason wrote:Here is a little guy with a big name, "Czechoslovakia" in two parts.
Nice one, I see a lot of these miniatures that came from Czechoslovakia.


This is one of the better quality ones I have seen. It has 10-blades! The handles are MOP, unfortunately they are chipped on both sides :(

All the blades have excellent snap and the liners are even coined.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Mason »

Miller Bro`s wrote:
Mason wrote:Here is a little guy with a big name, "Czechoslovakia" in two parts.
Nice one, I see a lot of these miniatures that came from Czechoslovakia.


This is one of the better quality ones I have seen. It has 10-blades! The handles are MOP, unfortunately they are chipped on both sides :(

All the blades have excellent snap and the liners are even coined.
Very nice. I can only imagine the frustration and patience the makers must have had in working with these tiny knives, especially the multi blade models.

Here is a little German "D. Peres" fish style.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

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Mason wrote:Here is a little German "D. Peres" fish style.
I like the figural miniatures!

That fish design is 8)

This is one of my favorites...............
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Made by Robeson. 1 3/4" I believe. No pattern number.

Not as small as some in this thread, but smaller than others.

Charlie Noyes
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Miller Bro's »

Nice one Charlie ::tu::
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Mason »

Miller Bro`s wrote:
Mason wrote:Here is a little German "D. Peres" fish style.
I like the figural miniatures!

That fish design is 8)

This is one of my favorites...............
Very cool, and I have not seen that style before.

Here is a German spring fired model with the "Omega" stamp.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Mason »

RobesonsRme.com wrote:Made by Robeson. 1 3/4" I believe. No pattern number.

Not as small as some in this thread, but smaller than others.

Charlie Noyes
Beautiful little knife.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Miller Bro's »

The spring fired miniatures are always a rare find, thanks for showing it! :D

This is a bone handle miniature bowie knife etched I*XL on the blade and it has the original scabbard.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Mason »

Miller Bro`s wrote:The spring fired miniatures are always a rare find, thanks for showing it! :D

This is a bone handle miniature bowie knife etched I*XL on the blade and it has the original scabbard.
Very unique and another new one to me. Is the scabbard all brass?
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

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Mason wrote:Is the scabbard all brass?
Yes it is.

I think it had some type of leather frog at one time ::shrug::
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Miller Bro's »

Here are a couple little silver fruit knives!
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by toolboy »

2" closed
more novelty than miniature
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by knife7knut »

Here's a few more;not exactly miniature but small.
The nail files are all marked USA with sterling covers;the mini spatula is a Miller Brothers.
The 4 blade is a Krusius Brothers Germany.
The group is various makers.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by knife7knut »

Thought I'd throw these in as they are really small versions of larger knives.The only two I have ever come across.I guess you would call them backup diver's knives.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by knife-nut »

I saw this link on another site, and thought you guys would enjoy this. Several miniatures inside handles. http://www.neatorama.com/spotlight/2013 ... ht/#!rKZ62
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by knifetime »

KK Coolest knife I have ever saw and it is a beast.

I love em also.Hear are the ones i have pics of.
I would consider the camp set a miniature set.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by treefarmer »

Just now "really" looked at the thing knife-nut posted. I wonder what are the physical dimensions of the knife? And as for the history, etc.. how long did it take to build and is it the work of one person? Can the miniatures actually be removed from the compartments under the handles? One thing is sure, somebody had a lot of time on their hands.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by knife7knut »

treefarmer wrote:Just now "really" looked at the thing knife-nut posted. I wonder what are the physical dimensions of the knife? And as for the history, etc.. how long did it take to build and is it the work of one person? Can the miniatures actually be removed from the compartments under the handles? One thing is sure, somebody had a lot of time on their hands.
Treefarmer
I wonder as well just how big that knife really is.I count at least twenty backsprings(judging from the fact that there are 21 liners;all file worked)and even assuming that the miniatures are about an inch to two inches long the knife must be huge.

I have seen stories of similar knives being made by other manufacturers and they employed many of their master craftsmen to collaborate on these pieces;doing them when business was slow. The Joseph Rodgers Year Knife if I recall correctly took over two years to make and quite a few workers.I believe the last blade they added to it was in 1922 and it was said that they employed one person just to maintain it.He would open the blades;one at a time and wipe them down and then close them. This procedure took nearly two weeks!
I believe that all of the miniature knives are capable of being removed and function fully.I would love to see this knife in person;does anyone know where it is? Probably a museum somewhere.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

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knife7knut wrote:I would love to see this knife in person;does anyone know where it is? Probably a museum somewhere.

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

As to its size:

I took this off another site displaying the same photos. Apparently, the knife is currently on display at The Buffalo Bill Museum in Wyoming.

"According the Smithsonian website the knife - which is 3.5 ins wide and 9 ins long - wasn’t really meant to be carried. It reads: ‘Knives like this were made exclusively for exhibition to highlight the cutlers’ art. They were so difficult to make they were only attempted by the most notable firms with the most talented artisans. They could be seen at various fairs and industrial expositions during the 19th century."

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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Shearer »

Received these two in the mail today.
Knife has USA on tang . 3 7/8" long
The hatcket has Imperial prov.USA. 3 1/2" long
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by garddogg56 »

::tu:: I have the same Sheerer do you have the sheath?
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Shearer »

garddogg56 wrote:::tu:: I have the same Sheerer do you have the sheath?
No sheaths.
These are the first one's I purchased.I didn't know they made many minitures to I seen them on AAPK.The other members have some very good examples.
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Re: Old Miniature Knives

Post by Mason »

knife-nut wrote:I saw this link on another site, and thought you guys would enjoy this. Several miniatures inside handles. http://www.neatorama.com/spotlight/2013 ... ht/#!rKZ62
Incredible knife!!!
It would be interesting to know who actually made this knife for "John S. Holler" and if they originally commissioned it for the company or a customer?
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