Waterville Manufacturing / Waterville Cutlery Info

[LongBlade]

Thanks Bill and woodwalker ....

[danno50]

Nice knives, Lee!

[LongBlade]

Thanks Dan ...

[FRJ]

That Waterville is a real beauty, Lee, and so are the others.

[Miller Bro's]

knife Lee

[LongBlade]

Thanks Joe and Dimitri ... much appreciated!

[KAW]

I'm really excited about this acquisition as it was from the Waterville Knife factory that 16 workers struck off on their own & started the New York Knife Co. in 1852, but I'm hoping someone can help me out with this one as it is a pattern I have not seen before. The handle appears curved like a Congress which is emphasized by the arched shield, but the bottom has a center swell to it. Is there a name to this style of jack?

There's a long convoluted history to this company that is spelled out at the beginning of this thread, but I did not come across any dates as to when this variation of tang stamp was used. Does anyone know the time period when the

Water−
−ville

tang was used? Any info would be greatly appreciated...

[LongBlade]

Sweet Ken - no doubt unusual ... Not sure if it is technically correct but I would call it a Norfolk Jack (since the Norfolk patterns I have seen that are generally pen knives are sort of a half swell-center pattern as is this knife

[danno50]

Very nice Ken! Levine calls the four blade version of this a "swell center congress or swayback". So maybe a swell center congress jack?

[Old Folder]

Here is my Pearl "Waterville" 3-3/8" Equal-End-Jack.
Master blade has the three line:
WATERVILLE
CUTLERY CO
CONN
Beautiful pearl handles, half stop blades. Tight and snappy.

[LongBlade]

Awesome Dan - Beautiful Waterville MOP Jack ... Not sure I ever met a Waterville I didn't like ...

[BWT]

That's a beautiful knife Dan, nothing not to like about that one

[Old Folder]

Thank you Lee
Thank you Bill

[woodwalker]

Beautiful knife Dan!! I only have one Waterville but it is absolutely my favorite knife! Great pickup. The pearl is just beautiful and fiery!!

[Old Folder]

Beautiful knife Dan!! I only have one Waterville but it is absolutely my favorite knife! Great pickup. The pearl is just beautiful and fiery!!

Thank you Sir
It's my one and only also. At least we have a piece of American cutlery history.

[KAW]

Sweet Ken - no doubt unusual ... Not sure if it is technically correct but I would call it a Norfolk Jack (since the Norfolk patterns I have seen that are generally pen knives are sort of a half swell-center pattern as is this knife

Thanks Lee & Dan (danno50) for the nice comments. I must admit... I have not heard (nor seen) of the Norfolk pattern.

Dan (Old Folder)... that is an awesome MoP!
I'm about to post on the "America's "Little Sheffield" thread a Dwight Devine & Sons' Ulster I just acquired that looks very similar to yours except it has 3 blades... got it at an antique show at the end of last month & it has stayed in my pocket ever since...

[Old Folder]

Sweet Ken - no doubt unusual ... Not sure if it is technically correct but I would call it a Norfolk Jack (since the Norfolk patterns I have seen that are generally pen knives are sort of a half swell-center pattern as is this knife

Thanks Lee & Dan (danno50) for the nice comments. I must admit... I have not heard )nor seen) of the Norfolk pattern.

Dan (Old Folder)... that is an awesome MoP!
I'm about to post on the "America's "Little Sheffield" thread a Dwight Devine & Sons' Ulster I just acquired that looks very similar to yours except it has 3 blades... got it at an antique show at the end of last month & it has stayed in my pocket ever since...

Thank you Ken
I just viewed your post within the "America's "Little Sheffield" thread.
You had a "VERY GOOD DAY".

[Meridian_Mike]

I just got this one from the guy that is selling off pieces of the Stidham estate.
I'm not sure if it is really a Waterville or a copy. The fit is POOR. I cleaned it up best I could and the blade will not lock open. I can see where the tang was hammered to make the blade in the closed position ride higher when closed. The blade in the open position will not lock. You can put a slight pressure on the blade and it jumps out of the lock bar. The scales look really good like they have very little wear. The scale jigging on one side doesn't match the other. A pieced together knife? SO..... what y'all think?

Before cleaning.....

I re-tipped the blade and then cleaned the blade more than I wanted to but such it is.
Cleaned up......

Mike

[BWT]

Looks good to me Mike, you saved it's life and now you have a good old knife

[Meridian_Mike]

Thanks Bill.

Mike

[LongBlade]

My opinion and as I always say I can be wrong but - The blade looks to be a true Waterville stamped blade and not a counterfeit blade - However I don't know if the handle and the rest are Waterville - at least I have never seen them use black composition handles on any knife I have seen over the years but maybe they did so at the end of their existence - the fact you say the mark side handle doesn't match the pile side handle is very suspicious!!! I have seen that alot on bone or wood handled knives that differ from mark to pile sides but no excuse for synthetic handled knife slabs to not match on each side of knife... I have seen celluloid Watervilles (not many) but no black composition faux jigged plastic handles... The fact you say the tang was hammered and the blade doesn't fit well is suspicious in addition to not locking up (though the spring lock can be broken) - to that point does the width of the blade fit the back spring??? That in itself if not matching suggests cobbling

Just my 2 cents...

[Meridian_Mike]

Well.... the fit really looks poor in general.
As far as the blade comparison to the locking lever.... the lock lever looks wider that the blade. I don't think the lock lever is broken. It locks but is easy to get the lever to jump out of the blade slot.
ALSO.... it looks like there has been some fit-up hammering on to of the tang too. You can see the obvious hammering on the bottom of the pic.... but it does look like the top had a hit too.

Mike

[LongBlade]

Mike - thanks for the other photos - looks to have been cobbled to me and no doubt something is very wrong in my opinion - the blade doesn't look like it fits that spring - and perhaps hammered (or whatever) to try and make it work/fit during a shoddy cobbling job... I would like to hear another opinion from somebody else... but I have seen many Watervilles and this knife doesn't fit the bill of the quality of all their knives that I own (one of my favorite CT makers of old) or have seen from other collectors.... I also become suspicious when I see the pins as on this bolster -sometimes I am right - sometimes I am wrong as pins can loosen due to use - in this case the photo doesn't even make them appear flush to the bolster...

[Meridian_Mike]

Thanks for your comments and observations Lee. I'm right there with ya'.

Mike

[BWT]

I've had this for a year or so and just found this thread.Waterville Co,it's 2 3/4 inches long. Very good snap opening and closing. Two blades have half stops.