Henry Sears and Son 1865

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1fartsmella
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by 1fartsmella »

This next one is an Ebony whittler 3 3/8" closed with birds eye rivets stamped HENRY SEARS & SON PRUSSIA. The unusual thing about this knife is the master blade does not rest on the kick when closed. The tip of the blade sits in a tiny groove in the spacer between the 2 small blades. I try to be gentle when closing the master blade. It's got wicked snap. Barry
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FRJ
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by FRJ »

Thanks Barry. I assumed it had two springs. I always wince when I see two ends sprung, :D
It would sure be nice to know the maker.
I have a little candle end tiped bolster in a lobster pattern with similar scales.
It's a Keen Kutter, so were back to square one.
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1fartsmella
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by 1fartsmella »

This one is a 2 3/4" closed congress whittler with abalone handles. I've seen abalone handled knives made by Utica, New York Knife Co, Robeson & Cattaraugus. Although that is no indication of who made this one stamped HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 on all 3 blades. It sure would be nice to find some documentation about who made these knives for HS&S.
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by kootenay joe »

Regarding the 3 3/8" Ebony whittler, i thought the grooved spacer was there to allow master blade to have maximum possible length, not to support the blade at the tip.
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by FRJ »

That's a beautiful whittler, Barry.
Thank you.
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by peanut740 »

Henry Sears and Son Prussia teardrop toenail,Aka Tom Thumb.
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by FRJ »

Wow!
Beautiful knife and beautiful pictures, Roger.
Thanks for showing that one. ::tu::
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by espn77 »

Roger, that is about as mint as mint gets. Very nice
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by kootenay joe »

Wow. Amazing !
With "Prussia" this is at least 110 years old. Roger do you agree that "Prussia" indicates prior to about 1910 ?
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by djknife13 »

1fartsmella wrote:This one is a 2 3/4" closed congress whittler with abalone handles. I've seen abalone handled knives made by Utica, New York Knife Co, Robeson & Cattaraugus. Although that is no indication of who made this one stamped HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 on all 3 blades. It sure would be nice to find some documentation about who made these knives for HS&S.
I see you posted another whittler knife with both blades working off the same spring open. You may have missed what Joe meant when he said he winced when he saw both blades open. If you open both blades all the way it doesn't overload the spring. When you open them both half way you could and sooner or later will snap the spring in two and wreck the knife. It makes for a nice picture but isn't worth sacrificing the knife for. ___Dave
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by kootenay joe »

Dave, i am sure Barry knows about the springs. He is one of the most experienced & knowledgeable collectors here at AAPK.
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OLDE CUTLER
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by OLDE CUTLER »

djknife13 wrote:
1fartsmella wrote:This one is a 2 3/4" closed congress whittler with abalone handles. I've seen abalone handled knives made by Utica, New York Knife Co, Robeson & Cattaraugus. Although that is no indication of who made this one stamped HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 on all 3 blades. It sure would be nice to find some documentation about who made these knives for HS&S.
I see you posted another whittler knife with both blades working off the same spring open. You may have missed what Joe meant when he said he winced when he saw both blades open. If you open both blades all the way it doesn't overload the spring. When you open them both half way you could and sooner or later will snap the spring in two and wreck the knife. It makes for a nice picture but isn't worth sacrificing the knife for. ___Dave
I was wondering about just that when I bought this boxed Scout knife last week. It was made in 1985, so it has been sitting in this box for over 30 years probably with the blades all open like this the whole time. When I got it home I closed all the blades, but then it wouldn't fit back in the box correctly. It still seems to have good snap and works OK though.
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djknife13
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by djknife13 »

Yeah, it's kind of like my kids "reminding" me to wear my seat belt like I don't know I'm suppose to but I've driven to town hundreds of times without it and I made it just fine. It seems to be more of a risk with old knives. I saw a friend do that to an old knife he just won at an auction and warned him that it might break the spring. He took the knife home and opened it and liked the way it displayed open and put it on a shelf that way. It took about a week before it snapped. Some snap right away. Some just seem to do OK with the extra tension but I suspect that a lot of the knives that have lost their walk have been pushed along with abuse like this. ____Dave
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by danno50 »

Great thread, Joe! Lots of spectacular knives! ::tu::
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by Redcrossman »

Is this related? HENRY SEARS CO PRUSSIA. Do ya'll know anything about this knife, other than a broken blade?
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by FRJ »

Redcrossman, thanks for putting your Henry Sears Prussia in the thread. Too bad your blade is broken. That was a real looker when it was new with those birdseye rivets and black covers. ::tu::
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by OLDE CUTLER »

I picked up this Henry Sears & Son 1865 USA 3 7/8" stockman at a gun show over the weekend for a few bucks. Been used a lot and sharpened a lot, but still a good old knife. Handle material looks good, not sure if it is celluloid or not????
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by BWT »

Good looking knife OC!!! ::tu::
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by FRJ »

OLDE CUTLER, that's a good looking stockman. There's plenty of life left in it. ::tu::
Thanks for showing it here.
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by FRJ »

Here's a nice little folder that has seen some abuse.
It makes me think someone cut themselves and left the blood on the knife.
Well, it's mine now and a great little packer it is with very strong springs and half stops and full blades.
I don't think the pen has been sharpened.
No brass to be found. 3 3/8" closed.
I guess those covers are Rosewood.
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by JohnR »

Nice one Joe, really like the old jacks with a sheepsfoot main.
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OLDE CUTLER
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by OLDE CUTLER »

FRJ wrote:Here's a nice little folder that has seen some abuse.
It makes me think someone cut themselves and left the blood on the knife.
Well, it's mine now and a great little packer it is with very strong springs and half stops and full blades.
I don't think the pen has been sharpened.
No brass to be found. 3 3/8" closed.
I guess those covers are Rosewood.
That is a nice old H S & S knife. The covers may be rosewood or in the photos there appears to be some lighter colored streaks that would indicate coca bola. (or maybe I am seeing things.)
"Sometimes even the blind chicken finds corn"
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by FRJ »

Thank you, John. ::tu::

OLDE CUTLER, my camera actually highlighted the streaks in the wood.
After looking the covers over the streaks aren't that pronounced.
Finally, I can blame the camera.
I don't know the difference between Rosewood and Coco Bola but your remarks are informative.
Thank you.
Joe
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OLDE CUTLER
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by OLDE CUTLER »

FRJ wrote:Thank you, John. ::tu::

OLDE CUTLER, my camera actually highlighted the streaks in the wood.
After looking the covers over the streaks aren't that pronounced.
Finally, I can blame the camera.
I don't know the difference between Rosewood and Coco Bola but your remarks are informative.
Thank you.
I have turned quite a few pens and rehandled many knives with both coca bola and rosewood. Rosewood seems to be more of a uniform color and coca bola will generally have some lighter colored streaks. Note that rosewood can come from different parts of the world and can vary somewhat from that. Pictured are some pieces that I have on hand now. Either of these make some really nice knife handles and have been used by many of the manufactures over the years as kind of a "premium" wood for handles. These pieces show are also freshly sawn and they will look slightly different with ageing and the type of wood finish used.
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Re: Henry Sears and Son 1865

Post by FRJ »

Thank you, OLDE CUTLER, it really helps to see the difference in the two woods.
Now I have a much better understanding of the two.
I think my covers are Rosewood.
Thank you for that. ::handshake::
Joe
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