G.R. Rodgers (1820-1830) Jack Knife - Opinions and/or Suggestions Please!

[herbva]

I fished this old jack off the bay a few days ago for peanuts and just started tinkering with it. All I did so far is straighten the blades out so they aren't rubbing on each other or the liners, and I tightened the pivot pin so there is no wobble. Amazingly, it has really hard snap now. But, I'm really glad that's all I did. I just looked in Goins (last pic) and almost fell off my chair when I saw that it was made between 1820 and 1830! It is definitely the oldest knife in my collection and I don't want to harm it any further. My question is what to do about the handle scales. I can't tell if they are very worn stag or bone, or what? I have another oldie that had similar looking material, but those scales were literally falling apart and I ended up doing a full resto on that knife. I know the scales on this one look like (expletive deleted), but they are actually stable and nothing seems to be loose. Should I give it a treatment with some kind of stabilizer or preservative, or just a good coat of wax, or???? Any ideas, thoughts, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, including "just leave it alone". Thanks!

[ea42]

Very cool find Herb!! That's actually well worn stag. Whoever owned that knife really got some use out of it, pocketworn to the max! I think it looks amazing the way it is, a coat of wax is all it really needs. Whatever you do don't soak it in any kind of oil, that's the worst thing for stag.

Eric

[SwedgeHead]

Very cool piece indeed, you can almost feel it's age through the pics.
I'd be tempted to clean up some of those blade scratches, but otherwise it already commands a presence.

I read a few posts on how folks preserve antlers for taxidermy, lots of varying (and simple) opinions there, I wouldn't venture an opinion but looks like there are options if you do choose to restore them a bit. Personally I think it looks great as is.

[herbva]

Very cool find Herb!! That's actually well worn stag. Whoever owned that knife really got some use out of it, pocketworn to the max! I think it looks amazing the way it is, a coat of wax is all it really needs. Whatever you do don't soak it in any kind of oil, that's the worst thing for stag.

Eric

Thanks Eric! I actually was thinking about cleaning out the blade well with WD-40 on a rag (my usual process), but thanks for you advice. I may just use rubbing alcohol. (There is a LOT of gunk in there, and I think there may even be prehistoric critters living in there.)

[beresman]

Herb, I have no advice for you--but I got to looking at the Goins entries, and came to realize something--when there is a G (crown) R, a W (crown) R or a V (crown) R, the first initial is for the reigning monarch. George IV was king from 1820-1830, William IV was king from 1830-1837, and Victoria was queen from 1837-1901. and perhaps the R is not for Rogers but for "Rex" or "Regina" which, I believe, is also used on British coinage (or was, anyway). Maybe you know that already, but I thought it was cool.

And I'm jealous! Great knife!

[Mumbleypeg]

Wonderful find.

I’d follow Eric’s advice. Use rubbing alcohol to flush any gunk out of the joints, and put some on a cotton swab (those on the end of a wooden stick work great) and clean the blade well. Then a little lube of your choir in the same places (all metal surfaces). Tuf-Glide is my choice as it’s a great rust preventative, and a good lube in a mineral spirits carrier which dries quickly leaving no oily residue to collect dirt. Then apply RenWax per the directions to the stag.

Should be good for another 200 years!

Ken

[JCup]

Looks like it could have been made in the George IV era (1820-30) although they would likely have used the "royal warrant" after the reign.

Joseph Rodgers had a long, long run in Sheffield. This link covers much of their interesting history.

https://www.eggintongroup.co.uk/assets/ ... reigns.pdf

Jerry