Well, Buff My LB Whittler

[4ever3]

THAT knife buffed? I 100% buy it!

That being said, if I walked up to a table and there are two knives side by side in a common pattern and handle material one has been buffed and the other hasn’t? I buy the one that hasn’t been buffed.

[Jacknifeben]

I am not worried about buffing my lock back WHITTLER with stag handles.

[doglegg]

Jackknifeben, I think someone buffed that one on the concrete.

[kootenay joe]

'ben' is that LB an old Henckels ?
kj

[btrwtr]

Roland given the rarity of your knife passing it up in hopes of finding a better or uncleaned example would likely be fruitless. Knice!

[kootenay joe]

Thanks to all who posted. I am surprised by the enthusiasm shown for this knife. I now should reassess my evaluation of worth.
I have been selling off my knives for at least 2 years now so i am getting down to some of the ones harder to let go of. My children have made it clear they don't want to have to deal with 'a bunch of old knives'. It makes more sense for me to sell them while i still can. This brings the problem of pricing. For so many knives there is no established value, unlike for example, Case knives where values are known and accepted. But for vintage knives rarely seen how does one establish a fair price ? The only way i can think of is to ask other experienced collectors what the knife might be worth to them. If anyone wants to give a ballpark price range for this knife, it will be appreciated.
kj

[kootenay joe]

Thank you Wayne. That was my thinking when i bought it. Plus with "Proctor" being on the shield and my name being "Procter", i had to have it.
kj

[kootenay joe]

"Let's see a picture of the lock and the springs looking straight down."
Looking at the backspring you can see the 2 springs for the secondaries and the wide spring for the master blade. Looking into the well the inside surface shows a different spring arrangement. The 2 springs seem to run the length of the frame, no single wide spring for the master. It is hard to be certain but the 2 springs as seen from inside do not move when i depress the end of the wide spring, so wide spring must be mounted over the 2 springs with a spacer at the blade end to give room for spring to move downward about 2-3 mm. to release the blade.
Is this the usual LB whittler construction ? I had not examined springs from inside before.
I note the inside of liners and springs are clean and mostly shiny but these were not buffed.
Please comment on construction.
thank you, kj

[Jacknifeben]

All three blades are stamped A.L.BABCOCK HARDWARE CO. This was a very fine knife at one time.

[kootenay joe]

Goins shows a "Babcock & Stowell, Binghampton, N.Y." 1900-1930. Maybe yours is an older Babcock Hardware marking ?
The stag looks similar to that seen on some old Henckels knives, but with no country name your knife is probably not an import.
kj

[dweb1897]

I like bright and shiny ...I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

[wlf]

My opinion - I just don't like buffed knives - you are rounding edges, removing metal and making an old beauty shine and this is just my opinion but you are taking away some historical connection - No I would not buy it... Given that in the past I have bought gently cleaned but not buffed knives in special circumstances or my collection would be very small - I just wish all sellers left it to new owners but that is not possible as the knife may have passed through many hands with different opinions on all.... I certainly believe in removing active rust if it is there -but this can be done fairly well without removing patina by a drop of oil on the rust spot and letting it sit - and subsequently using X-Fine 0000 steel wool - my experience is that it doesn't remove patina but does pretty well on active rust (not black spider stains)... One other pet peeve of mine is seeing shiny bolsters on a knife with nice age-old patina on the blades with a handle that shows age as well - the analogy of buffing your bolsters shiny while the rest remains "age-old" is like putting fancy modern free-spinning hub caps on a 1920 Model A Ford ... Just my 2 cents and likes - and finally "is there a right answer?" - Everyone has their own opinions and there are no "knife police" to arrest you pending your decision ...

X2 except I buy examples I don’t have, irregardless of condition .

[pocketkeeper]

Everyone has their own opinion and taste. I certainly clean the dirt and grime from old knives, clean off rust and reduce stains. I my opinion what was done to this knife went too far. You take a 1oo+ year old knife and the blades look like twenty-first century. To me it just doesn't fit. But it is a rare and fine old knife. I'd love to have it myself.

Just don't over-do the buffing thing. Hand clean only is my preference.

[kootenay joe]

I have just posted this knife in the For Sale forum. Just letting you know as a few posters expressed interest in it.
kj