W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
Hello.
I need help in identifying my W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife . It has no numbers anywhere.
Yes, one blade is broken.
Thanks
I need help in identifying my W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife . It has no numbers anywhere.
Yes, one blade is broken.
Thanks
- Mumbleypeg
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Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
What is the closed length?
Ken
Edit: Never mind. The stamp on the knife appears to be W.R. CASE & SON, which was used from 1902-1903. During which time the company did not make their own knives, but had them made on contract by others. Relatively few with that stamp exist and I know of no catalogs documenting the patterns offered - Sargent’s Guide has a few pictures. The knife has screws holding the covers on, which is a hallmark of Miller Brothers knives. Thus I’m going to speculate the knife may have been made for W.R. Case by Miller Brothers. Unusual knife, nice find!
Ken
Ken
Edit: Never mind. The stamp on the knife appears to be W.R. CASE & SON, which was used from 1902-1903. During which time the company did not make their own knives, but had them made on contract by others. Relatively few with that stamp exist and I know of no catalogs documenting the patterns offered - Sargent’s Guide has a few pictures. The knife has screws holding the covers on, which is a hallmark of Miller Brothers knives. Thus I’m going to speculate the knife may have been made for W.R. Case by Miller Brothers. Unusual knife, nice find!
Ken
Member AKTI, TSRA, NRA.
If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
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If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
https://www.akti.org/
Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
Ken,
Thanks for the reply and info. The knife is 3 7/8" long when closed.
Does it have any value, even with broken blade.
Worth having it restored?
Thanks, Jeff
Thanks for the reply and info. The knife is 3 7/8" long when closed.
Does it have any value, even with broken blade.
Worth having it restored?
Thanks, Jeff
- Mumbleypeg
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Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
It’s a rare knife so it does have some value, but not a lot given the condition (broken blade). The problem I see with trying to restore it is, what was the broken blade? Most likely guess would be a pen, but it could have been a longer blade. If you’re looking to sell it, unless you’re good at repairing yourself the cost to repair may be more than it's value. Tom McCandless (olderdogs1 here on AAPK) knows a lot about older Case knives so you could ask his opinion. He may see this and comment, or you could send him a PM.
If it was mine I’d just hang onto it and hope some day to find a picture of what it looked like before it was broken. Then you could restore it with confidence. I’d also look for Miller Brothers sources - maybe they made a pattern like it in their line. Others may have different opinions. It’s your knife so it’s really up to you what to do with it.
Ken
If it was mine I’d just hang onto it and hope some day to find a picture of what it looked like before it was broken. Then you could restore it with confidence. I’d also look for Miller Brothers sources - maybe they made a pattern like it in their line. Others may have different opinions. It’s your knife so it’s really up to you what to do with it.
Ken
Member AKTI, TSRA, NRA.
If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
https://www.akti.org/
If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
https://www.akti.org/
Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
Ken,
I found this Miller Brothers knife that is very similar. Whats left of my blade matches the blade on this knife.
This knife has different bolsters but everything else matches pretty well.
I would like to sell as i am not a knife collector.
Probably will list it on eBay.
Jeff
I found this Miller Brothers knife that is very similar. Whats left of my blade matches the blade on this knife.
This knife has different bolsters but everything else matches pretty well.
I would like to sell as i am not a knife collector.
Probably will list it on eBay.
Jeff
Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
Hello all.
I just decided to list the knife on ebay. Makes it simpler for payment etc.
eBay item number:353719392258
Thanks
Jeff
I just decided to list the knife on ebay. Makes it simpler for payment etc.
eBay item number:353719392258
Thanks
Jeff
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Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
Hello,
No markings at all on the small blade.
J
No markings at all on the small blade.
J
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Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
In all of my years collecting, I have never heard of a Case knife made by Miller Brothers. If you look closely, you can see the blades have likely been swapped out as evidenced by the pin in the bolster not being finished properly. It's a Miller Brothers knife that had a blade swap many years ago.
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Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
The tang stamp is incomplete, it is missing the last "S" in SONS. The Bradford stamp is proof. This knife was made after the Little Valley plant burned in 1912. Case was definitely making their own knives at this point.Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Sat Oct 09, 2021 3:28 pm What is the closed length?
Ken
Edit: Never mind. The stamp on the knife appears to be W.R. CASE & SON, which was used from 1902-1903. During which time the company did not make their own knives, but had them made on contract by others. Relatively few with that stamp exist and I know of no catalogs documenting the patterns offered - Sargent’s Guide has a few pictures. The knife has screws holding the covers on, which is a hallmark of Miller Brothers knives. Thus I’m going to speculate the knife may have been made for W.R. Case by Miller Brothers. Unusual knife, nice find!
Ken
- Mumbleypeg
- Gold Tier
- Posts: 13458
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:28 am
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Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
You could be right that the S is missing on the OP knife, and that a Case blade has been placed in a Miller Brothers frame. Those are certainly possibilities.. As I said, it MAY have been made by Miller Brothers. I've never seen a Case made by Miller Brothers either, but there's a lot I haven't seen, especially from that time period. ::shrug:
As for the rest, I think you're conflating Case Brothers with W.R. Case. Russ Case left Case Brothers and started W.R. Case & Son in Bradford in 1902. The first couple of years he operated as a jobber. According to Sargent's some of the knives stamped W.R. Case & Son were stamped Bradford, and some were not. Having the Bradford stamp does not indicate it could not be a W.R. CASE & SON.
The Case Brothers factory in Little Valley burned in 1912, not the W.R. Case factory. Not sure how that has any bearing on the stamps on the OP knife.
BTW the sources for my info above are Sargent's 7th edition and Lockwood's Tested XX Aristocracy of American Cutlery.
Ken
As for the rest, I think you're conflating Case Brothers with W.R. Case. Russ Case left Case Brothers and started W.R. Case & Son in Bradford in 1902. The first couple of years he operated as a jobber. According to Sargent's some of the knives stamped W.R. Case & Son were stamped Bradford, and some were not. Having the Bradford stamp does not indicate it could not be a W.R. CASE & SON.
The Case Brothers factory in Little Valley burned in 1912, not the W.R. Case factory. Not sure how that has any bearing on the stamps on the OP knife.
BTW the sources for my info above are Sargent's 7th edition and Lockwood's Tested XX Aristocracy of American Cutlery.
Ken
Member AKTI, TSRA, NRA.
If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
https://www.akti.org/
If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.
When the people fear their government, that is tyranny. When government fears the people, that is freedom.
https://www.akti.org/
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- Posts: 204
- Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:13 am
Re: W.R. Case Bradford Pa. Knife Identification.
Good info Ken. The early Case years are quite confusing to say the least!
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