All About Pocket Knives

Thanks Roger.

When Robeson started applying pattern numbers to their knives, they assigned that knife the number 004. That pattern has been around for a long time.

Beautiful premium quality knife in great condition.

Charlie

Thank you Charlie. Am i correct that liners are nickel-silver, not brass ?
Is there anyway to determine age of this 4 blade senator ? or was it made unchanged for all it's years of production ?
And finally, i assume over the years quite a few were made. Is it unusual to see one in the unused condition ? or are there 'quite a few' out there ?
kj

Roland, for whatever reason, I have been very fortunate in finding and buying similar four bladed premium quality knives with pearl handles in mint or near mint condition. For some reason, they did not get used up and honed down.

Bruce Voyles once postulated that such knives were generally marketed in upscale gentlemen's clothing stores and tended to stay in the shops and when the early knife dealers started scouring the country for mint knife displays, they just bought them all up.

Also, the gentleman that would have bought such a knife would not have abused it and would have taken good care of it and stored it properly.

Such knives were not bought by laborers or tradesmen or farmers.

Here are some of the ones I've collected.

Charlie

A beautiful collection of MOP. Congrats Charlie.

Oh, my ! What beautiful Gent's knives ! And even an original box & insert, first Robeson box i have seen. Looks like 2 have a gold shield. Is the bottom one the same pattern as my knife, 74304 ? I can see it is the basic 'model', the more upscale ones have bolsters & a shield.
I do like the explanation as to why pearl Gent's knives are often seen in near mint condition.
I am beginning to see Robeson as an upscale manufacturer for all their knives. Were they more expensive than a comparable Case or Cattaraugus during the time before WW II ?
kj

All above have nickel-silver liners ?

Roland, the bottom-most knife is an 006, not an 004. It is 3 5/16 inches long by my measurement. An original Robeson catalog says 3 1/2"s.

All the knives in that post have brass liners and nickel-silver bolsters, as indicated by the third digit "2" in the pattern number, except the bottom-most knife, it has nickel-silver liners and bolsters.

So, yes, your knife, given the "3" in the pattern number should have nickel-silver liners.

Those shields are not gold, but gold-leafed, I believe. The shields are not metal. They are some kind of paper or fiber composite.

BTW; if you place your cursor on most of my photos, the pattern number will show.

The second knife down has covered backsprings.

I do not have access to any old price lists, so I do not know what such knives sold for back then.

Charlie

Thank you again Charlie for helping me more fully appreciate the few Robeson knives i have.
I have noticed that old British and German Gent's type knives are usually found in a well used condition with blade loss from repeated sharpening. These likely were not carried as gifts in men's clothing stores.
kj

Here are two nice Robeson Wharncliffe knives I bought from Charlie. These knives are 3 3/8" closed.

Thank you, Charlie for the chance to buy these fine knives and team them up with my jigged bone knife.

IN TWO POSTS ......

Joe, very nice Wharncliffe you got from Charlie! Hard to get anything but nice Robesons from the man I see one Wharncliffe folder but where is the other one?

Post # 2 for the pearl .........

Thanks for looking.

Joe, a wharncliffe folder is a wonderful pattern but when it wears MOP it is out of this world beautiful! Congratulations on two great wharncliffe Robeson Folders

Thank you very much, Lloyd.
I agree, a Wharncliffe in pearl is pretty hard to beat.
Thanks again, Lloyd.

The 2 Wharncliffe blades look to have a different profile, the one with the pearl knife looks longer and narrower spine to edge. Is the blade on black handle full length ?
The nail nick on both is close to blade spine at distal end, basically at the spine. This can happen from re-profiling the blade but i think here the nick placement is this way to facilitate access when closed ?
Very nice Wharncliffe pen knives.
kj
Edit to add: pics of closed position show Wharncliffe tips at the same place relative to pen blade & frame so both are likely full length.

Joe, I'm pleased you like those two.

I had totally forgotten that Continental stamped pen blade was in that knife.

Somebody else bought my best Robeson Wharnecliff, a stag handled whittler with bird's eye pins.

Charlie

Thank you, Charlie. I'm very happy to have them.

The main blade stamp has "cc" on it too. Can you elaborate on the Continental stamp?
Thanks.

I forgot to show the picture of the three knife set.

Joe, I think the stamp on that knife is ROBESON (arched) / CUTLERY (straight) with CO. in the center. I suspect that "CC" you're seeing is really "CO.".

I think Tom Kalcevic dates that 1900 - 1916 and that would be consistent with the dates for Continental Cutlery Co blades being on the work benches.

Charlie

Thank you, Charlie. Much appreciated.

Joe, nice trifecta of Wharncliffe folders! Great information Charlie

Here is a Robeson pen knife folder. Wonderful pattern. The guy that sold it to me called it a Wharncliffe but it is not I don’t think. I would call it a dog leg or serpentine pattern pen knife. It has been polished/buffed before coming into my hands. Also, the primary blade (clip) has been heavily sharpened and reprofiled resulting in blade length loss and any belly completely taken out. Straight blade steel from what is left of sharpening notch/choil right to blade tip. The smaller blade has also been heavily sharpened and it looks like a previous owner deepened the sharpening choil. Other than that, it is in beautiful condition and not common.

This pattern is no. 622500. I have enclosed a photo of one shown in “Romance of Collecting” page 81. This one is pattern no. 623500. The three (3) in the pattern number indicates nickel silver liners versus a two (2) indicating brass liners like mine. Otherwise identical. The F & F of this folder is perfect and the “walk and talk” snappy.

Thanks for looking and adding any comments or further insight!

What do you think Charlie or anyone?

Nice one, Lloyd.
I'd say you have a beautiful little pen knife there but according to Neal Punchard's fine article in Knife Magazine (p.20) it is not a Wharncliffe knife. Although it appears to have a Wharncliffe frame it doesn't have the Wharncliffe blade.
A great little packer though.

Lloyd you've got yourself a beautiful knife there. I'm sure you wish it were a bit more "minty" but even as is it's a great example of American cutlery skill at its best.

BTW I love the bone handles.

Lloyd, I believe that is some of the prettiest bone I've ever seen. That'd make a fantastic Sunday go to meetin' knife.

Thanks Joe, Phil and Colonel for the nice comments on this Robeson pen knife! Thanks Joe for mentioning Neal’s article in the June issue of Knife Magazine. I have that issue and will have to read the article when I get a chance. I saw that article and was pleased that their was a vintage folder article in the magazine on a classic design

Thanks again gentlemen!

Just got this old Hawkbill off ebay.

I believe I have acquired a strawberry bone Robeson toothpick. Photos do not do this knife justice. Pattern #612407. I was really thankful to add this beauty to my growing accumulation. Mr. Charlie sir would love to hear your thoughts on this hok. The lighting is not the greatest just like my photo skills and I apologize. Thank you.