Colonial Knife Company Collector's Forum

[trutemper]

Howdy, great to see this thread. As a boy Colonial knives were something it seems every fella would have at one time or another. Here is one that I bet most of you fellas have seldom seen. This old Forest Master would definitely be deemed as "non-typical" as far as I`m concerned. I do wonder how far back in the 1900`s this one was made. Hopefully we can get some good info. Thanks, and enjoy. Bob

[Bonfire bob]

Hey nice Camper! Oh boy, these campstyle knife is what we called it and they go back a LONG WAY!! Our Forest Master logo goes back to c1934 officially.
I may bore some of you folks on this one but hey, that's what I'm here for and that's why you guys ask me! Because I have the answer's! There are several indications of it's age and I'll take them one at a time. I would like to also mention that because your took such acurate, close, detailed pictures AND from so many angles, I am able to tell much about it.
The first knives that looked very close to this one, was really one of if not the first camp knife. I say this because I found trays of them buried somewhere and I washed and boxed them all, (about 400 or so), and I gave them evenly to all the owners, my father and basically the second generation big guys. Five guys at that time.
These were incredible knives!! I do have ONE in the cellar and in the next few days, I'll post the detailed pics..It's in rough shape but wait till you see this thing.
For now, back to 1934 when the Forest Master logo came out. I believe the knife I just spoke about is probably one of those. This knife of yours is definately are old # 1200 Forest Master's. First of all, the curved can opener is an old blade. 40's for sure. Because of your pics again I can see it has thin solid N.S. bolster's! At first glance it looks like a shell knife BUT, a close look at the side view, you can see the brass liner and a tiny space between the liner and the bolster!! Good eye Bob! This is also a significent destinction of the 1940's...last but not least, the saw cut plastic handles have that heavy cut look in the plastic where as the newer one's have a finer, straighter cut. It's definatel old and I say mid 40's cause it does have a crimp on bail.
Very nice piece! It's probably worth quite a bit for the shape it's in. Honestly is difficult to price because we did make TONS of these so who know's how many are still out there.
If I were you, I would hold on to it for a while and lets see what comes up on the thread...
I hope I was helpful and I'll try to work on the knife I have ASAP..
Regards, Bobby P. CKCo...

[trutemper]

Hi Bobby,

Thanks for the info on the ole beauty. Yes i agree they are nickel silver bolster. This knife really feel like a hunk in the hand compared to the shell knives in the same pattern. It`s also great to kw that its a #1200 model. The more I learn the more I want to know and thats the great thing about collecting the "oldies".....thanks again!

Bob

[TripleF]

Look at this Ambassador Salesman Kit on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/13-lot-1967-Amb ... 4abf85d8a8

[Bonfire bob]

Holy cow; haven't seen one of these in years!! Let me know what they get for it!!

[Luna Knife]

Colonial Knives have always been my favorite steel if I need a really sharp knife for cutting flesh. It is a privelege to be on this thread with such living history.

[TripleF]

I have a Colonial Knives section on my blog that shows pics of some of their knives:
http://pocketknivesblog.com/category/colonial/

[313 Mike]

Colonial Knives have always been my favorite steel if I need a really sharp knife for cutting flesh. It is a privelege to be on this thread with such living history.

Hello Luna Knife and welcome to aapk!
Just curious, what kind of flesh do you cut with your Colonials?

[Bonfire bob]

Thank you for the compliment about Colonial's; I am third generation Cutler and owner of the original company. If you post a pic of the knife or knives that are good flesh cutter's, I'll tell you what steel was used....
Welcome aboard! Bobby Paolantonio, Colonial Knife Co., R.A.P. Cutler, Heritage Cutler's...

[Luna Knife]

Colonial Knives have always been my favorite steel if I need a really sharp knife for cutting flesh. It is a privelege to be on this thread with such living history.

Hello Luna Knife and welcome to aapk!
Just curious, what kind of flesh do you cut with your Colonials?

Thanks for the nice welcome. By cutting flesh i mean butchering animals and fish and seperating meat from skin and bone. Occasionally removing cattle testicles, being careful to hurt them as least as possible..

[Bonfire bob]

Good day Luna, I'm sure I speak for most folks here at AAPK, when I say we apprediate a knife lover who has the experience that you clearly have from the inside out...
When I was 14yrs old or so my dad bought over 12 acres of land in western Cranston...
Big garden, chickens, pigs, horses,..the 12 acres we had was next door to over 600 acres of woods, streams..

If you have dropped a "Buck" in the past, did you make use of the rack for stag handled knives or was the catch mounted??
From a cutler's point of view, I see antler or horns, I see knife application possibility's!
I have lengthy experience skinning many a buck with my old pal Mike..he's not with us now.
Come to think of it my pop showed me when I was 12, his first buck!
You must also like to cook, I'm sure...
Bobby P. CKCo..

[Luna Knife]

Ive never used a rack for a knife handle. I will have to learn that. I dont have a rack on my wall either.

I was checking the ammo box today and I have three knives in there that are not with my collection. My green coyote, a black ranger stockman and a utility razor knife for cutting through fur. That says something about Colonial. People still have love for the knives even though the old building is in shambles.

Here is the rest of my collection. A couple other Colonials in there

[Bonfire bob]

Very nice! You need a knife roll to keep them safe and dry..I'd send you one but
you can probably buy one on line cheaper than it would cost me to ship it to you!
In that pic I see large and medium stockman's, trapper's, a Swiss Master, Barlow's,
and some old Colonial's...the building is gone but the legend and knives will live forever!!
This is some of my work..pics from my book.."My Family Business", Colonial Knife Company.
Please check out my blog : [email protected]
Bobby P. CKCo..Cutler for ever...
All Mammoth Ivory, hand scrimmed by Joe Luiz..

[knifetime]

Hey Bobby what's the story on this one.

[Joe Dirt]

Hay Luna & knifetime - I believe this is that Coyote (LB 125) that Luna commented on in another thread.
It DOES look like a knockoff of the Buck 110! I think it's a step up from the Ranger series but still has only 1075 steel.

We'll have to wait on Bobby to tell the story...

...... Joe

[Joe Dirt]

Added a pic of the Coyote above.

..... Joe

[knifetime]

Thanks Joe.

[Bonfire bob]

Sorry gents; somehow I missed this one!!
This was our Coyote LB, a cheaper version of the LB-125.
The steel on the LB-125 was 1095 High Carbon steel, but these were made with 1075 steel
and the blade grinding was deeper and was applied with a new synthetic grinding wheel.
They also came with a cheaper leather pouch!
There were three sizes in all : Large to small, CY-15, CY-14, and the baby, CY-13.
Bobby P.

[knifetime]

1st pic- I saw this one on eBay and thought it xxx was cool. It reminds me of Schrade.

2nd pic- I had a question about a Anvil tang stamp Bob. I thought that I remembered it been a old Colonial stamp but I can't find it listed anywhere. I just bought this one . Am I right or wrong on that one,it sure would not be the first time if so.lol

[gino]

Bob, I sent you a PM (upper right corner of screen)

[Bonfire bob]

Hey Gino...been off line over the weekend but I saw your message and will get back to you.
Mr. knifetime has a nice Colonial Scrimshaw Series # 392SS...SS for Scrimshaw Series...
We offered these from the mid 80's to mid 90's and this particular Barlow had a wholesale price of $ 4.15 each..$ 49.80 per dozen...blade etching was free....

And we have an old MC-47 money clip!! Nice secondary blanking opperation with many different designs! Our biggest buyer of this incredibly popular model was Chivas Regal, totalling around 25 thousand pieces per year....in total, we sold a half a million of these a year for many years..!! mass production...
I just wish I could take you all for a tour of the factory that I literally grew up in..
Bobby P. CKCo...

[knifetime]

Man Bob that would be great. A trip threw the old factory. Since I read your book I have a good idea of the layout and the day to day work that went on there. It sure would be nice to see the real thing.
The Barlow slipped threw my hands and I have kicked my self ever since the eBay auction ended. But I do own the Anvil marked one.
I have a bid on a Palco marked knife fork spoon set but it has that Colonial look to it,maybe you can tell me if I am right about that.
I would just like to think you for all your help with these old knives you are a wealth of knowledge and very much appreciated. Thanks Bob

[Bonfire bob]

Hey Joe!! Nice Colonial # 2644 Camper!!
Out of all the names that the old timers used in their many early years. Palco was not one of the names they used....
There's really nothing I have in my history of a relationship with Palco and Colonial..that's not to say it didn't exist! Is this the Palco Camper your talking about or is this pic of a Colonial??
Show me a pic of the Palco and I will be able to give you a definate answer..this Colonial camper dates about 1950 and up..
Bobby P....
They had P&S Cutlery, Providence Cutlery Company, and the A.Paolantonio Cutlery Company, but no official company called
"Palco".....

[knifetime]

That is the Palco Bob. It is stamped Palco,Worc USA. It just had that Colonial look to me, especially the handles.
I know Palco made a lot of camping equipment but that knife just looked like a Colonial to me. Thanks for your help.

[Joe Dirt]

Check out Scott's post about halfway down this topic for a Colonial stamped hobo.
The Palco looks very, very, very close if not the same knife.

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 87&t=32528

..... Joe