WESTERN BOULDER COLO. MADE IN U.S.A. DID YOU EVER KNOW IT?

[reddirtknives]

Hello friends of steel, This company is hard to pin down pre 1977 as far as dating their knives goes. Anyone who has tried probably found that they didn't care about era's or dating schemes like W.R.Case & sons always seemed to. Here's my Q in hopes of finding an A. I have this knife I was wanting to list on ebay and down the lost western road I went in search of a date of manufacture. And then it hit me, it went WHAP! I've been down this road before… That old dusty western road I had choked more than once on this path. Eh HEM… excuse me I ended up lost more than once even when it seemed like it was right there in front of me I MEAN I COULD SEE IT!!! Right there… In front of me… Looky over yonder…And then I realised I was lost and… and… and… I need a guide I was wanting to at least get within a decade of when this knife was made… Any guidance would be much appreciated…

[Paladin]

Western Boulder dates 1951 to 1978, per Goins.

Ray

[reddirtknives]

Thanks ray, is the B at the end a designator for Bone since it is not OVER a letter which would designate a year? I decided to keep the knife anyway so those who know can answer now hehe

[Colonel26]

Tater, I was under the impression that only in the USA period was the letter used as a year marker. But I'm a new Western accumulator so take that with a grain of salt.

Give us a heads up if it goes out in the bay.

[reddirtknives]

Hey Wade, will do but I'm thinkin she's a keeper. I just wish I had the sheath. I think I'm right on this knife being from the 1950's since it's bone. This could be early 1960's and perhaps that is why there is a B telling us it's Bone and not Delrin ™ which they had started using in the early 1960's. Most of these I see have Delrin ™ handles. There is a 648A model also but once again the A doesn't tell us either handle material or production date. It's the same knife but it has a Fuller (? spelling) on one side. I see a lot of these but always with Delrin ™ slabs. And there I go again Down that lost highway….

[Capt. Farrel]

I don´t know nothing about this knife but it surely is a beauty!

[Paladin]

Dating by letter began with 'A' in 1977, again, this is according to Goins.

Ray

[treefarmer]

Noticed your Western and I went and dug out several that I have accumulated. One has the same number stamped in the brass, but it is a Stainless steel knife. Sorry to say it is not a collector piece since some jack leg appears to have tried to sharpen it with a grinder wheel . Was able to get a good edge on it and compared to yours it must have been tipped. My knife is stamped WESTERN over U.S.A. with the 648B stamped in the brass, all on the mark side. Pile side shows STAINLESS in an arc over STEEL. Looks to be jigged delrin. Have no idea about date of mfg. but the pattern number seems to have spanned several years.
Treefarmer

[Colonel26]

Tater, I have an old Western fixed blade with bone, a tad older than yours and I don't blame you a bit for keeping it. I would too.

Treefarmer from what LITTLE I know I'd call yours a 1978 model.

[Paladin]

Tater, I have an old Western fixed blade with bone, a tad older than yours and I don't blame you a bit for keeping it. I would too.

Treefarmer from what LITTLE I know I'd call yours a 1978 model.

I believe that Reddirt's is also made in 1978 after taking another look at the photos.

Ray

[gino]

Red that's a great looking knife!

[Colonel26]

Tater, I have an old Western fixed blade with bone, a tad older than yours and I don't blame you a bit for keeping it. I would too.

Treefarmer from what LITTLE I know I'd call yours a 1978 model.

I believe that Reddirt's is also made in 1978 after taking another look at the photos.

Ray

Well I went back and looked again. You might just be right there.

Red, are you sure that's bone?

[treefarmer]

Thanks Colonel. There are a couple more Westerns, one is very small, a 628 and then a bigger one with wooden handles. It is marked W66, Orvet said W indicated wood. The W66 cleaned up the best of the 3 as these were all neglected once upon a time. The 66 is carbon steel and would be woods knife.
Treefarmer

[junebug]

RED TATER TIP TASTER,.......it it possible it is COBBLED/REPAIRED???
OLDER BLADE?????????
NEWER GUARD?????????
RE HANDLED IN BONE?????????


THE BLADE KINDA "LOOKS" (to my eye) like it has been apart from handle and on a BELT GRINDER.


WHATCHA THINK,BRO-HAM-SKI???? right as rain......
COOL KNIFE BY THE WAY....YOU ALWAYS FIND SOME COOL SHhhhh-TUFF,MAN
FIST BUMPS AND "JAZZ HANDS" WITH ALL THAT HAND twerkin AN twistin YOU KIDS DO THESE DAYS!..LOL

[0078]

Red it a nice looking knife, I'm not for sure but reading this chart it seems western dated there fixed blade knive differently from pocket?

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... &mode=view

[PigSticker]

They dated them by the way they stacked the red white and black spacers I can't remember the formula but compare the same patterns and you'll see that they are all stacked different from year to year

[reddirtknives]

Red it a nice looking knife, I'm not for sure but reading this chart it seems western dated there fixed blade knive differently from pocket?

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... &mode=view

~
My tang stamp isn't on that chart, it almost is, but not. Mine has Made In U.S.A. (though faint) under Boulder Colo. under Western The closest stamp on that chart is exact minus the Made In U.S.A. and they are dating it way earlier (into the 1930's) than I was guessing.
This knife has nothing on the pile side tang and is carbon steel
~
Juniper berry ~ I'm gonna send you a cobbler since you seem to have it on the brain… What's your fav? Peach? Blackberry? Apple? This knife is tight and right, near perfection in hand as far as fit and finish of the spacers and well.. everything… What is making your eye think it has had everything removed from the blade?
~
in the first pic I show (I think) In the caption I write saying ZOOM IN and asking What do you see? Or something like that. Give that a try and tell me if you see Delrin ™ or if it looks more like bone. If it's not bone it is the best Faux Bone I've ever seen period bar none.

~ Pigsticker, That's the first I've ever heard of the spacer stacking dating system/theory You wouldn't be trying to make this more difficult than it really is would you?

~ Thanks fellas but still no answer… Surley we can get within 20 years of manufacture… I'm sticking with the 1950's until that guy who knows shows up...

[reddirtknives]

Tater, I have an old Western fixed blade with bone, a tad older than yours and I don't blame you a bit for keeping it. I would too.

Treefarmer from what LITTLE I know I'd call yours a 1978 model.

~
I'm guessing Treefarmer's knife is pre 1977. Between the newly changed Western USA tang stamp to before the dating system in 1977. But, this is only a guess. If his knife had an A at the end of the numbers rather than a B it wouldn't be a 1977 made knife it would be the same knife design but having a Fuller on the Mark side. Was not the letter for the dating system below the number rather than at the end of the number?

[junebug]

Red it a nice looking knife, I'm not for sure but reading this chart it seems western dated there fixed blade knive differently from pocket?

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... &mode=view

~
My tang stamp isn't on that chart, it almost is, but not. Mine has Made In U.S.A. (though faint) under Boulder Colo. under Western The closest stamp on that chart is exact minus the Made In U.S.A. and they are dating it way earlier (into the 1930's) than I was guessing.
This knife has nothing on the pile side tang and is carbon steel
~
Juniper berry ~ I'm gonna send you a cobbler since you seem to have it on the brain… What's your fav? Peach? Blackberry? Apple? This knife is tight and right, near perfection in hand as far as fit and finish of the spacers and well.. everything… What is making your eye think it has had everything removed from the blade?
~
in the first pic I show (I think) In the caption I write saying ZOOM IN and asking What do you see? Or something like that. Give that a try and tell me if you see Delrin ™ or if it looks more like bone. If it's not bone it is the best Faux Bone I've ever seen period bar none.

~ Pigsticker, That's the first I've ever heard of the spacer stacking dating system/theory You wouldn't be trying to make this more difficult than it really is would you?

~ Thanks fellas but still no answer… Surley we can get within 20 years of manufacture… I'm sticking with the 1950's until that guy who knows shows up...

HET RED!!!
AGAIN NICE KNIFE!!
WHAT I AM SEEIN' IS PIC 4............"LOOKS" LIKE ITS BEEN ON A BELT SANDER........heck i dunno though.......not in ma hot lil hands.....
and yeah LOOKS BONE TO ME
BUT THE BONE LOOKS NEWER THAN BLADE AND NO WEAR....LOOKS A REHANDLE ON ZOOM...again just guessin by pics...............
the pins look new spun.............again prolly not....but not in ma hands
I HAVE NO IDERRRR HOW TA DATE THE MANUFACTURE....SORRY,BRO

[reddirtknives]

I guess on a newly rehandled knife it doesn't really matter when the tang stamp suggests the date of manufacture to be. I either went through this whole thing out of boredom,an attempt at inspiring thought and conversation on the subject, just had to show in public an example of redundancy, all of these or none of these things. OR, I was trying to learn when the knife that I pictured was manufactured with these handles all original as it was meant to be… ? … Junie, I think your looking too hard for something that's not there. I have the benefit of having the knife in hand and I'm sure that helps but I posted 4 nice pics which can be zoomed into microscopically wherein pretty much the whole of the story is told. Eh hem… Bugz, I think the glitter caught your eye and sidetracked your whole thought process. What I see from zooming into the pictures is obviously the knife was well taken care of based on the brass, aluminum, blade spine,tip, bone etc.But due to age the brass, aluminum and carbon steel started oxidizing causing tarnish and rust. Whoever owned this along the way had access to various machines and decided to shine it up probably due to rust on the blade, hence the satin finsh and near loss of the blade grind lines. Then off they went shining up the rest of the knife (the original handle) and obviously got carried away. If you zoom in and look beyond the shiny freshly spun looking handle pins, deep into the muck in the bone jigging you can see what I would imagine to be buffing compound. This would give that new bone and freshly spun pin appearance. And if you look up at the top washers you can see where they bumped the bottom black washer smearing the washer material down onto the bone some. I would say that they ruined the original blade finish but the scratches on the side opposite the makers mark can still be seen clearly on a diagonal. Or it could be a Pakastani knock off? Either way it is my firm belief that it is the handle that came on that blade and is all original … I was just wondering if anyone knew by reading this knife when it was made give or take a decade or so…

[HiPower]

ray my western says L48a on guard.stacked leather handle. one thing for sure its a great whitetail cutter. HiPower

[reddirtknives]

Hipower Sir., Does your knife have the fuller on one side and is it tang stamped Western ^ Boulder Colo^ Made in U.S.A.?
I've seen this bone on a couple Western folding knives. Does anyone have a Western fixed blade from this era with Bone Scales? Ole Junie got me doubting everything until I see another one with similar bone

[PigSticker]

reddirt I don't remember what knife publication I read that in but I'm thinkin it was maybe an article in Knife World back in the early 90's not sure I had a couple subscriptions for knife magazines back then--I know it was pre internet

[reddirtknives]

If that was how the company dated their knives it's no wonder that nobody knows… I feel good placing it late 1950's to early 1960's. Probably the 60's.

[junebug]

I guess on a newly rehandled knife it doesn't really matter when the tang stamp suggests the date of manufacture to be. I either went through this whole thing out of boredom,an attempt at inspiring thought and conversation on the subject, just had to show in public an example of redundancy, all of these or none of these things. OR, I was trying to learn when the knife that I pictured was manufactured with these handles all original as it was meant to be… ? … Junie, I think your looking too hard for something that's not there. I have the benefit of having the knife in hand and I'm sure that helps but I posted 4 nice pics which can be zoomed into microscopically wherein pretty much the whole of the story is told. Eh hem… Bugz, I think the glitter caught your eye and sidetracked your whole thought process. What I see from zooming into the pictures is obviously the knife was well taken care of based on the brass, aluminum, blade spine,tip, bone etc.But due to age the brass, aluminum and carbon steel started oxidizing causing tarnish and rust. Whoever owned this along the way had access to various machines and decided to shine it up probably due to rust on the blade, hence the satin finsh and near loss of the blade grind lines. Then off they went shining up the rest of the knife (the original handle) and obviously got carried away. If you zoom in and look beyond the shiny freshly spun looking handle pins, deep into the muck in the bone jigging you can see what I would imagine to be buffing compound. This would give that new bone and freshly spun pin appearance. And if you look up at the top washers you can see where they bumped the bottom black washer smearing the washer material down onto the bone some. I would say that they ruined the original blade finish but the scratches on the side opposite the makers mark can still be seen clearly on a diagonal. Or it could be a Pakastani knock off? Either way it is my firm belief that it is the handle that came on that blade and is all original … I was just wondering if anyone knew by reading this knife when it was made give or take a decade or so…

RED...PLEASE DONT TAKE OFFENSE...

TO ME....IT "LOOKS" to have BEEN APART...
AND ON A BELT SANDER.........(grind lines all the way to guard)
AND REHANDLED IN BONE AND PINS RESPUN.....(bone looks new/no wear.....pins LOOK-fresh spun/new

THATS WHAT I SEE.....FROM YOUR ZOOMABLE PIX........in MY glitter filled EYES

i think i have same article in a magazine........but it might not have the HOW TO DATE info
i have looked through 6-7 already......i will keep lookin
it did say somethin about the SPACERS tho.......I THINK

JUST WHAT I SEE......
AND AGAIN...SORRY I DONT KNOW DATE IT WAS MADE.....NOT EVEN A GUESS