Chased Bolsters,Pretty Handles & Great Blade Grinds.Gone?

[RobesonsRme.com]

Well, here's an interesting example.

Not my knife, I've never examined it.

But, it appears to be an older Robeson as evidenced by the long pull and the picked bone.

The tang stamp is early, too, circa 1915.

Might be a cobbled knife. I've never seen such a Robeson before.

Charlie Noyes

[reddirtknives]

Very interesting Mr. Noyes Sir. That's a first for me too but I don't know Robies... Hmmm It looks like the pins were left a bit long on one side. Do you think they found a knife from a company who did those bolsters and that was also a pattern Robeson used along with the same bone and just dropped some old Robeson blades in it?

[Bonfire bob]

I agree, very interesting find! Reddirt has hit on something very important about the main assembly pins....
Beautiful old knife for sure; nothing to do with me or Colonial..
Bobby P.

[RobesonsRme.com]

This knife is not mine, I've never examined it and I've never seen one like it.

I agree there is something funky with the blade pins/ I've never seen a Robeson knife where the pins were not polished flush with the bolsters and virtually invisible, most of the time.

I cannot speak to the bone on that knife, might be original to the frame, but I now do not think the Robeson blades are original.

Charlie Noyes

[reddirtknives]

Yep, they would have sanded or filed away some of that perty engraving to flush up the pins to the bolsters which is a tell. But, I think that if they were trying to fool someone they would have filed, sanded and buffed anyway and then done a bit of the same to all bolsters to even out the "overly buffed" fancy Robeson look...

So, did the engravers do the work prior to assembly like the bolsters the fella in Texas did for BF Bob's customs? Some knives sure look like they were engraved post assembly for the same reasons of finishing without damage to the engraving. Surely that tiny circle around the pin isn't the amount of area they could finish cleanly in. And how could the engravers know exactly where to put the center of the flower for the pins to go through if they were doing the engraving pre-assembly let's say on the other side of the country? Is there an engravers forum? Would this info be all hush hush secrets of the trade? Is there something very simple that I'm missing due to ignorance of the subject?

[wlf]

Thanks Joe, I guess nobody liked my knives!

I like 'em Bob,but it's kinda like telling Rembrandt you like his Matisse.

[Bonfire bob]

Thanks WLF, my sensitivety will be my undoing!!
Can you imagine showing these things of beauty that I made by hand
around to the family guys, and then..nothing..no interest at all..this is
a knife company, isn't it?? I guess we all fear the unknown, even if it's
your own business..

Back to the business at hand folks!
I am completely unfamiliar with Robeson or any of his work.(Colonial and it's history
consumed most of my time and still does).!!
Although I am a cutler and have a few things I'll point out.
CLEARLY the main assembly pins have been removed and replaced at some point.
The blades look original for that time period and normal usage. The blades for the
time period, early 1900's or so, are pretty well designed and finished! The long pull
is pretty sharp and the swedge on both sides is very nice; compliments to the wheel
men because an operation like this back then was done by hand; sort of like hefting
to a handle material but applied to the blades at the ends with a bit less pitch.
Even that little pen blade is swedged on both sides.
For one reason or another the knife was taken apart and put back together.

The center pin and assembly pins including the nice cover's, have not been disturbed
and the hand peening is proof of that...
OK, the bolster's look Aluminum to me and that would explain the ease of applying a nice
embossed imprinted bolster during production. The NS pins are a great contrast to the Aluminum also!!
But why?? The long history of these pocket knives carried by many men and woman
for so many years is what absolutely facinates me!!
Who, what, when, how, for how long????
Anyway, it's a beautiful knife my friend and it's history is the mystery..
Bobby...CFE.

[bladeguy58]

Better late than never,

I have 4 knives in Pearl NYKC, and the Walden Knife Co. No doubt that they are aluminum bolsters. It is hard to show in the pictures but I am going to say I think engraved with the handles on. The reason I say that is if you look closely, you can see the overrun into the pin inside the art. Also at the edge of the bolsters there is overrun as well.

On the other had I guess a contoured Stamp could have been used, but do not know how practical that may have been? BH

Update: OK Fellas, I looked at everyone of my examples. Only the one shown in the pics has enough detail to show. After looking at all of my references, every one illustrates the border of the art closest to the Handle well within the bolster. That said I just cannot imagine in pre 1931 anyone had the capability to engrave each one of these knives on 4 sides. If they did it would have been mighty expensive. So I suppose that on the one I show, it seems very well possible that done by hand that the die missed the mark by a few thousandth's causing what is illustrated in the pics. I do believe the center on the pin was quickly engraved as there is no consistency with the profile.....

One more observation, looking through a loop there are some mighty sharp corners, that would be quite a feat to engrave with a square tool BH

Bonehead,
Here is one just like the picture you posted from HSB along with another newer little one from Northfield.

[Bonfire bob]

Very, very pretty knives sir; I wold be proud to own them if they were mine!!
I don't think I've ever seen a MOP knife I didn't fall in love with.....

This is probably the prettiest MOP stockman I ever made!!
I've shown it before and don't mind showing it again..this baby took me weeks to complete!!
Bob P. CKCo..

[Mossdancer]

Without digging them out and taking more pics. Here are the only engraved folder I own. The Gerber is maybe 40 years old the leg knife is anyone's guess. The engraving is recent by a friend of mine. Don't know if these are what you want to see or not as they are not aluminum, as shown they are brass and the other is more than likely nickel silver.
moss

[bladeguy58]

Very, very pretty knives sir; I wold be proud to own them if they were mine!!
I don't think I've ever seen a MOP knife I didn't fall in love with.....

This is probably the prettiest MOP stockman I ever made!!
I've shown it before and don't mind showing it again..this baby took me weeks to complete!!
Bob P. CKCo..

Bob that is a beauty, my photography didn't capture all of the color in mine but yours has more color by far. I would love to have one with Gold Lip Pearl, now that would be an expensive knife! Thanks for your comments!
Richard

[Bonfire bob]

Very nice mossdancer! Are you a female collector?? It's always nice to have some pics and input from female collectors!!
Nice stuff and welcome to our thread!!
Robert Paolantonio, Colonial Knife Co., RAP and Heritage Cutlers..

[Mossdancer]

Hi Bob:
Thanks for reply, this is a very nice forum you have here. The answer is no, I am not a female.
moss

[Bonfire bob]

OK moss, welcome aboard!!!
There are many knife web sites but I must admit, this one is the best!!
There are many knowledgeable folks here and many real pro's when it comes
to anything pertaining to pocket knives of all kinds....

Check out the Colonial forums with multiple threads; especially the Colonial show-em one...that's where most of us Colonial collectors hang out....
If you have any interest in Colonial Knife company please visit my blog....

myfamilybusinessbook.wordpress.com..
[email protected]

Bob Paolantonio, CKCo.."Cutler for Ever"..

[bladeguy58]

Very, very pretty knives sir; I wold be proud to own them if they were mine!!
I don't think I've ever seen a MOP knife I didn't fall in love with.....

This is probably the prettiest MOP stockman I ever made!!
I've shown it before and don't mind showing it again..this baby took me weeks to complete!!
Bob P. CKCo..

Bob,
I don't think I ever posted how beautiful of the knife that is. I've always wanted to get one of my knives engraved but never got around to it and probably never will. That is truly a master piece!
Richard

[Bonfire bob]

Thank you sir....

[reddirtknives]

I was expecting more examples of these old knives Come on fellas Show em if ya gottem

[bladeguy58]

I was expecting more examples of these old knives Come on fellas Show em if ya gottem

That is one gorgeous old knife!!
Richard

[Bonfire bob]

Hey Reddirt, I have seen this baby before..Absolutely Gorgeous !!!
Alum. bolster's, perfectly engraved, maybe stamped, if it was in my hands I'd know for sure...
As a Cutler, I can appreciate the incredible "hefting" through the entire knife!
Hefting of MOP brings out the depth of the material....old style long pull, deep bold swedge on the master blade....BEAUTIFUL !!

This baby has been shown before also.....HAND engraved; Clint Orms from Texas over 30 years ago....Scrim work, Mr Joe Luiz, Newport, Rhode Island...

[Dinadan]

This thread has been dormant for months now. I decided to try bringing it back to life with this Case 6383 whittler that I just received. I noticed the design on mine is very similar to the design on a Case trapper that Jerry D posted a year ago, though the engraving on my whittler is a bit less elaborate, or detailed. This is a knife that I hate to lay aside!

[Bonfire bob]

Hey there Dinadan, very pretty little Case you've got there, nice score !!
The bolster's look to me like they have been "Lazar etched" , Sweet!
The blade etching is probably a system that involves electricity, acid and other chemicals. We had a very similar set up at Colonial....
We used a special plastic stencil with a company logo or anything else for that matter. The blades were fitted into a plexiglass fixture, then the electricity was applied for a second or two and the blade was rinsed in a special chemical mix.
Pretty neat!!
Bobby P. CKCo...

[ken98k]

This thread has been dormant for months now. I decided to try bringing it back to life with this Case 6383 whittler that I just received. I noticed the design on mine is very similar to the design on a Case trapper that Jerry D posted a year ago, though the engraving on my whittler is a bit less elaborate, or detailed. This is a knife that I hate to lay aside!

Great knife but, why did they have to ruin it by putting "limited Edition" on the blade. That kind of advertising belongs on the box, not the blade.

[Dinadan]

Thank you for the kind words Bobby and Ken. I have not seen much about the Case Limited Editions here or anywhere else for that matter. Is Case still doing them?