napanoch single blade

[yagerboy]

Can anyone tell me about Napanoch single blade knives? Picked one up at an auction.will try to post a pic,but it's about 9 1/4 inches open with a 4inch blade. Thanks

[Mumbleypeg]

Welcome to AAPK. Looks like a nice old knife! Napanoch made a lot of fine knives of different patterns. There's a lot of knowledgable folks here that will help you but you asked a pretty broad question - can you be more specific as to what you're wanting to know?

Ken

[yagerboy]

Just wanting to find the approximate age and value. I do know they were made from 1900-1938 and am sure the blade stamp will help but am reluctant to clean the blade for fear it will detract from the value.

[FRJ]

Welcome here.
That's a fine old knife. Couldn't tell you about value.
Your lengths of the blade and overall length are fine, but knives are best described as the length with blades closed ............... with as many clear pictures and close ups of the tang as you can.
That's a beauty that anybody would want to own.

[yagerboy]

Thanks Ken and Joe.Clearly I don't know much about describing or displaying a knife,or collecting for that matter. Will I hurt the value by cleaning the blade so I can see the stamp on the blade?

[FRJ]

Not knowing is perfectly fine. Every one here is learning.
Personally I would be cautious of cleaning. Do you have a loupe/closeup lenze?
That and lots of light can be your best friend.
A small wire brush on the tang would help.

[yagerboy]

Ok,it's hard to get good pics with my phone but I'll do my best to describe this. It's 5 3/8 inches,with Napanoch knife co. Napanoch NY stamped on the tang. It appears to have xxx stamped on one side of the bolster and W on the other side.

[RobesonsRme.com]

It is a coke bottle folding hunter.
Napanoch was purchased by Winchester and they offered this same knife as their "1920" pattern, one of the most desirable and sought after large frame coke bottles there are.
Lots of Winchester or coke bottle collectors like to have the Napanoch to go along with their 1920 and also a Keen Kutter, which followed after Winchester.
A mint condition knife like yours is worth several hundreds of dollars.
Yours is not "mint", so the value is markedly less, but still a nice old collectible knife.
I'd use a pencil eraser, nothing more, to clean off the tang. Less is more when "cleaning" an old knife. Lots of folks like them in as found condition.
Get some Mineral Oil, U.S.P from your pharmacy and oil the knife really well all over, remove the excess and leave it like that.
Do you have a flat plate scanner? Most will do incredibly sharp images of three dimensional objects.
Congrats on getting a good, honest old knife and welcome to AAPK!!
Charlie Noyes

[yagerboy]

Thanks Charlie. I figured it best left alone as far as cleaning and will hit the tang with an eraser as you suggest. I didn't have my readers with me when I looked at it at the auction so I thought it said Marbles on the tang. Turns out I may have gotten a better knife with the Napanoch. I hope I didn't get burned for the $22 I paid for it.I

[philco]

Rest assured you aren't "burned" a bit at that price. In fact I'm confident that most of us here would be happy to help you double your money. Nice find!

Welcome to AAPK.

[peanut740]

Nice pickup.Yours is a pre-1919 Napanoch.