Olbertz Reproductions?

[keithw]

Hi all,

My favorite knives are older Eye Brand knives, and I've been lucky to be able to collect quite a few over the years. But, they have become so highly valued lately; I find it cost prohibitive to buy many. I've purchased a few that I think are fairly recent Olbertz knives that seem to be pretty high quality, and thought I would share a few to get opinions on.

The first one is a Jack Knife Ben whittler that has a Germany ink stamp on the back of the main blade. Block tang stamp

The second is a Jack Knife Ben large pen with no ink stamp (may have been buffed), but has a curved stamp. It needs to be cleaned up, but it's the one that I'm conflicted on. It's probably not an original, but it just feels like it's older.

The third is a Senator copperhead stamped Solingen Germany on the pile side.

I also have a Holley and Cuttin' Horse that I suspect were made by Olbertz as well.
Even if they are reproductions, they all seem to be well-made knives, and I only have around $30 in each.
I have a self-imposed limit of $100 for a knife, and even though I will eventually break that barrier, I am holding firm (for now)
I just bought the large pen, and I'm thinking about sharpening it and carrying it for a while.

Any info, opinions, disgust, etc. will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Keith

[keithw]

Crickets.

Boy, I sure can kill a thread (or create a dead one).

[gsmith7158]

Keith the Germany ink stamps and the screen printed blades are usually a sign of Olbertz products. I don't know much about those brands but the whittle was one of Parkers favorite patterns.

[Paladin]

Keith,
Since these are not related to Eye Brand or Schlieper, you might get better results over in the Q&A or Counterfeit sections. It'd be hard to do any worse. Might try asking one of the mods to move it for you. Just a thought.

Ray

[kootenay joe]

There are many different brands that are said to come from the "Olbertz Factory" e.g. Bulldog, Eye Brand, reproduction of old markings like O.P. knives, Fight'n Rooster ??, and others.
So Mr. Olbertz owns a knife factory and various merchants ask him to make knives for them, including the owner of Eye Brand.
The difference between say Bulldog & Eye Brand is the patterns, each of these having their own unique patterns. However the workmanship, blade grinds and tempering is all being done by the same workers so should be of equal quality.
Is this correct ?
Did Carl Schlieper Eye Brand ever have their own factory ? or has it always been a merchant mark ?
kj

[EyeBJoe]

Carl Schlieper definitely had their own manufacturing location on Bergerstrasse in Solingen. The Olbertz company is located at another Solingen address. And, as is the case with other Solingen cutlery brands, several of the Schlieper and Eye Brand knives were assembled by family in-home shops representing part of the Solingen "Cottage" industry.

Joe D.

[kootenay joe]

Joe D, do you know approximately when Schlieper closed down his own operation and began having Olbertz as the manufacturer ? Anthony Carter's book suggests 1993 but is not written clearly enough to be sure this is what he is referring to.
Are there any specific details that can ID a Schlieper 'cottage industry' knife ?
Carter's book also states that Olbertz makes some of the Eye Brand folding knives but some patterns are made elsewhere in Solingen and that all of these (Olbertz + 'the others') are made for export to U.S.A.
kj

[EyeBJoe]

The Schlieper company did declare bankruptcy and close in 1993. I'm not sure whether their tool manufacturing operation survived, but I am inclined to think it did not. I am unaware of any specific detail that could I.D. a knife that was contracted for assembly by one of the cottage operations. I did visit in the home of one of the operations in 1983, the Lauterjung brothers, and found that they were doing basic assembly and returning their work to the plant for final cleaning, polishing (if necessary) and packaging for export. Further, I know very little about the Olbertz operation other than when they took over the Carl Schlieper and Eye Brand trademarks.

Joe D.

[kootenay joe]

Thanks Joe. We all like Eye Brand but info about this company and their knife patterns is hard to come by which makes dating these knives difficult. The company has been in existence since late 1700's yet we never see any truly vintage Eye Brand knives. Maybe they are all in Europe ?, no USA importer until 1950's.
kj