What have I got and what should I do with it?

[WV Papaw]

I got this old knife in a box lol at an auction a few years ago. I cleaned it up a little and sharpened the blade-stubs, shaping them into something that wasn't a ragged, broken piece of metal. I thought it might make a decent whittling knife to carry around. That was in winter and I put it away and forgot about it.

Yesterday I happened upon it for the first time since then and re-looked at it. The tang stamping is worn badly; I may have made it worse when I re-shaped the blades. What I can make out, with some help from a loupe, is as follows:

XXXXX
Knife Co
Walden

HamXXXr (the two letters before the final "r" appear to me to be er. I'm not sure if it is 6 or 7 letters total)
(Looks like an arm holding a hammer)

I know it isn't worth much of anything but am curious as to what it is and how old it may be. I also know that might not be possible to tell from the information I have.

I'm thinking about trying to remove and replace the scales and maybe that tiny little blade, just make it a single blade knife. Any suggestions on how I should go about this or if it is even worth fooling with?

[jerryd6818]

That would be Hammer Brand.
On the secondary blade that would be Imperial Knife Co.
And it's an old one.
I don't know much or anything about knives before WWII but I'm guessing 1930s, possibly 1920s. Someone else will give you the straight scoop.

[WV Papaw]

I found some information on the knife here that missed earlier. viewtopic.php?t=719
How I missed it I don't know

[WV Papaw]

That would be Hammer Brand.
On the secondary blade that would be Imperial Knife Co.
And it's an old one.

Do you mean the blades don't match? Forgive me if that's an ignorant question but I'm …

And thank you Jerry for the information.

[jerryd6818]

No. I misread the tang stamp on the secondary blade. It's New York Knife Co. I believe the knife is from before New York Knife sold the Hammer Brand to Imperial which would make the knife from the 1920s or earlier. Note the rat tail bolsters. Very popular back in the early 20th Century.

Here's what El Lobo said:

"The Hammer Brand was the property of the New York Knife Company, located in Walden, New York. The New York Knife Company was in business from around 1878 until 1932.
Shortly after New York Knife closed, Imperial Knife Company of Providence, Rhode Island, revived the Hammer brand and used it mainly on it's shell handled knives. Imperial eventually morphed into the Imperial-Schrade Corporation in Ellenville, New York.....until it's unfortunate demise in 2004. "

[glennbad]

The blades on those Hammer Brand knives will often be marked like that, with the secondary blade marked New York Knife Co.

Now as to your question about what to do with it. I'm not the owner, so it's none of my business what people do with/to the knives they own. It would certainly be a good knife to practice on, if you wanted to try a mod of your own. I certainly wouldn't pay anyone to work on it, unless it were a family heirloom.

You could take it apart, remove the small blade/spring and liner, and put some new covers on it.

If it was my knife, I probably wouldn't even mod it myself. In my opinion, there are better junker knives out there readily available, if someone wanted to try modding a knife. This is just my opinion, don't let it discourage you from working on it.

Nice old knife, thanks for sharing it.

Glenn

[kootenay joe]

It's worth keeping as it is, that's all. Big piece missing from back handle and blades sharpened down into thicker part of the blade means you cannot readily get a good edge on it. Possibly could be made sharp enough to be a tool box knife for poking at things & minor cutting.
kj

[tongueriver]

That knife (which would have been a very fine one in its youth) is still good for picking out slivers and sorting different color M&Ms.

[FRJ]

WV Papaw, it's a funny world when two of these knives can look so similar. Mine is 2 7/8".

[WV Papaw]

I appreciate all the replies and thoughts.

It is indeed a good old knife as it is IMHO. It is surprisingly sharp now, too. I'm going to keep it as it is and use as I'd originally intended for whittling. I do wish I'd found it in a condition close to the example Joe posted. But I'm happy with it anyway

[FRJ]

WV Papaw, ......... have you checked your PMs by any chance?

[WV Papaw]

WV Papaw, ......... have you checked your PMs by any chance?

No sir. I'll see if I can find them lol

[jerryd6818]

PMs are here. Left click on image to zoom in and make it larger.

[WV Papaw]

Thanks, Jerry. I finally found it lol