Robeson equal end

The first Robeson knives were imported by Millard Robeson from England and Germany exclusively. This continued from 1979 until 1896 when Robeson began manufacturing knives in the United States. Since inception, the company has gone through several reorganizations & eventually ended up as a Queen Cutlery brand.
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Jporter1974
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Robeson equal end

Post by Jporter1974 »

My first of 2019 and I'm a very new to Robeson knives, but I'm not necessarily new to trying to find a pristine strawberry bone example. The knife that I have acquired seems to have two different tang stamps, one straight lines with the Robeson ShurEdge USA on the master blade and Robeson Cutlery Co on the pen blade. The knife has nice bone handles and had a little bit of red in the corners of the shield, but was pretty much lost with hot water and a scrub brush. If there are any Robeson collectors out there that would share a little bit of general knowledge, I would appreciate it greatly. ~Jon
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FRJ
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by FRJ »

You have got a beauty of knife there, Jon.
The blades look used a bit but a good packer. The covers look exceptional.
How long is it closed? What are the numbers on the back of the clip blade?
Joe
Jporter1974
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by Jporter1974 »

Joe, this one threw me for a loop on the blade too, but when I inspected it closely it looks like it hasn't been used much at all or whoever owned it previously was a master sharpener because the cutting edge is nearly perfect. Maybe it was sharpened by machine, but didn't Robeson use unconventional shapes on some blades. Was the pocket-eze blades made or fitted different for comfort? I don't know enough and cannot find any that aren't worn slap out to compare it with. The knife is 3 inches long and the one online that I found with the same length has a different number but similar blades. It feels to solid and I cannot see anywhere on it that looks tampered with ~Jon
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RobesonsRme.com
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Firstly, welcome to the confusing world of vintage Robeson pocketknife collecting.

Your knife looks great, but there is something not right about it.

The pattern number 623671 denotes a knife from Robeson's MasterCraft series and it should have a MasterCraft shield, not a PocketEze one.

First thing to do is to look at the very ends of the blades tangs to see if the bronze bearings that MasterCraft knives had. If they are not present, does the knife open and close in one fluid motion or do they catch at two or three points between fully closed and fully open?

If the blades have the bronze bearings or the blades catch, as described, then the cutler put the wrong shield on the knife, most likely.

If the bronze bearings are not present and the blades open smoothly, then the blade has been stamped with an incorrect pattern number.

Such errors occurred at probably every cutlery factory, with thousands of knives being constructed from tens-of-thousands of parts moving about in wooden trays, falling here and there and being left lying about between pattern runs.

I use to own a mint example of a 623671, but I have sold it to a fellow AAPK member and would not feel right posting its photo here. Maybe he will chime in and show you his knife.

As to the tang stamps being different on the blades, that is typical of Robeson. You will encounter very few Robeson knives with the same stamp on every blade and most of them will be premium pearl handled multiblades.

Only the master blade stamp should be used in trying to determine the age of a Robeson knife. The stamp on your knife has been dated 1916 to 1939 by Tom Kalcevic. Whether that is totally accurate is not known. It is based solely on his personal research. However, it's the best, most researched information available, so I use it.

The knife has been used and sharpened. Robeson did not make a knife with a blade bellied like that.

Charlie Noyes
DE OPPRESSO LIBER

"...Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons ___but they are helpless against our prayers. "

Sidlow Baxter
Jporter1974
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by Jporter1974 »

Thanks guys, I have been searching for information on the knife and a local collector was generous enough to aid in my search and enlightened me to a great book. I am now in search of some patterns that I didn't know existed, I was drooling just looking. Thanks for everything, here's what is in the book. I really think that AAPK has the best bunch of guys that is willing to help and for that, I am truly grateful. ~Jon
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Which Robeson patterns are you looking for?

Charlie Noyes
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"...Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons ___but they are helpless against our prayers. "

Sidlow Baxter
Jporter1974
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by Jporter1974 »

Charlie, I really like the 225 and 500 pattern knives . Is that 501 a swell bottom pen? After looking this little one over really good, I think they really made beautiful scales and I would love to have a example of any of them. ~ Jon
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FRJ
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by FRJ »

Robeson made some fine knives. Some of the very best around I think. ::nod::
Joe
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by Jporter1974 »

I wish I exposed to more of them. Its not a knife that you can just stop by the local pawn shops and expect to find in the display counter. Believe me, I'm always looking to snag any good vintage knife that is reasonably priced ::sneaky:: ~Jon
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

Are you, by any chance, located in the South East?

I have a couple of hundred knives to sell and will be at a couple of knife shows upcoming.

Clarify what you mean by 225 and 500 series knives. There actually is no such "series" of inter-connected knives. They were numbered 001 through XXX in no particular manner.

A 225, I think without checking, was a swell-center, balloon-ended whittler, for instance.

Charlie
DE OPPRESSO LIBER

"...Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons ___but they are helpless against our prayers. "

Sidlow Baxter
Jporter1974
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by Jporter1974 »

My apologies Charlie, I was remembering the last part of the numbers and hurrying to type before I forgot them. I live in WV and even though its a great state for anything outdoors, its not for knife expos. The 622225, 622290,623501,and 632225 are definitely knives that I would like to acquire for the knife roll. There are so many.. here are pictures of a couple beauties that you may be familiar with.. I wonder if they are for sale ?? ::pray:: ~ Jon
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Re: Robeson equal end

Post by RobesonsRme.com »

I still have that whittler.

We need to start talking via text or I can post the knife in my AAPK Store. Conducting sales in this forum is not proper and I know I started the conversation.

Charlie
DE OPPRESSO LIBER

"...Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons ___but they are helpless against our prayers. "

Sidlow Baxter
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