Carl Rader

[BWT]

Picked this up the other day. I guess this would be called a double gunstock?? Also the main blade, what pattern would that be called?? The handles to me appear to be a smooth white bone. I couldn’t find out much about his knives but they produced straight razors. Tom TPK in Germany had a few he posted that he found there. Thanks for looking and hopefully someone will come along that knows more about it. Thanks for any help with it.

[Mumbleypeg]

I call that a double Gunstock pattern too. Can't tell you anything about Carl Rader brand though. I have a similar one made by J.A. Henckels.

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=22856&p=821844&hil ... ls#p821844

Ken

[BWT]

Thanks Ken, I definitely like the handles on your Henckles

[Mumbleypeg]

Just noticed your question about the blade on your knife. That looks like an ink eraser - just a semi-educated guess (at the time when ink quills were common if a mistake was made they scraped the ink off the surface of the paper with a sharp blade, then re-wrote it.)

Ken

[BWT]

Thanks Ken, that’s a definite possibility. Maybe even a bleeder??

[edge213]

Ink eraser

[BWT]

Thanks David we’ll go with ink eraser

[doglegg]

Ink eraser was my thought as well.

[FRJ]

Nice little knife, Bill.
I would call it swell center office knife with a ink erasure.

[edge213]

Thanks David we’ll go with ink eraser

[1967redrider]

Tom (TPK) might know about Carl Rader.

[BWT]

Thanks Joe,David,redrider, and dogleg for your comments Maybe Tom will see this!?

[kootenay joe]

The 'double gunstocks i have seen have 2 separate 'gunstocks. This looks more like a Gravid pen knife. "Gravid" = pregnant.
kj

[TPK]

Hi Bill & friends,

Cool knives Bill & Ken!

I'm by no means an expert on German cutlery but here is what I could find on the net (German knife Forums ect.) and at least translate it for you guys.

The Metal factory Carl Rader was established around 1880 & was in the hands of the grounding family up untill at least 1939. After 1920, the name may have been changed to Karl Rader.

They mainly produced pocket knives, fixed blades, rasors & scissors. The company moved from location to location several times but stayed within Solingen, Germany.

In 1957 they were bought by the company DOVO (Fritz Bracht).

Stay tuned. To be continued.:

DOVO-Stahlwaren Bracht GmbH & Co. KG (the full company name) has been a Tradional Greman Shaving Razor manufacturing company for over 100-years.

Founded in 1906, the company "DOVO" was named after it´s two founding fathers "Dorp & Voos". (Or, Carl Dorp and Carl Arthur Voos.) At the start, it was a Shaving Razor manufacturer but when Fritz Bracht took over the company in 1936, he added in scissors & pocket knives. Over the years & with continued Brand acquisitions the company expanded it´s product portfolio to also include fixed blades & manicure sets.

The company is still around and working in Solingen today and still makes "most" of it´s products by hand. After it filed for bankruptcy on April 21, 2020, it was taken over by an investor from Berlin named Jens Grudno. As far as I know, the company is still up and running under his command.

Thank you Mr. Grudno! (By the way Mr. Grudno, I love knives & I´m looking for a job.)


The following Brands & companys belong to DOVO. (DOVO-Stahlwaren Bracht GmbH & Co. KG) I´m too lazy to translate the list but you´ll figure it out I´m sure. Marke = Brand / Firma = Company

1952 – Marke Tennis (Rasiermesser)
1957 – Marke Bismarck (Rasiermesser)
1957 – Marke Ankerflagge (Rasiermesser) von Firma Carl Rader
1968 – Firma Erich Hartkopf; zu Scheren kamen Taschenmesser der Marke Teufelskerle
1969 – Marke Kronpunkt (Rasiermesser) von Fa. Heups
1970 – Firma Fontana (Rasiermesser)
1973 – Firma Heups & Hermes (Pedikürzangen und Instrumente)
1996 – Firma Merkur (Rasiergeräte, Rasierhobel, Rasierklingen)

I own a couple Carl Rader & Hartkopf knives and I can say that they are of good quality IMO. Hope you all enjoyed this post. It was mostly just translating stuff, not really my knowledge. Some things I put into my own words for better understanding.

Oh, and the Carl Rader stamp shows an Anchor with crossed flags.

TCGB,


Edit: Was watching a German You Tube knife review video about a DOVO Teufelskerle pen knife with wood handles today. The reviewer pointed out that DOVO took over the company Erich Hartkopf. Which is not to be confused with the company Friedrich Hardkopf. Which I did. I have a Friedrich Hardkopf knife. Just thought I'd mention it.

[BWT]

Thanks Tom for all the information, very interesting. I guess it was probably made in the first half of the twentieth century, give or take a decade or two
Thanks Roland for the information as well.

[1967redrider]

Excellent research, Tom!

[TPK]

Thanks Tom for all the information, very interesting. I guess it was probably made in the first half of the twentieth century, give or take a decade or two
Thanks Roland for the information as well.

Your more than welcome Bill.

[TPK]

Excellent research, Tom!

[Mumbleypeg]

Thanks for the research Tom! Great info and the kind if historical info we love.

Ken

[TPK]

Thanks for the research Tom! Great info and the kind if historical info we love.

Ken

No Problem Ken! I added an "Edit" to the end of my post in case you want to check that out.

[gordonjohn]

Thanks TPK for all the research a ton of info great job

[orvet]

Fascinating research and information Tom!

In the 1980s and early 90s when I was managing a Cutlery store we sold Dovo products there. There were razors oh, some very good scissors and a lot of Barber and Beauty shop supplies, but I don't remember seeing their knives. It could be that the independent sales rep who represented Dovo didn't carry the knives because they competed with another line he had, but I am not certain of that.

I have a few Dovo products, maybe I will gather them together and post a picture. It might be interesting for some folks.

[TPK]

Thanks TPK for all the research a ton of info great job

Fascinating research and information Tom!

In the 1980s and early 90s when I was managing a Cutlery store we sold Dovo products there. There were razors oh, some very good scissors and a lot of Barber and Beauty shop supplies, but I don't remember seeing their knives. It could be that the independent sales rep who represented Dovo didn't carry the knives because they competed with another line he had, but I am not certain of that.

I have a few Dovo products, maybe I will gather them together and post a picture. It might be interesting for some folks.

Interesting subject. I guess that was a pretty cool job. You know we'd love to see your Dovo products. They sell for high prices over here & that's why I don't have any yet. I have only seen just a few Dovo pocket knives for sale (2 or 3) in the few years I have been collecting. They sold for more than I wanted to pay for them. I believe that they are somewhat rare & have a good name among German knife collectors. IMO! That's the feeling I get on the Bay. I'd like to have one of them some day, just have to catch em while they are sleeping.

"How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on em!"

[orvet]

As promised Tom, here are some Dovo products.

The first is a Shavette which is a hair a shaping tool. There are two types of razor blades that fitted and plastic inserts for each Style of blade, both the double-edged and longer single edge blades. I use the longer ones to trim the edges of my beard beneath my neck.
I forgot there were two boxes of the long blades beneath the insert in the box.

This is a pair of knife edge hair shears. In the 1980s there were $45 retail to the best of my recollection. The finger holes are so small I can't use them. Obviously made someone with but smaller fingers than mine!

Lastly two pair of very high quality tweezers and cuticle clippers.

One of the things I like about Dovo is the plastic pouches the items came in. Considering these items are about 35 years old, the pouches as well as the items have held up very well. They are definitely high quality products and they have been worth the few extra dollars they cost over the inexpensive drugstore type items. When I bought these I think the retail on the tweezers were about $2.50 and you could probably buy a pair of tweezers at any Walgreens for $0.59 at that time. Things have changed since then and everything cost more!
Given the quality of the Dovo products I have, I would certainly be interested in a Carl Rader pocket knife!

[Madmarco]

Thanks TPK for all the research a ton of info great job

Fascinating research and information Tom!

In the 1980s and early 90s when I was managing a Cutlery store we sold Dovo products there. There were razors oh, some very good scissors and a lot of Barber and Beauty shop supplies, but I don't remember seeing their knives. It could be that the independent sales rep who represented Dovo didn't carry the knives because they competed with another line he had, but I am not certain of that.

I have a few Dovo products, maybe I will gather them together and post a picture. It might be interesting for some folks.

Interesting subject. I guess that was a pretty cool job. You know we'd love to see your Dovo products. They sell for high prices over here & that's why I don't have any yet. I have only seen just a few Dovo pocket knives for sale (2 or 3) in the few years I have been collecting. They sold for more than I wanted to pay for them. I believe that they are somewhat rare & have a good name among German knife collectors. IMO! That's the feeling I get on the Bay. I'd like to have one of them some day, just have to catch em while they are sleeping.

"How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on em!"

My goodness Tom, don't give up your day job just yet! LOL! It was actually pretty funny!