All About Pocket Knives

KJ, I always cut them the long way. There is a guy that sells mammoth ivory with a cross cut, looks unique but not very strong I would think. If I can find his web address I'll post it. It escapes me right now. Terry

Look up fineturnage.com, he also sells compressed ivory, which is some product he makes I believe out of pieces epoxied together. I think he is out of Texas.

KJ, never seen the stuff, but I would imagine it would look slightly different if it's ivory dust and epoxy. Just guessing.
Great tusk pictures there Terry, great stuff. That ought to keep you carving for a few years even with it banned. Right on, love to see people keeping the tradition and art alive in spite of the banners and the Gestapo. God bless the ivory that gets through the cracks.

kootenay joe wrote:k7k, the pic showing 3 pieces of ivory: 1 you had cut up for rehandling the whittler & the other 2 pieces are old knife handles ? or ??
And re my dagger with maybe ivory handles: i bought it because of how the handle is cracked. The ebay pics were too poor to assess nature of handle material but the crack was visible and is like cracks in ivory table cutlery i have. The price remained low so i went for it because the handle crack suggests ivory.
Now that i have it i am unsure. It shows almost no grain.
Do you know if certain areas of the tusk if cut a certain way will yield a piece of ivory with no grain showing ?
I have other knives with what likely is ivory handles but they show no grain.
I wonder if the center of a tusk, cut longitudinally, gives a piece lacking grain ?
kj

KJ, of the other pieces 2 are for handles and the other I think was starting to become one, I think.

I already posted this Remington Barlow in the Remington Collectors Forum, but thought I would post it here as well because, although I am not 100% certain this is elephant ivory, I am about 99.8% certain. I know ivory, but I must admit that I know next to nothing about Remington knives (this is my first and only), so I have no idea if this is factory or a modification. Either way, it's a pretty cool little knife and I feel I did well to get it for $40.
~Q~

Looks like ivory, especially the cracks. For that price must feel like stealing. Great score.

Did Remington ever use elephant ivory for knife handles ?
kj

Apparently so...at least according to Rocky (AREMINGTONSEDGE) who does seem to be quite knowledgeable about Remington brand knives. The question is whether Remington ever produced this particular Barlow pattern with ivory. I think Rocky is still digging for an answer over in the Remington Collectors Forum.
I may be wrong, but I believe the scales on my Barlow are elephant ivory. Should be interesting to see what Rocky finds out, though.
~Q~

Thanks QTCut5. This is the only ivory Remington i have seen.
The answer that Remington did use ivory means that likely your knife is ivory & all original and a ridiculous buy for $40 ! To a Remington collector or Barlow collector i would think the value is easily 10x that amount.
kj

Thanks, KootJ..always nice to hear. However, as a collector of ivory, the monetary value makes no difference to me since I only buy, never sell, ivory knives. Once I have added an ivory handled knife to my collection, it's there to stay; I will never sell it (although, I have been known to give an ivory knife as a gift to commemorate a particularly special occasion--such as a wedding or the birth of a grandchild). In fact, my ivory knives are so dear to me that I have already specified in my will that my entire ivory knife collection is to be left to someone who will appreciate and preserve it as much as I do myself (he knows who he is). I'm sure I am not the only collector who feels this passionate about ivory.

Here's one of my favorites that I've posted before; but, Glennbad did such a magnificent job on the modification, I feel it is worthy of another posting.
~Q~

Q all I got to say about that and the barlow is WOW!!!! that glennbad is goooood.

That Barlow surely is a beauty. It does seem to be one of the German Authorized Reproduction of the '70s or possibly '80s (?), so bear in mind that it's not one of the 1920s-1930s Remingtons most vintage collectors refer to as "authentic Remingtons". I have these two Remington-stamped Barlows that seem to fit the same exact profile as those marked reproductions but do not have the repro stamps indicating as such... Neither are ivory but I will post them here in hopes that they help with any further research. Note the lined bolsters and pin placement including the offset end pins which are not found on "authentic" Remingtons (and are not seen as often as centered end pins on Barlows and barehead jacks in general).
Either way, that's a fantastic score. Makes me want to find one with a spear blade, ivory or otherwise.

I did not know of authorized Remington repros made in Germany 1970's-80's.
Just barlows ? or other patterns as well ?
Do you know which German manufacturer ?
thanks, kj

QTCut5, nice to hear you speak of your ivory collection. Is it mostly recent production ? or vintage ? and only folding knives or fixed blades too ? Any full customs ?
My ivory knives span from maybe 1870's to present, production & custom, folders & fixed blades.
kj

kootenay joe wrote:I did not know of authorized Remington repros made in Germany 1970's-80's.
Just barlows ? or other patterns as well ?
Do you know which German manufacturer ?
thanks, kj

I may be a little light on the details; some other large knife forums I've been a part of were pretty much all in agreement over these particular "Authorized Reproduction Germany" knives as being of Boker manufacture from the 1970s or 1980s (or both?), commonly marketed on ebay and other sites as "authentic Remington Barlows". I haven't heard of any German repros of other Remington patterns from this period, and I never really found and saved a reference because it just seemed to be "common knowledge" -- which of course could have led me to assume all sorts of erroneous details!

I do know that I've seen a steady march of these Barlows stamped "Authorized Reproduction Germany" on the pile side of the master, and that they are routinely featured in "How to tell genuine Remington Barlows from fakes" threads, even though these don't seem to count as sheer "fakes". Early in my Barlow collecting I found both of the knives I posted for good to very good prices, pulled the trigger, and only later found out that they seemed to be identical builds to the "Authorized Reproductions" I learned about after the fact. The tangs do not seem ground and the stamp on the mark side is the same, so I always assumed these were reproductions meant for markets that didn't require/expect the repro stamp to appear.

The ivory-handled Barlow seems to be directly related to all of the other "Authorized Reproduction" Remington Barlows I've seen, the construction seems to confirm the vintage ('70s over '20s-30s), and looking through photos of all the old Remington Barlows you can see none of them used that offset end pin which seems to be the calling card of these reproductions. Only difference between the ones I've seen and this one is the spear blade and the ivory; before this thread I've never seen one with anything but a clip master and bone handles.

They're built solid, take and hold edges well, and feel right in the hand. If the price is right (and $40 is assuredly right) then it's a bona fide quality Barlow regardless of originality or country of origin. As always, feel free to correct any erroneous assumptions so that we may learn how to better read these knives, folks.

kootenay joe wrote:QTCut5, nice to hear you speak of your ivory collection. Is it mostly recent production ? or vintage ? and only folding knives or fixed blades too ? Any full customs ?
My ivory knives span from maybe 1870's to present, production & custom, folders & fixed blades.
kj

Finally got around to gathering all my ivories together for a group photo. No antiques or vintage. Just one full custom--so far, anyway, I'm still waiting on a couple of custom orders.
Latest addition is this little AGR CM-4 Baby Barlow shown next to a Lone Wolf Paul Perfecto (modified by Ivoryman) and a Case Large Copperlock (modified by glennbad) for size comparison.
~Q~

Wow Q, stunning group, very uniquely beautiful and striking look. I imagine they feel amazing too, ivory has that certain feel that is really nice. That's a heck of an accumulation of rare beauties.
Love to see what you have too KJ.

I like the AGR Baby Barlow, elegant little knife.
I will try to get some of my vintage ivory folders pictured & then post them. But it likely will be in a few weeks time.
kj

Q Gorgeous simply gorgeous WOW × 10.

Ivory knife handles are as much about in hand feel as well as visual appeal. A well designed handle with edges radiused so there are no edges has a most pleasing in hand feel. The vintage Jos. Rodgers from circa 1900 perfected ivory knife handles. Not even my best custom has as perfect 'melt into your hand' feel as my (now ex) Jos. Rodgers ivory multiblade from ~ 1906.
kj

E.I. Bulldog sow belly stockman

That is one sleek sowbelly stockman...Beautiful curves on that, just beggin' to be stroked & caressed.

~Q~

Ivoryman i have wondered about the later (i.e. not first Gen.) Bulldogs with ivory handles: actual slab of original tusk ivory or 'reconstituted ivory' (ivory sawdust + epoxy) ?
What is your opinion of the ivory on this sowbelly ?
kj

This is a 2004, they are slabs, in hand the grain lines are clear, some areas of slight color variation into beige or off white where the grain changes a bit under the shield.
Thanks Q, I do like the curves on it. Flowing and sweeping.

Don't know what year this Bulldog wharncliffe whittler was made, but it has "reconstituted" ivory scales. The difference between the ivory dust/epoxy covers and genuine elephant ivory is pretty obvious when you examine the knife in person. The recon ivory lacks grain and the glossy "depth" of genuine ivory. If I didn't know better, I would probably think the scales on my whittler were a synthetic material (which, essentially, they are...unless epoxy is a natural substance).
~Q~