All About Pocket Knives

those are great can't come close to following that but here are a couple
this one is a toter


and a little Winchester brought to you by Bluegrass cutlery co.

Check out the red bone on this CASE XX









M.B.

A one legged Crucible compliments of our esteemed Mr Noyes. He didn't want it so he gave it to me.


A wee Iroquois with composition scales


A VERY nice Robeson with slant bolsters and comp scales. Charley spotted the fact that it had the older WWII vintage scales and a shield from the ebay pics. He has a good eye. He thinks it is post WWII when they started using metal again and also used some parts that they had on hand. As far I can tell, this one is unused.


the shields


Straight pulls on both blades!


A neat old Robeson with some pretty bone.




Last but not least a very stout snapping STACY that used to live a bit South of me. Thanks Ray!

Willie;
That Crucible looks good. You've cleaned it up a bit, haven't you?

That Robeson serpentine jack looks better in your photos than it did on Ebay.
I do not think I've ever seen that particular handle material jigged. It's usually smooth and installed on a Barlow. I have no idea what it is. It is not Delrin. It predates Delrin. It does remind me of some material I used to see as an insulator on electrical boards. My Dad was a master electrician. It's kind of like fibreboard, but it doesn't appear to have a fiber matrix. It's an oxblood color with some tan highlights around the edges. I'll see if I can find an example on Ebay to illustrate.

That Robeson 62270 would actually be a 622 070. That is not a pattern I'm familiar with, either.
How long is it?

Goins does not list that Stacy stamp. He lists "Stacey", and "Stacey Brothers". Neither are listed at that address. A rare stamp and a nice knife.

Charlie Noyes

Charley, thanks for the compliments on my poor photo abilities. LOL

As for the little Crucible? I oiled it and wiped it down and it has been on the shelf since I got it from you.

That handle material isn't the old bakelite or micarta as it is known nowadays. Doesn't really look like plastic as we know it now. It does look as if the shield was melted into it when viewed with a loupe.

That older Robeson is 3.5" closed with a 2 5/8 long main blade.

As for the Stacy?

I found this

K & F Stacy were cutlers located at 4 Newgate So., London

About 2/3's the way down the page here,
http://www.bullworks.net/daily/20090705.htm
There is a picture of a cork screw that has the same stamps.

From what I read in the posts about that knife from a couple of years back here. It seems that a lot of businesses ran a storefront on the fashionable Newgate St, London. Dog only knows where it was originally produced. Whoever it was that built it, built a HELL of a knife. That thing still snaps like an alligator.

Here's an Robeson Barlow currently on Ebay that looks like it might have the same handle material, I cannot really tell from those photos.
The seller describes it as, "bone", but I think not.
Charlie Noyes

Here's a brand you don't see too often- Hartford Cutlery Co, Duluth Minn. 3 1/2" Barehead Jack, Ebony Scales, Brass Liners and Pins with Grooved bolsters.
From what I can find out Hartford was a Marshall Wells Brand, possibly pre 1914. I like the tang stamp- has a few extra design elements.

Beautiful knife, Paul. I like that tang stamp, too. That flourish below "Hartford" is nice, and that squashed little "o" in "Co" is rather unique.
So, anybody know who made this knife for Marshall-Wells/Hartford?
Charlie Noyes

Thanks Charlie N. I know Marshall Wells had another knife brand Zenith, some of those knives were made by New York Knife Co. and others were made in Germany.
To my still learning eyes my Hartford sure looks like a New York made knife. The pin placement and frame match a Wallkill River Works Barehead Jack I have. Maybe one of the many companies in the Walden area could have made it. What are your thoughts?

NYK is not a brand that I know well, but that shield was saying "New York Knife" when I saw it.
However, there are folks here than can call this better than I.
Charlie Noyes

Willie,

That Stacy is a beauty!


Paul,

Your knife looks like the work of Ulster Knife Co.



M.B.

M.B. Please elaborate on why you feel Ulster may have made my Hartford. I was leaning towards New York Knife Co and possibly Walden Knife Co.
I'm curious what about the knife looks Ulster to you it will help my learning process. Thanks in advance!

The propeller shield was used by several companies along the way. Schrade used it as well as Empire, Ulster and others.
Here are a few more for comparison. I tried to pick knives whose shields had the same proportions.
First, nice Schrades, one with the old arched stamping;
Then a bunch from excellent to poor, with Schrade, Keen, and Simmons stamps

Paul M wrote:M.B. Please elaborate on why you feel Ulster may have made my Hartford. I was leaning towards New York Knife Co and possibly Walden Knife Co.
I'm curious what about the knife looks Ulster to you it will help my learning process. Thanks in advance!

Hi Paul!

I am not focusing on the shield as a way of identification. Yes, you can identify many old knives by just the shield alone, but these were usually specialized shields, such as company advertisements, premiums, scout, unusual shaped, trademarked logo, and others. Most of the common knife shields such as bowtie, bomb, federal, bar, etc. were very similar to the other knife companies of the day. I have often wondered if there was a company that specialized in making just shields, bolsters, and liners for the knife companies, like rodgers and the winterbottom made jigged bone handles for lots of old knife companies

I am focusing on the overall construction and especially the grooved bolsters. The bolsters I have seen on some old Ulsters of this pattern, I do not recall seeing this exact bolster on a NYK. We need to go through some old knife company catalogs and see if there is a match.

M.B.

Here is a rare Miller Bro`s "Burr Oak" cut plug dogleg jack.

That's a beautiful knife, MB!!
Charlie Noyes

Thanks Charlie!

It is a very attractive knife, the shape, handle material and that hand cut acorn shield make it a real beauty




M.B.

Now THAT is dead sexy!! A true treasure.

I'll swap ya a Stacy for it. Just kidding.

Owd Wullie wrote:Now THAT is dead sexy!! A true treasure.

I'll swap ya a Stacy for it. Just kidding.

Willie,
I won`t get rid of that Miller anytime soon , but I will swap ya something for that Stacey

Here is an early Water-ville circa 1890-1913.

Jigged bone handles and unusual shield.




M.B.

Wake up thread LOL

Got this dumplin for a song ebay the other day. Finally got some pics. to post.
George E Gano ran a large grain consortium in Kansas until Bunge bought him out.
Here's a link to some info on GANO
http://www.flickr.com/photos/historian77/3698520589/






Hasn't seen much use and interesting that the advertising is on the back scale.

Willie,

Real nice find!

Interesting advertising, nice pattern and in great condition, this one`s a keeper!




M.B.

Here is a very nice Robeson, pattern number 622358.

Jigged brown bone, 2-blade, with coffin shaped bolsters!

These bolsters really add to the beauty of an old knife such as this.

The knife is in near mint condition, if you look at the blades you will see what looks like varnish.

I have another mint Robeson english jack with the blades coated with this substance.
I have no written proof from Robeson, but I believe the knives with this coating were factory display knives. The coating was put on to keep the blades from rusting while on display in your local hardware store display case. Maybe Charlie knows for sure.

Anyway, knives with coffin shaped bolsters are some of my favorite to collect

M.B.

HOLY COW M.B.!!

That knife just reeks CLASS!!

Beautiful piece of history!!

I have had Robeson knives from both pre and post WWII with a varnish like substance on the blades. It usually has a tint of yellow to it.

Bruce Voyles wrote in 1989 in The American Blade Collectors Guide to Antique knives, that Robeson used such a protective coating on display board knives.

That is a beautiful knife, MB. A great pattern.

Below is a four blade Robeson scout/utility, pattern number 642214, that I bought years ago, probably early 1990's. I got it for not much money because the surfaces of every blade looked like the master on MB's knife, only more so.

I know MB is going to chastise me, but I cleaned the blades with Sarah's finger nail polish remover, which was principally acetone.

The knife in the photo was the result. Maybe I should have left it in as found condition, but, honestly, I'm not displeased with it.

That spot on the tip of the master was on the scanner, not the knife.

Charlie Noyes

Thanks guys!

RobesonsRme.com wrote:I got it for not much money because the surfaces of every blade looked like the master on MB's knife, only more so.

RobesonsRme.com wrote:I cleaned the blades with Sarah's finger nail polish remover, which was principally acetone.

Charlie,

Tell me it ain`t so!

That`s the equivelent of removing the original finish from an 18th century piece of furniture!

Well at least now it looks all nice and shiny

Just kidding

Charlie, you once said that you would not pay more for a knife because it had salesman`s sample numbers written on the blade. Truthfully, neither would I, but there are lots of collectors who will. Nothing wrong with it, in fact it is a part of cutlery history and should be preserved. With that said, neither would I take a salesman`s sample knife and remove the ink with acetone, I would leave it alone.

Your knife looks great now and all but you removed an important part of it`s history. I was tempted to do the same thing you did but my better judgement stopped me.

M.B.