All About Pocket Knives

Thanks Rusty1. I appreciate that.

Great knife Charlie. That is a somewhat unusual pattern.

Thanks for posting the box Miller bros.

This appears to be the large lockback with synthetic scales shown in the 1930s catalogue earlier.

Knife I recently bought, but not my pictures. Bone handled I-XL lock back GS-20, 3 1/8".

Hi Kurt. Nice looking knife. It was made by the US Imperial knife co when it owned the Wostenholm trademark in the late 1970s - early 80s. The top digit on the left bolster of pic 1 will tell you the year it was made. I can't make it out. s-k

Thank you, for telling me how to date my knife. I appreciate your knowledge of the I XL brand of knives, I bought it off ebay. I like the vintage Schrades and this knife caught my eye. I have recently seen a few of these I XL lockbacks for sale on ebay.

You're welcome. I don't have one, But I've heard the imperial I*XLs a reasonably well made.

This is my old I*XL hunting knife. The blade is 6 inches long.

upnorth wrote:This second "Whittler" has nicer synthetic handles than the first one. With a shot of the backsprings;

Hey Charlie, I found your knife in the early 60s catalogue...Model number 78. . Can't get a close-up at the moment as my scanner is on the blink. s-k

Thanks for looking that up, Steve!

Boy you sure have some nice ones! Corkscrews too!

That's a great looking stag prunner M.B.

This little one was made in the 1950s. Shown below is the same model with earlier Firth Stainless blades circa 1930s.

Nice knife SK!
That MOP has lots of color.

Dale

SK,
Nice little pearl pen. The FIRTH STAINLESS stamp is very interesting. I have a couple of them and I know what Levine says about Firth and Brearly and such but when did IXL use that stamp? Does it in any way help in dating the knife? Could it date back to the 1915 or 1920 time frame? I have one where Firth Stainless 0is etched on the blade. Somehow that knife does not seem as old as the ones with it stamped on the tang.
Any thoughts on this?

Ray

Thanks for the comments Dale

Ray. Yes it can be used to roughly date a knife. It is my understanding that it was predominantly used in the 1920s and into the later 1930s... so really the interwar period. I think it may have appeared in table knives just prior to the War but use was then restricted. Early ss blades were stamped and later ones etched. Firths was regarded as the finest quality ss and thus was subject to counterfeiting attempts. Historian Ken Hawley suggests that Firth's used a minute trace of silver detectable through metallurgical analysis which allowed them to successful sue for a number of trademark violations.

All of your IXL collections have some real class. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I have one lonely IXL canoe, which I love. Maybe you can tell me how old it is! The numbers on the bolster are 0641 and I'm not sure what the scales are made from. Thanks much! John

Stag handle Wostenholm..................

smiling-knife wrote:Excellent collection K7K . The horseman's knife is especially outstanding. Thanks again.

The Tyne knife is in a 1960s catalogue. I don't know the story behind the naming of it though.

smiling-knife

Holy Cow!! Finially a reference to this knife. I've had this knife almost 40-years and have never been able to apply a date of manufacture to it. Mine is just like upnorth's without the I-XL stamp on the blade. Both upnorth's and mine have about the same blade, wonder if it's worn or made like that. I beleive that I read that "TYNE" is Olde English for "TOWN". The Tyne is also a river in North-East England. Thanks a lot for the photos. Here is mine.

I forgot about this thread..

I found my knife on the catalogue page too.
Looks like the model 78 GBX











Thanks Steve!!

PS the horrid looking pookey on the back scale scraped off and left nary a scratch or mark.

Heres a good one I use to own

4ever3 wrote:Heres a good one I use to own

Bummer that you don't own it any more.
I would like to buy it.

I love that swedge ground Wharncliffe!!!

Dale

I really like the carbon steel in the I*XL knives I own.
I just got a couple off fleabay last week, a Barlow & a Wharncliffe.
The Barlow will eventually get a rehandle because of the broken rear handle.
The Wharncliffe has taken up semi-permanent residence in my right front pocket, though I am not pleased with the funky handles on it. The handles feel like cheap plastic, but seem to have shrunk like celluloid.
I think I will have to replace them with bone or perhaps stag........I haven't decided yet.

Dale

I can't help but wonder about the word SCAPA on that scale.

Scapa Flow is where the Germans surrendered their fleet in WWI and scuttled most of it, (much to the chagrin of the English) and is also the place where the British battle ship, HMS ROYAL OAK was sunk by a sub in a daring attack at the beginning of WWII in 1939.
http://www.hmsroyaloak.co.uk/

A lot of history laying on the bottom of that place.

Interesting.
I did not know what Scapa referred to.

I did a Google search and found that it is also a Whiskey Distillery on Orkney Island in Scotland.
I think perhaps my knife was an advertising knife.
Hummm..................now I am not sure if I should change the handles or not.

Dale

Here's an IXL, unused in the bag. Sorriest looking and fitted IXL knife I've ever seen. I figure it is an "end of days" conglomeration of parts that wer tossed togehter before Schrade came in and tried to breathe some life back into the name.

Here's the bag and the knife. a bit of the original lettering barely visible on the bag.


Here's the knife and the paperwork extolling the virtues of this fine specimen.


Notice the poor blade fitment and shrunken scales.


Only saw fit to put the name on one blade.


The blades "limp and whisper" rather than "walk and talk" as the older IXL's do.

Oh well, it is unused and has all the paperwork.

On Page 1 of the thread page 2 of the catalog bottom right I think it said Whittler and as most of you know if it has a Spear main I LIKE it!

I only have one IXL:


Not EVEN one of my faves and maybe up for trade?

Willie,


Wow!
Talk about poor quality workmanship. That knife looks like the IXL`s that were coming out of India several years back.

In addition to being cheaply made, it was cheap too. LOL

I got less than $9.00 delivered in it, and I got a HELL of good CASE jumbo Jack and nice Buck Creek for the same price each as that one. I think after I traded in my ebay bucks certificate, those three knives cost me 26 buck and some change.