All About Pocket Knives

Looks like the blade was replaced

Makes sense the English knife makers in the 1800s would have access to some of the best stag, considering England's involvement in and colonization of India.

I guess I should throw this in the mix.
I like this knife.

FRJ wrote:I guess I should throw this in the mix.
I like this knife.

Very nice example and quite stunning with the black and white horn handles.

Thanks, Mason.
It's an old knife and in very good shape.

Here is another one I've owned forever.Not sure whether it is old or not;it LOOKS old.Liners are nickel silver.

knife7knut wrote:Here is another one I've owned forever.Not sure whether it is old or not;it LOOKS old.Liners are nickel silver.

That's a solid good looking knife.

It's old. Nice knife.

Mason wrote:Here is an automatic variation from the mid 1800s with lovely stag. It was produced by another fine old Sheffield firm by the name of "R. Bunting".

What is the length of this knife?

Miller Bro`s wrote:

Mason wrote:Here is an automatic variation from the mid 1800s with lovely stag. It was produced by another fine old Sheffield firm by the name of "R. Bunting".

What is the length of this knife?

5 inch, which is a pretty common size for many of the 19th century Sheffield switchblades.

Thank You

What is the longest 19th century switchblade you have ever seen?

Miller Bro`s wrote:Thank You

What is the longest 19th century switchblade you have ever seen?

Twenty inches in total open length.

I would like to see a picture of that one!

Another large English folder 5 1/4" closed.

Can`t make out the entire stamp........& Bunche`s Celebrated.

Anyone seen this mark before?

Miller Bro`s wrote:Another large English folder 5 1/4" closed.

Can`t make out the entire stamp........& Bunche`s Celebrated.

Anyone seen this mark before?

Nice knife MB.
I did some digging and could not find any reference to the "Bunche's" name. Are there any visible letters in the first name?

Mason wrote:Are there any visible letters in the first name?

I count 7 letters in the first name, it looks like the letter"K" twice and a letter "N", the rest are too far gone to recognize.

Check this one out. At first glance it looks like an old English folder, grooved bolsters all Iron mounts hand checkered wood handles, etc. It measures in at 6 1/2" long closed almost 12" long fully open.

I believe it was made in Pakistan, there is a back story here about Pakistan cutlers. At one time the English were having trouble finding young men and women to replace existing workers in the cutlery industry. For generations sons and daughters followed their parents into the cutlery trade, after WWII the number of offspring willing to follow their parents in the cutlery trade declined, what to do?

Start looking for workers willing to work in this dirty and under paid profession. This is where workers from Pakistan come to England and are trained by the English workers, they learn quickly and learn well, soon they are leaving the country to return to Pakistan and start their own cutlery making business, they don`t have the fancy equipment or even electricity in most cases however they know how to put a pocket knife together. The use of any available material they can find is what they use and most all the knives are crudely made and have a bad reputation, but there are a few that have pretty good steel and are fairly well made.

This is one of those knives the blade is ground well and it is razor sharp! The lock up is tight and has snap, the finish on the back spring is a little crude but overall the knife is pretty good. The old trick is to stamp the blades with famous or well used trade marks used on English cutlery to fool unsuspecting buyers into thinking they are buying the genuine article, judging from the quality of most of these compared to the English knives I don`t think it fooled to many buyers.

Miller Bro`s wrote:Another large English folder 5 1/4" closed.

Can`t make out the entire stamp........& Bunche`s Celebrated.

Anyone seen this mark before?

Run that one by Neil Miller and see if he can dig up something. He knows the cutlers over there like the back of his hand.

GREAT KNIVES!!

Will do Willie

Miller Bro`s wrote:Check this one out. At first glance it looks like an old English folder, grooved bolsters all Iron mounts hand checkered wood handles, etc. It measures in at 6 1/2" long closed almost 12" long fully open.

I believe it was made in Pakistan, there is a back story here about Pakistan cutlers. At one time the English were having trouble finding young men and women to replace existing workers in the cutlery industry. For generations sons and daughters followed their parents into the cutlery trade, after WWII the number of offspring willing to follow their parents in the cutlery trade declined, what to do?

Start looking for workers willing to work in this dirty and under paid profession. This is where workers from Pakistan come to England and are trained by the English workers, they learn quickly and learn well, soon they are leaving the country to return to Pakistan and start their own cutlery making business, they don`t have the fancy equipment or even electricity in most cases however they know how to put a pocket knife together. The use of any available material they can find is what they use and most all the knives are crudely made and have a bad reputation, but there are a few that have pretty good steel and are fairly well made.

This is one of those knives the blade is ground well and it is razor sharp! The lock up is tight and has snap, the finish on the back spring is a little crude but overall the knife is pretty good. The old trick is to stamp the blades with famous or well used trade marks used on English cutlery to fool unsuspecting buyers into thinking they are buying the genuine article, judging from the quality of most of these compared to the English knives I don`t think it fooled to many buyers.

Interesting knife and story. I wasn't aware that men from Pakistan had gone to England to enlist in the knife trade, but it makes sense since India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were all under British rule from 1858 to 1947. Here is another false example which I believe was made in India as many post WWII lever type switchblade models were made there. This model goes as far as having "Sheffield Steel" and "No. 6 England" stamped on the blade. These crude examples have fooled many novice collectors over the years in thinking they had found the real deal.

I have owned several of these over the years, thanks for showing it