All About Pocket Knives

I was attracted to this unusual pattern. 3" closed. Nice jigged bone with birds eye rivets. Looks like a Candle end lobster frame, but it's constructed like a stock man's knife. I've shown this one around, some thought it was made by Utica, someone else thought Robeson. Has anyone seen this pattern with a stamp other than HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 U.S.A.

That's a nice knife, Barry. Remarkable blade combination for that size and pattern.
How many resilient springs does it have?
It sure dresses up this thread. Thanks for posting it.

1fartsmella wrote:I was attracted to this unusual pattern. 3" closed. Nice jigged bone with birds eye rivets. Looks like a Candle end lobster frame, but it's constructed like a stock man's knife. I've shown this one around, some thought it was made by Utica, someone else thought Robeson. Has anyone seen this pattern with a stamp other than HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 U.S.A.

That is just exceptional.

1fartsmella wrote:I was attracted to this unusual pattern. 3" closed. Nice jigged bone with birds eye rivets. Looks like a Candle end lobster frame, but it's constructed like a stock man's knife. I've shown this one around, some thought it was made by Utica, someone else thought Robeson. Has anyone seen this pattern with a stamp other than HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 U.S.A.

Yes, that is a rare and unusual knife. I have pictured my only 2 Henry Sears & Son knives above and they have to be from a much later era that this one. I have never seen one like this.

Thanks olde cutler, Joe & Cal. The knife has 2 back springs, one for the master blade and one for both small blades. Here's a few more pix:

This next one is an Ebony whittler 3 3/8" closed with birds eye rivets stamped HENRY SEARS & SON PRUSSIA. The unusual thing about this knife is the master blade does not rest on the kick when closed. The tip of the blade sits in a tiny groove in the spacer between the 2 small blades. I try to be gentle when closing the master blade. It's got wicked snap. Barry

Thanks Barry. I assumed it had two springs. I always wince when I see two ends sprung,
It would sure be nice to know the maker.
I have a little candle end tiped bolster in a lobster pattern with similar scales.
It's a Keen Kutter, so were back to square one.

This one is a 2 3/4" closed congress whittler with abalone handles. I've seen abalone handled knives made by Utica, New York Knife Co, Robeson & Cattaraugus. Although that is no indication of who made this one stamped HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 on all 3 blades. It sure would be nice to find some documentation about who made these knives for HS&S.

Regarding the 3 3/8" Ebony whittler, i thought the grooved spacer was there to allow master blade to have maximum possible length, not to support the blade at the tip.
kj

That's a beautiful whittler, Barry.
Thank you.

Henry Sears and Son Prussia teardrop toenail,Aka Tom Thumb.

Wow!
Beautiful knife and beautiful pictures, Roger.
Thanks for showing that one.

Roger, that is about as mint as mint gets. Very nice

Wow. Amazing !
With "Prussia" this is at least 110 years old. Roger do you agree that "Prussia" indicates prior to about 1910 ?
kj

1fartsmella wrote:This one is a 2 3/4" closed congress whittler with abalone handles. I've seen abalone handled knives made by Utica, New York Knife Co, Robeson & Cattaraugus. Although that is no indication of who made this one stamped HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 on all 3 blades. It sure would be nice to find some documentation about who made these knives for HS&S.

I see you posted another whittler knife with both blades working off the same spring open. You may have missed what Joe meant when he said he winced when he saw both blades open. If you open both blades all the way it doesn't overload the spring. When you open them both half way you could and sooner or later will snap the spring in two and wreck the knife. It makes for a nice picture but isn't worth sacrificing the knife for. ___Dave

Dave, i am sure Barry knows about the springs. He is one of the most experienced & knowledgeable collectors here at AAPK.
kj

djknife13 wrote:

1fartsmella wrote:This one is a 2 3/4" closed congress whittler with abalone handles. I've seen abalone handled knives made by Utica, New York Knife Co, Robeson & Cattaraugus. Although that is no indication of who made this one stamped HENRY SEARS & SON 1865 on all 3 blades. It sure would be nice to find some documentation about who made these knives for HS&S.

I see you posted another whittler knife with both blades working off the same spring open. You may have missed what Joe meant when he said he winced when he saw both blades open. If you open both blades all the way it doesn't overload the spring. When you open them both half way you could and sooner or later will snap the spring in two and wreck the knife. It makes for a nice picture but isn't worth sacrificing the knife for. ___Dave

I was wondering about just that when I bought this boxed Scout knife last week. It was made in 1985, so it has been sitting in this box for over 30 years probably with the blades all open like this the whole time. When I got it home I closed all the blades, but then it wouldn't fit back in the box correctly. It still seems to have good snap and works OK though.

Yeah, it's kind of like my kids "reminding" me to wear my seat belt like I don't know I'm suppose to but I've driven to town hundreds of times without it and I made it just fine. It seems to be more of a risk with old knives. I saw a friend do that to an old knife he just won at an auction and warned him that it might break the spring. He took the knife home and opened it and liked the way it displayed open and put it on a shelf that way. It took about a week before it snapped. Some snap right away. Some just seem to do OK with the extra tension but I suspect that a lot of the knives that have lost their walk have been pushed along with abuse like this. ____Dave

Great thread, Joe! Lots of spectacular knives!
Dan

Is this related? HENRY SEARS CO PRUSSIA. Do ya'll know anything about this knife, other than a broken blade?

Redcrossman, thanks for putting your Henry Sears Prussia in the thread. Too bad your blade is broken. That was a real looker when it was new with those birdseye rivets and black covers.

I picked up this Henry Sears & Son 1865 USA 3 7/8" stockman at a gun show over the weekend for a few bucks. Been used a lot and sharpened a lot, but still a good old knife. Handle material looks good, not sure if it is celluloid or not????

Good looking knife OC!!!

OLDE CUTLER, that's a good looking stockman. There's plenty of life left in it.
Thanks for showing it here.

Here's a nice little folder that has seen some abuse.
It makes me think someone cut themselves and left the blood on the knife.
Well, it's mine now and a great little packer it is with very strong springs and half stops and full blades.
I don't think the pen has been sharpened.
No brass to be found. 3 3/8" closed.
I guess those covers are Rosewood.