All About Pocket Knives

I no longer own the whittler, so it's not my knife to show.

Here is the pearl handled 008 penknife and some Ebay photos of the ebony handled one. I could take some better photos of that one if you wish.

Also a nicely etched knife that sold on Ebay some years ago. I bid, but lost. Gorgeous Knife.

Charlie

Thank you Charlie, for showing the pictures of your very nice knives.
It's always nice to see the Wharncliffe blade intact where mine has been used very hard at the tip.
The etched pearl is a real beauty.

Here's a very nice Robeson jack, still in great condition. 626636
Half stops on both blades with very strong springs. 3 7/16" closed.

FRJ wrote:Here's a very nice Robeson jack, still in great condition. 626636
Half stops on both blades with very strong springs. 3 7/16" closed.

Wow Joe that one is beautiful!!

Thank you, woodwalker.
A nice pocket worn Robeson and it still has great blades.

I like that knife Joe

Thanks Keith.

FRJ wrote:Here's a very nice Robeson jack, still in great condition. 626636
Half stops on both blades with very strong springs. 3 7/16" closed.

Thanks doglegg.

Look at this little beauty that came in today #672284

TripleF wrote:Look at this little beauty that came in today #672284

That's a nice one Scott!!

woodwalker wrote:

TripleF wrote:Look at this little beauty that came in today #672284

That's a nice one Scott!!

I thought so too!
Tang stamp dates to 1900 - 1916

See my response in the other thread.

The pattern number cannot be 672284, because the knife does not have seven blades.

Charlie

I just 're-discovered this lovely pearl Robeson Shuredge, 2 3/4" shadow 4 blade senator, with 74304 stamped on back master tang.
All blades are marked: "Robeson/ShurEdge/Rochester,N.Y." on front tang and the master blade has been double struck. "Made/In U.S.A." is on back tang of manicure blade.
I think the liners are nickel-silver. There are 4 ease outs of pearl & liner, one for each nail nick.
Looks never used or buffed and all original to me, but i know none of the Robeson 'details' needed for a reasonable assessment.
kj

Nice one Joe.

Thanks Roger.

When Robeson started applying pattern numbers to their knives, they assigned that knife the number 004. That pattern has been around for a long time.

Beautiful premium quality knife in great condition.

Charlie

Thank you Charlie. Am i correct that liners are nickel-silver, not brass ?
Is there anyway to determine age of this 4 blade senator ? or was it made unchanged for all it's years of production ?
And finally, i assume over the years quite a few were made. Is it unusual to see one in the unused condition ? or are there 'quite a few' out there ?
kj

Roland, for whatever reason, I have been very fortunate in finding and buying similar four bladed premium quality knives with pearl handles in mint or near mint condition. For some reason, they did not get used up and honed down.

Bruce Voyles once postulated that such knives were generally marketed in upscale gentlemen's clothing stores and tended to stay in the shops and when the early knife dealers started scouring the country for mint knife displays, they just bought them all up.

Also, the gentleman that would have bought such a knife would not have abused it and would have taken good care of it and stored it properly.

Such knives were not bought by laborers or tradesmen or farmers.

Here are some of the ones I've collected.

Charlie

A beautiful collection of MOP. Congrats Charlie.

Oh, my ! What beautiful Gent's knives ! And even an original box & insert, first Robeson box i have seen. Looks like 2 have a gold shield. Is the bottom one the same pattern as my knife, 74304 ? I can see it is the basic 'model', the more upscale ones have bolsters & a shield.
I do like the explanation as to why pearl Gent's knives are often seen in near mint condition.
I am beginning to see Robeson as an upscale manufacturer for all their knives. Were they more expensive than a comparable Case or Cattaraugus during the time before WW II ?
kj

All above have nickel-silver liners ?

Roland, the bottom-most knife is an 006, not an 004. It is 3 5/16 inches long by my measurement. An original Robeson catalog says 3 1/2"s.

All the knives in that post have brass liners and nickel-silver bolsters, as indicated by the third digit "2" in the pattern number, except the bottom-most knife, it has nickel-silver liners and bolsters.

So, yes, your knife, given the "3" in the pattern number should have nickel-silver liners.

Those shields are not gold, but gold-leafed, I believe. The shields are not metal. They are some kind of paper or fiber composite.

BTW; if you place your cursor on most of my photos, the pattern number will show.

The second knife down has covered backsprings.

I do not have access to any old price lists, so I do not know what such knives sold for back then.

Charlie

Thank you again Charlie for helping me more fully appreciate the few Robeson knives i have.
I have noticed that old British and German Gent's type knives are usually found in a well used condition with blade loss from repeated sharpening. These likely were not carried as gifts in men's clothing stores.
kj

Here are two nice Robeson Wharncliffe knives I bought from Charlie. These knives are 3 3/8" closed.

Thank you, Charlie for the chance to buy these fine knives and team them up with my jigged bone knife.

IN TWO POSTS ......

Joe, very nice Wharncliffe you got from Charlie! Hard to get anything but nice Robesons from the man I see one Wharncliffe folder but where is the other one?