All About Pocket Knives

I thought as much with the historical societies. I got them of an ol buck I work with they were his grandfathers. His grandfather used them for wallpaper and they've been used in different trades right up until he gave em to me. The stories they could tell

I see in the new Dec 2018 issue of Knife Magazine that the Excelsior name has been purchased by Ryan Daniels, and they are releasing new high end knives, incorporating the old trademark logo into the stamp. Kind of neat. The first new knife is out now, and a picture is shown on their website.

I would think the market will be pretty limited for a $450 single blade knife.

Yes, probably so. But if he only makes 25 piece knife runs, 3-4 times a year. He probably has a high-end customer base for that amount.

peanut740 wrote:I would think the market will be pretty limited for a $450 single blade knife.

Yeah, for $450 I would buy an original first!

Ditto that, not worth the money in my opinion but then again I have a bias!

I have this Excelsior. It is a handful. Anyone know about this particular one?

Unclemrbig wrote: ↑Fri Nov 27, 2020 1:34 am I have this Excelsior. It is a handful. Anyone know about this particular one?

Welcome to AAPK! I can't give you any info on your knife...other than to say "It's a nice looking one!". Hopefully someone with more info, will come along and give some more enlightenment.

I know that is a GREAT knife!!!

Harold

Unclemrbig wrote: ↑Fri Nov 27, 2020 1:34 am I have this Excelsior. It is a handful. Anyone know about this particular one?

Welcome and what a lovely knife.

to AAPK and thanks for posting that gorgeous knife.

Appears to be a Northfield era Excelsior. Nice knife.

Here’s an Excelsior Cutlery. Do any of you all have any information? Is this the same knife company as your thread?

Here is my only Excelsior;paid $5 for it at an antique shop.

Treasure Trawler wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:03 am Here’s an Excelsior Cutlery. Do any of you all have any information? Is this the same knife company as your thread?

I would be suspicious that knife personally, since there is a tang stamps that looks like it's partially ground off.
I can't quite make out what it says, can you see it better having it in hand?
Blowing up the second picture it appears the holster on the backside of the knife has come and soldered from the edge of the liner that is typically something I've noticed on German and Sheffield knives but not so much on American-made knives. It also appears to me that that bolster is hollow, not a solid piece of nickel silver but a sheet of nickel silver that has been stamped out to form the bolster shape and then soldered onto the liner. That one appears that it is shifted a little bit in the solder along the edge has broken loose. I have even worked on German knives that were made with the stamped out bolsters that have no solder on them. The only thing holding the bolsters liners and blades together is the pivot pin. Once the pivot pin is removed the whole end of the knife falls apart. Reading back through the thread I see that Excelsior was considered to be a very high-quality knife. I can't imagine finding hollow stamped out bolsters on a high-quality knife of the 1880s. They would have been competing against New York Knife Company which by all accounts I've heard were considered to be excellent knives. I don't think that that knife would compare to favorably to an old New York Knife Company knife given the hollow bolsters that appear to have slipped.

I don't know anything of significance about Excelsior knives. Mostly what I've read here, but having repaired a serious number of knives I am very suspicious of the construction of that knife. It appears to me to be made much later than 1880, probably between World War I and World War II and probably made in Germany to judge by the construction, the materials and workmanship. One thing that might help is to check the bolsters with a magnet and see if they are magnetic. If they are magnetic then they are steel and not nickel silver.
Hopefully someone else who actually knows something about Excelsior knives will come in here and give you a definitive answer. Since I don't know the brand my judgment is based on the construction of the materials the knife is made of. While generally accurate, that method of judging the age of a knife is far from 100%.
Your knife may be the genuine article, hopefully someone will be along who knows the brand well and will render a more accurate opinion than mine.
It is still an interesting knife though, and I am a big fan of the bone handles. I love the aged and yellowed bone that appear to be pretty much intact except for the cracks at the rocker pin. Still all in all not bad for a knife that's probably close to hundred years old, no matter what the brand!

Thanks Dale I appreciate the detailed answer.

Can you tell us what the letters are on the tang?

Here is a barehead jack that I recently picked up. 3 5/8" closed. Doesn't look like it got much use over the last hundred years.

Wayne, great looking and excellent condition barehead Jack Wonderful etch! What kind of wood is that—Cocobolo?

Duffer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 8:08 pm Wayne, great looking and excellent condition barehead Jack What kind of wood is that—Cocobolo?

Thanks Lloyd , Cocobolo would be my best guess.

What a clean and beautiful knife, Wayne.

Great knife Wayne.I've had the Clipper etch on a couple of Excelsior before.

btrwtr wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 6:48 pm Here is a barehead jack that I recently picked up. 3 5/8" closed. Doesn't look like it got much use over the last hundred years.

Would this be the same model as yours? I found this over the weekend for $10. I had never heard of excelsior knife co. just thought it was a cool, older, well made knife. Thank you for any help

CarMan wrote: ↑Thu Oct 20, 2022 7:20 pm

btrwtr wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 6:48 pm Here is a barehead jack that I recently picked up. 3 5/8" closed. Doesn't look like it got much use over the last hundred years.

Would this be the same model as yours? I found this over the weekend for $10. I had never heard of excelsior knife co. just thought it was a cool, older, well made knife. Thank you for any help

Carman, that is awesome, I wouldn't have wasted a second in fishing a 10 dollar bill out of my pocket for that one. Looks like the main is slightly tipped, but overall, it is in really nice shape for a 140 year old knife. Congratulations!
The only Excelsior that I own, is one from after the Northfield purchase......stamped Excelsior "cutlery", rather than
"knife co". I am not sure I have ever seen an original Excelsior in person.

Waukonda wrote: ↑Thu Oct 20, 2022 11:05 pm

CarMan wrote: ↑Thu Oct 20, 2022 7:20 pm

btrwtr wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 6:48 pm Here is a barehead jack that I recently picked up. 3 5/8" closed. Doesn't look like it got much use over the last hundred years.

Would this be the same model as yours? I found this over the weekend for $10. I had never heard of excelsior knife co. just thought it was a cool, older, well made knife. Thank you for any help

Carman, that is awesome, I wouldn't have wasted a second in fishing a 10 dollar bill out of my pocket for that one. Looks like the main is slightly tipped, but overall, it is in really nice shape for a 140 year old knife. Congratulations!
The only Excelsior that I own, is one from after the Northfield purchase......stamped Excelsior "cutlery", rather than
"knife co". I am not sure I have ever seen an original Excelsior in person.

Thank you. I honestly had never heard of Excelsior till I got home. When I picked it up I thought it said Electrician.