All About Pocket Knives

Great old knife bestgear. Trying to figure out the year of manufacture. Has go be between 1910-1930ish. Anyone know?

That is a beauty Tom

bestgear wrote:My birthday present to myself..........I love it when they are older than me!

Thanks Mike - now I need her brother (The BSA version) to complete the set - know where I can find one?

Nice knives Joe, Jay and Tom ... I know E Weck is old but wasn't aware they are rare.. anyway I think I have a Weck lobster pattern that I found on the local hunt - will get some pics to post....

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Lee

Here is a Walden with a hollow spoon blade. Not a very good pick, but I do believe this is a rare one.
Jay

Nice knives, guys.

Here's an old Thomaston.

That's a great old Thomaston. Love the big old spear blade. The pen blade looks very narrow. Does not appear to be from blade loss??? Was this the way it was manufactured? Either way it's a great knife.
Jay

Jay & Joe, love the ebony on those two!

Thank you, I'm a sucker for ebony jacks. Only recently come to appreciate the jigged bone. Started working with ebony on my knives. Boy that stuff is messy!

Thank you Dimitri and Jay.

Jay, I believe both blades have suffered from grinder/stone use, especially the secondary.

Either way Joe that knife is historically significant. It has a lot of my favorite things going on. Since we are talking about ebony jacks, here is one of my favorites. Far as I can tell someone used it just enough to scuff up the blades. Otherwise it is in great shape.
Jay

A Vailsburgh Knife Co New Jersey lobster knife. I've not found much on this company so far. Goins' book lists it as 1875-1900. Any other information greatly appreciated. Thanks

JAMESC41001 wrote:Here is a Walden with a hollow spoon blade. Not a very good pick, but I do believe this is a rare one.
Jay

Jay, I think the "hollow spoon" blade is a leather punch. Making it in my eyes a very desirable knife.

Harold

Thanx Harold, any info I have found on that style punch is from here at AAPK. I've only seen a few pics one was another walden. Can't recall the other two, but there don't seem to be many examples.

smiling-knife wrote:A Vailsburgh Knife Co New Jersey lobster knife. I've not found much on this company so far. Goins' book lists it as 1875-1900. Any other information greatly appreciated. Thanks

Pankiewiczs' book "New Jersey Cutlery" does not have much at all about This maker. Says Vailsburg was annexed by Newark in 1905. Levine's 4th edition says a Sheffield cutler named James Crawford invented the lobster pattern in 1820. Yours is a gunstock/orange blossom pattern. I believe that particular pattern was first done by New York Knife Co. Although remington and ulster also made them. Whatever you find out though you'll probably be breaking new ground. There is just no a lot of info for this mark. Great knife. Thanx for posting it.

smiling-knife wrote:A Vailsburgh Knife Co New Jersey lobster knife. I've not found much on this company so far. Goins' book lists it as 1875-1900. Any other information greatly appreciated. Thanks

That 's a very pretty knife. I can't offer much about the company, however I know there is a book titled New Jersey Cutlery by Kit Oliynyk I've been interested in but have not seen for sale. Perhaps someone here has it?

I saw this knife in another thread on aapk. It is an electric. Electric cutlery knives were made in Newark from 1889-1910. The Mark was owned by Friedmann/Lauterjung which was located on fourth and Dickerson st. In the west ward. The Vailsburg section of newark is also the west ward. I think it likely the two knives were made in the F&L factory.

Actually, Smiling Knife's Vailsburgh lobster is not a gunstock or Orange Blossom like a NYK or Remington, etc., it is a serpentine sleeveboard lobster, as depicted on the bottom of page 259 in LG-IV and a pattern that Levine called "very rare" and "very handsome"; high praise, I should think.

He also stated that Winchester called their example a "curved balloon lobster".

Charlie Noyes

Thanx Charlie, I'll look closer. Seems like it would take a lot of skill to make a knife like that.

Thank you for the information posted sofar. Much appreciated.

Very fine one Smiling Knife, as always!

Charlie, great addition by transcribing this information. Thanks.

James, that is STUNNING! What lovely handles. Hold on to that one phew

Thanx but not my knife. Got the pick from a differant thread here on aapk. It is very njce though.

Edward K. Tryon Philadelphia, 1913 Sleeveboard. Great snap, action, finish, bones etc.

Ivoryman that is a fine little knife.

Iman, I've got a Camillus from the same time period that looks identical to that one!!..........nice old knife!!!............... ..............