All About Pocket Knives

Lyle your passion for Farmers Jacks finally convinced me. This one came up the other day and I was able to snag it. Great little knife. Thanks.

Very nice looking FJ's you have there JohnR & doglegg.
Yes... Lyle had convinced me a while back, but I just have not found any yet in good condition at the right $$$ made by the mfg's I collect... that being from the Hudson Valley area of New York or a.k.a. America's "Little Sheffield"...
...the search goes on...

Floyd I’m glad you joined the group. I tried to buy the black camel bone that just sold on eBay, it went higher than I was willing to give though.

As I said in the mail call thread, GEC’s attendance to quality is unequaled in modern history manufacturing.

Seems they are more desirable and more expensive than when I began Ken, but patience and perseverance will be rewarded.

I think those handles are some of the prettiest of the Queen renditions John, congratulations.

wlf wrote:Floyd I’m glad you joined the group. I tried to buy the black camel bone that just sold on eBay, it went higher than I was willing to give though.

As I said in the mail call thread, GEC’s attendance to quality is unequaled in modern history manufacturing.

Seems they are more desirable and more expensive than when I began Ken, but patience and perseverance will be rewarded.

This one popped up over on Blade Forums. And I thought at a reasonable price.

Pressed stag Simmons Hardware hornet series. Their hornet knives were manufactured mostly overseas in Germany, although I can see no mark of country of origin. I expect this one is before WWI ?

What we call pressed stag, so far = overseas.Resembles the Wostenholm (although it's not a Wostenholm) pictured ( top) together in the first scan.

Very nice, Lyle! I am sure you have looked closely, but is Germany perhaps obscured by the bolster?

I just noticed that the hornet stamp on your knife is different from the normal hornet on the Germany knives. I also have a couple of Simmons knives with the same tang stamp as yours (I suspect that a "Co" is hidden by the bolster on yours), however neither of mine have a hornet stamp. Very interesting. Below is a pic of the usual Germany made stamp and the usual hornet.

Beautiful Simmons Farmers Jack Lyle, congratulations!

Lyle

Thank you John for first pointing it out, shortly before Roger C notified me also. Thanks my friends. Thanks Jerry for your input too.

Thanks Dan, I thought this knife would interest you. I looked as close as I could, but couldn’t see any country. Could our knives have been manufactured prior to 1890,it’s possible with my knife ? Almost certainly overseas manufactured.

Wow Lyle, what a great old knife. And in great condition. That one is a winner all the way around.

Awesome FJ Lyle ... Nice score for your FJs - Excellent condition all the way around and great look to it !! ... Somewhat of a mystery too ...

wlf wrote:Thank you John for first pointing it out, shortly before Roger C notified me also. Thanks my friends. Thanks Jerry for your input too.

Thanks Dan, I thought this knife would interest you. I looked as close as I could, but couldn’t see any country. Could our knives have been manufactured prior to 1890,it’s possible with my knife ? Almost certainly overseas manufactured.

I would believe it could be possible with your knife. The more realistic hornet, as opposed to the triangular hornet on the Germany stamped knives, may indicate earlier manufacture?? Although, if it is indeed that old, where has it been stored to be in such fantastic condition? I assume you are saying your's is overseas manufactured due to the pressed stag handles? Mysteries aside, it is a beautiful knife and a great addition to your collection.

Of the 3 "Simmons Hardware Co" knives I have, two have fancy scrolled Keen Kutter etches and I believe were US (likely Walden?) manufactured. The one without an etch, has bone handles, which I believe are from the Walden Cutlery Handle Co., also indicating US manufacture.

Knice addition to your exquisite FJ collection Lyle! ... and always neat to add another facet of an old brand's offerings...

Managed to pick up a. small collection of Farmers Jacks, a decent Schrade Cut Co and 3 GEC's, been looking for the smooth ivory bone ever since they were first released.

Very nice John!

John

It looks like the cut had some influence on the young farmers, nice examples all of them.

Nice score John ... Great group there!!

I’ve looked for a Lick Creek FJ but only seen a few - unfortunately the prices were abit more than I was willing to pay.. of course an old FJ of my liking would work too if I could find the right maker and locale ...

picked this up at the market. ulster ,wright & wilhelmy.co. ?
not sure if it is a true farmers jack.
but is a good strong knife . with nice bone.
i would like any info on this knife.
thanks for looking.

richard wrote:picked this up at the market. ulster ,wright & wilhelmy.co. ?
not sure if it is a true farmers jack.
but is a good strong knife . with nice bone.
i would like any info on this knife.
thanks for looking.

Very nice knife richard ... but not considered a Farmer’s Jack which would have a Hawkbill on one side and on opposite end a spey blade - imo your knife is a dogleg jack with nice bone handles ...

Quite the haul John. You picked up all three at once,congratulations.

The spey blade was a design I borrowed from NYK. The pruning blade is similar to Schrades , as it’s style was easier to run on GEC’s machine, at the time. It doesn’t have the longer elegant point, that so easily gets sharpened away.
Bill made the frame smaller than I would have, but he had whittler patterns in mind too and they are typically shorter than FJ’s.

The Cut is of the sturdiest FJ’s. But, it’s a design borrowed from Empire.

They are the only two such of all I’ve seen, unique ,in that the pruning blade pin is in the meat of the bolster, not the rat tail, all others I’ve seen. They did this by adding 1/8” to the standard 4” length of the frame.

Tony Bose has a J Rodgers that he brought to Lexington to show me. It is also 4 1/8” , very sturdy and chunky. I do not know if the pin is placed like the Empires and Schrades. It is different than other J Rodgers cuts I have seen, which seemed typical for FJ’s.

I went and checked my pictures, Tony Bose’s J Rodgers doesn’t even have rat tails in the bolsters, very pedestrian for FJ’s, especially a J Rodgers knife.

Here is the big J Rodgers.

wlf wrote:Here is the big J Rodgers.

Thanks for everyone's comments on the Farmers jacks, appreciated, Lee the GEC's are hard to find, seems people are keeping them in their collections.

Lyle, the Schrade's do seem to be sturdily built, I've handled a few that have had heavy use and they have no play whatsoever. That Rodgers is something else, besides the size it also looks like a straight back instead of serpentine, maybe just the picture. I can't remember ever seeing another. Were you able to acquire it?