All About Pocket Knives

Thats a great find Lee, congratulations!

djknife13 wrote:Here's a better picture of the fat IXL scales. The second picture contains (top to bottom) Winchester with secondary saw blade, a Thomas Turner with smooth horn scales, a Harrison Bros. and Howson also stamped Cutler to her majesty, This one reminds me of a Rogers hawkbill and they were neighbors at No.45 Norfolk St. and Rogers were at No.6 Norfolk St. The bottom is a Northfield. I've probably posted some of these before. ____Dave

Dave, love that fat Wostenholm, only one I have seen from them. I have a Shirley's that has stag that fat, originally posted it in the vintage stag thread.

Nice Shirley Hawkbill John ... Nothing like that fat old stag ...

Here's one I recently found on a local shop hunt which I couldn't leave behind and my only duplicate though this one is ebony rather than cocobolo (I'll add the photo of my other from many pages back for convenience at the end of this post) - Snapped some photos today but at the same time I realized I never took photos of a number of my Hawkbills from past scores ).... So on a different note more photos of other Hawkbills to come ...

H&B - New Britain CT - Ebony handles and 4 & 3/4" closed - Nice deep blade stamp and crisp tang stamp (interestingly it looks like the die used had the bottom of the B missing )... Brass end cap and liners as does my other... Bear trap snap... No doubt sharpened but mainly towards the tip or bill - on these blades there was not a large "bill" as on some others according to viewing the H&B catalog cut below which I attached (and I believe posted by Lyle on the Farmers Jack thread) - Not all makers made Hawhkills with big sweeping "bills"....

Anyway very rarely do you find unused or unsharpened Hawkbills and most were used hard - as a result its always interesting to me how Hawkbills were sharpened over the years by the original owners who used them - it gives them great character ...
My other H&B Hawkbill (All the same except I believe Cocobolo handles - the blade was sharpened differently but believe they were both the same as the beginning (although this one is 4 &5/8"
Catalog Cut from 1900 - See right hand page bottom though that Hawkill with same characteristics is listed as 4 & 1/4" but believe the same overall including blade shape

John, that Shirley is gorgeous. I've never heard of them. Lee, I like all the H&B knives I've seen and yours is really nice. I have two, one with the blade stamp and one without. I have a nice big coke hunter too that I bought years ago at a gun show along with 4 other hunters for $10 each. I really like dealing with gun dealers who don't think old knives have any real value. Let's not tell them.____Dave

Thanks Dave ... sounds like you have some nice H&Bs - I did see a jumbo H&B Hunter last weekend at the NCCA show which had a massive blade - biggest Hunter I ever seen but I let it slide (but know where it is if I ever decide on it)...

djknife13 wrote: I really like dealing with gun dealers who don't think old knives have any real value. Let's not tell them.____Dave

I agree Dave - I always say knowledge is king in buying knives ... on the other hand I’ve seen dealers over price them as well thinking the complete opposite extreme - they think they are more valuable than their real market worth ...

Wow Lee, you are on a roll, those are some great H&B's.

Thanks John ... actually some are an old roll and some a new roll ... a few coming up including the previous cocobolo H&B above were found awhile back - some 2-3 years ago but for some reason I never took pics... Now I am on a mission to get more up on this thread including a Southington, Conn Cut Co, Waterville, Challenge etc ...

Here's another to share now that I am checking through them, definitely a few more as I get time

Southington Cut Co - 4 & 5/16" closed - Cocobolo handles - Aged in terms of some staining though blade still retinas a nice shape - and the blade still is a bear trap and tight - not bad for a knife often used hard and to me speaks somewhat to quality ... Another pattern not seen too often from Southington imo.. at least I haven't seen many on the hunt...

Very nice Lee, I've only seen one Southington in person and was able to get it, even though it had metal handles. It is a very well made knife. I really like your pruner

Thanks Bill ...

That is a great knife, Lee. I love that curved Southington stamp.

Looking forward to your other pictures.

Thanks Joe ...

Another great one Lee, Southington's are very well made knives and not easy to find in good condition.

Thanks John ... Agree with you 100% - I think this knife in the wrong hands could have suffered the dreaded “buffer” ..

Here's an oldie for the thread -

Conn Cutlery Co / Naugatuck - Company dates 1867-1883... This ebony hawkbill is an old warrior - definitely well used and still snaps hard with an age of 136 years to 152 years based on company existence ... 4 & 3/8" closed... The ebony handle has a slimmer feel to it than many of mine but a comfortable shape... Blade has a deep gray patina (actually some heavy black staining in parts - no doubt sharpened having been used extensively ... However a tough old CT stamp to find so was happy to add it which was 3 years ago now... I have never seen another Conn Cut Co Hawkbill... You need to look closely at the tang stamp but under Conn/Cutlery Co are Naugatuck letter remnants - a few of which can still be seen.. Interestingly from a historical perspective Homer Twitchell was a Principal of the company and knives with a Twitchell stamp do exist but are very rare..

What a great old knife that is, Lee. I really like that handle.
An honest old knife that makes my HSB look downright modern.

Very nice Lee,excellent find and another good looking old knife,with the rare stamp!!!

Thanks Joe and Bill ...

Nice HSB Joe ...

I like those curved blades Lee and Joe.

wlf wrote:I like those curved blades Lee and Joe.

Thanks Lyle ... Good to see you online .. hope all is well!

Here's Challenge Cut Co - Cocobolo - 3 & 7/8" closed so on the smaller side... Decent condition and stamp is crisp ..

I found this BUCKINGHAM MFG. CO., INC. 7089 pruning knife while doing some digging
years ago. It looks a 100% better now.

My goodness! What an appropriate way to find a pruning knife,while you are digging. Great find NW and a good job at restoring it!

That is a classic looking pruner NW NY ... looks like it survived well - that is literally a cool find in the dirt ..

I think I've posted all of these before but the group shot shows a range of sizes, a T.Hague, Challenge Sheffield, Wostenholm and a Saynor.