A special moment in collecting

[orvet]

In many ways collecting knives (or anything) is a way to connect with the past. If a person is fortunate he or she will have some things in their collection that have family ties.

This weekend I was back down to my parents place, helping them get their stuff sorted through as they have sold their place and are going to AZ in a fifth wheel for a few months. I an bringing many thing home, especially tools & equipment I can use in my shop. It is neat for me to use my dad's old tools when I am making a knife.

One of the things I got this weekend was a .22 rifle I grew up with. A Remington pump that was my grandfather's, possibly even his father's. It has been in the family for close to 100 years and put a lot of meat on the table. Even more special is a knife that my grandfather made. I remember my dad carrying that little knife. I think he dressed my first deer with it. My grandfather had worked in a foundry in Reedsport Oregon at one time (circa 1920's) and made the knife when he worked there. He also made a hatchet that he used when he cruised timber for the C.C.C. during the Depression in the 1930's. My dad is keeping the hatchet for a while longer, but I will get it when he is through with it.

Here is a pic of the knife & hatchet. My grandfather also made the hatchet sheath & put his initials on it (RV). My dad replaced the hatchet handle and made a sheath for the knife as the old one fell apart.

My dad has given me a number of knives that he no longer wants. Many of them are unused. My grandmother's cousin was a sales rep for Imperial for about 30 years or more, so I have gotten knives that he gave my dad & my grandparents. These knives are special to me, but the most prized knife in my collection is the little fixed blade my grandfather made and I remember my dad carrying while deer hunting all my life growing up.

As a knife maker & a collector my grandfathers knife is the crown jewel of my collection.

Dale

[LC]

Nice piece of family history orvet and some great family heirlooms

[El Lobo]

Great story Dale...thanks for sharing it, and a picture, with all of us.

Bill

[jfarmer]

Great score! I treasure the things that my father had and I have several of his pocket knives too.

James

[Mossdancer]

Hey Dale and to the rest of you also;
While your dads or even grand dads for you younger folks are still around. Try if you can to get some of the old history , myths, legends and their stories on paper.
Not only as you can see from Dales great story would they be interesting to yourself, they are part of our world that is disappearing at a rapid rate.
I think a compilation of these stories would be of great interest to be published. Maybe right here on AAPK.

Thanks for the post Dale it was great.
wb

[smiling-knife]

Great (hi)story Dale . Thanks for sharing that with us. s-k

[sunburst]

Very nice, thanks...

Sunburst

[orvet]

Here is a pocket knife that I also have from my grandfather. In later years he started whittling & making things out of maple burl. I have a clock he made me from maple burl & a set of bookends. This is the knife he used to pick pieces of bark out of the burl. It is an Old Timer 34OT with the clip blade modified to a Wharncliffe as is common among whittlers.

Dale

[MITCH RAPP]

Thanks Dale very touching story! I never had a Grandfather on either my Moms or Dads side, both were gone when I was growing up. Your story makes me realize all the things that I have missed.