All About Pocket Knives

these are pics taken in my new lightbox. a work in progress

just got this robeson 12656 teak handled jack. 3 3/4" closed. blades are full but it was improperly sharpened resulting in some light gouges(scratches). handles are near perfect and are smooth as silk. small blade
tang stamp dates it from 1894-1922. the large blade has the 1901-1948 stamp. pinned shield. brass liners.

Hey Jonet what are your dimensions on the light box? Are you using the example that was given in Knife World??

You know there is a chance I could get those light gouges out of that Robeson for you, all you have to do is send it to me and let me hold it for a couple of years and I can guarantee you will have forgotten about them...

I do love a Robeson... Thanks for sharing...

Sunburst

i have'nt been to the lumber yard for plywood yet. this is just a cardboard box, 12"x24", lined with white paper. lit with 100watt flood.

the scratches don't bother me so much, but if they do, i'll send it right out to you.

I see you are getting better at taken photos.

I do not see a nose or bald head in this photo.

I do not see any grand kids or grand parients photos on the frigg?
In fact no photos on the frigg magnets.!!

I do see a nice knife and good photo of a nice knife.

Hey folks, my step father is a pro photog and I built a light box from .5" cpvc pipe and muslin material from any fabric store. I will post photos and will email the instructions to anyone wanting them,,,gratis of course.
I will also provide brief commentary upon posting the photos. I am away now but will be in the office either later tonight or tomorrow.
All photos I have ever p[osted here were made with the box. Its cheap and easy and makes awesome photos.
Take care Ya'll
-Glenn

Heres the one I've been working on.

once you have the light box, then to figure out the best settings on the camera. when i figure out what i like best i'll make notes to myself

here's moose as a test. still too dark

I used 3/4 x 1/2 x 1/2 side inlet elbow (90's) for the four standing corners. Put up risers into a tee with a 90 elbow right above that for the other arm. The lights are just the can type lights you see in all of them here. What I have discovered is: You need a light on both sides and one on top as well. Don't ask me why, that came from an expert, and doggone if it doesn't work real good. The scrap 2x4's on end allow the light to be put closer or further away. I have used all kinds of bulbs, but GE-Reveal (they look blue) 100w work best for me.
I used muslin (bed sheet material) about 4 ply's to diffuse the light (filter?) it enough.
As stated, each knife may need a different light. Most dark colored handles will shoot almost the same. If you try to shoot a MOP knife right after a dark bone, the same settings will wash out the pic. You will find after just a bit of experimentation, what is what. Sometimes I use on;ly the light on top and turn the other two out. However, if you want to for example;;get a good shot of an engraving, you'll need lots of light.
I use a macro setting on a relatively cheap digital camera, and play with the EV and internal light settings until I get it right.
It sounds like a lot, but it's really easy, and folks will complement you on such great photos.
If I can be of any help, email me. I also have detailed instructions ::blah:: for anyone who wants them. (no copyright infringement here,, HaHa)
Take care all, happy holidays and all that.-G

I made a light box, lined the inside with white Styrofoam and have come to the conclusion that I cannot take a decent photo, no matter what. I used 2 different cameras a Kodak P 850 and a Samsung 420, both decent cameras. I tried several different light bulbs and I tried several different settings and all of the photos were terrible. Most were yellow. I give up.

hey carl, as a last resort check your cameras book and make sure the settings are for your application. don't give up!

I cannot take good pics either, junky camera for one, if I am not in the absolute perfect conditions, I can forget about it, notice many of my pictures have alot of glare or are too dark/light?

ilikeknives why the 1/2 "pvc (I think all 4 up rights).Is it so you can break it down and place in storage?
Did you glue the top and bottom 3/4"pvc to make it sturdey.
Bottom fram are all 4 3/4"pvc 12" long pluse the elbow?

I am going to make one like yours cuz I think it works well. Just need more wall plug in's is all.

well after building a new lightbox and an hour of pulling my hair out, I got these, which is better? I still have those screwy refelctions in the bolsters, guess I'll have to work at some different angles. I think these are the best pics I have ever taken with this cheap digi.

mm, not too bad! try a little more angle instead of straight on. that way the reflection will be your box instead of you. the blue or a little lighter color is better than the dark red. any color you add to the set up will affect your light reading in the camera.

Thanks Jonet, I'll try a bit more angle. I liked the blue background too. BRB

Jonnie, You were right. If all else fails read the directions. lol.
The book says tungsten lights make things yellowish orange. I will try to set the white balance and give it another shot.
Thanks..

jonet143 wrote:hey carl, as a last resort check your cameras book and make sure the settings are for your application. don't give up!

well this is the best angle I could get, my light kept wanting to glare off the bolster very bad. I kept my camera set on tungsten for all of these pics.

go get em carl.

mm the blade looks like it's facing out of the box. is your light pointed to the top of your box? angle to where you see the top of your box. try it with a small mirror and you can fine tune what get reflected. did you get the latest knife world. a great article and very helpful.

thanks very much for the tips, I do not get knife world. I'll just keep experimenting until I get it right, here is a pic of my current setup

Here is the set-up I have been using for about 6 months, I am pretty pleased with the pics. If anyone is intrested or has any questions let me know.

4ever3 I like that 3 knife , would like to see more if you have any others. I did see a CASE/Earnhardt trapper but have not been able to snag one yet. Nice pics. Rick

Hi!

I am by far no expert in knife photograpy, but MZ at KW taught me a lot.

In the photos posted here I see to many shadows. In addition check your exposure settings. Over exposure usually produces better photos. You need to experiment to know for sure. Also. use something like that gummy stuff for hanging posters to set your knife up a bit. You get a better angle that way. If you can clearly read the tang stamp, then you know your darn close. Just my two cents.

Sorry to sidetrack from the light-box discussion back to the knife. I'm a new member and searching thru the board saw your post. I just received my first Robeson today and it's the same pattern number. However, you'll see in the photo mine is a barehead easy opener. It has the same tang marks as yours and has 12656 clearly stamped on the back of the master. As a newbie I was wondering is it common for Robesons to have variations like this in the same pattern number? Thanks and looking forward to learning a lot.

passr wrote:Sorry to sidetrack from the light-box discussion back to the knife. I'm a new member and searching thru the board saw your post. I just received my first Robeson today and it's the same pattern number. However, you'll see in the photo mine is a barehead easy opener. It has the same tang marks as yours and has 12656 clearly stamped on the back of the master. As a newbie I was wondering is it common for Robesons to have variations like this in the same pattern number? Thanks and looking forward to learning a lot.

Hello Passr welcome to aapk,

Robeson was not the best at tang marks, there are lots of variations on their knives. I will include a link that has some info on Robeson and tang marks for you..

http://allaboutpocketknives.com/robeson/index.php

Good luck,

Sunburst

Thanks Sunburst. I printed those pages out last week to use as a quick reference on the tang stamps and pattern numbers. You're right about the tang marks. This knife could be 1900 - 1916 or 1922-1939. I'm trying to learn all I can from here and I'm also going to order Tom Kalcevic's book. I started looking for a knife as a gift for my dad and wound up getting hooked myself.

Here's a good website I stumbled accross: http://www.robesonsrme.com/ It's a work in progress and has some good info on it.

Thanks!