Help with pocket knives

[red222rox]

Hello. I recently inherited my father's collection of pocket knives. Eventually I would like to sell them. Unfortunantly, my knowledge of pocket knives is very limited. There are numerous brands and many of them. My first idea is to catalog them, so that I have an idea of what I have. I need a little guidance. What information do I need to know to get started on this exciting yet overwhelming job? I appreciate any advise. Thanks.

[philco]

I would first sort them by brand. The brand should be on the tang stamp of most if not all of the knives.
Then I'd compare tang stamps within brands to see if there are variations and if so sort them by the variations.
This will make researching the values a bit more streamlined.
Next I'd get on ebay and do some searches for knives like the ones I had and I"d do advanced searches to see how much similar or the same knives had sold for recently and make notes of each one. (It may help you to assign a number to each knife and maybe even put a sticker with the number on each knife)
If you encounter a few that you have problems coming up with a value for, post some good clear photos here on AAPK and some of the folks here will try to assist you.

Phil

[red222rox]

Thanks Phil. This will be a long process and I am sure I will have more questions along the way.

[red222rox]

Another quick question, when I am ready to sell, do you have an opinion on whether it is more financially beneficial to sell individual or sell series together?

[philco]

That largely depends on the knives you are selling. There's no pat answer. If you are selling privately some buyers might pay a bonus for a complete series of knives, but in other situations, they might only want one or two of a group and be unwilling to pay a lot for the others.
Also keep in mind that condition is paramount when attaching a value to a knife. A knife in mint condition brings much, much more than the same knife will in used condition.

[red222rox]

What is mint condition, exactly? Many of these knives are in original boxes without any rust or damage. Also, is there anything I need to know in the handling and care of these? My dad was particular and did not let these get touched very often.

[chetr1200c]

if what you say is true about being in the boxes and no rust or staining since they were bought with no excessive handling. then that is as close to mint as you can come.
any knife that is vitually in the same condition as when it left its maker, that is mint.
also treat them the same your dad did, you will be ok. do have any pictures so we can give you an appraisal?
and welcome to the club, we all need a new guy to pick on

[Quick Steel]

Sounds like your Dad took excellent care of his knives. If they are in their original box you may have a lot of mint state knives.
Here are my thoughts on mint/non-mint:
Once a knife is used it is no longer mint. Once it has been sharpened it is no longer mint. Maybe excellent, but not mint.

For selling purposes you will want to identify any defects so the buyer knows what he is getting.
Check the blades and wipe your finger prints off when finished. Take the tip of the blade with two fingers and see if you can wobble it left and right, or up and down. If the blades wobble the fit is loose. This is a defect and you need to mention defects when you attempt to sell. If the blades are tight, with no blemishes: spots, rust, or pitting, then its looking good.

You will need to check each knife for what we knife nuts call "walk and talk." This refers to how the blades open and close. A knife with good "walk and talk" has blades that open and close with authority, with snap, with vigor. The opposite of a knife with walk and talk is one with blades that open and close weakly, they are spongy, you may hear no snap at all.

Handles: See if there is any separation occurring between the handle materials (called scales) and the bolsters i.e. the metal parts at the end of the handle. (Not all knives have bolsters, some have one, sometimes two at each end of the handle scales.) Sometimes this (separation) occurs due to temperature changes. Now examine the scales carefully for any fine cracks. These may occur near the pins securing the scales. But elsewhere as well.

Close all the blades and turn the knife over. You are looking for any separation between the liners (inside the handle) and the scales. This will not effect the useability of the knife. Knives with defects are common and can still be excellent users.

In summary, if you have a knife without defects - defects that occur after production- that has never been used or sharpened you have a mint knife.
Perhaps others will join in with their opinions.

[red222rox]

I will get some pictures up as I get my head around what I actually have. My dad began collecting in the 1970s and never used them. We laughed because anytime someone needed a pocket knife, he never had one on him. They were kept in either the original boxes, cases he handmade, or a closet. Not all are in their boxes, but I have hundreds of empty boxes (mainly fighting roosters) that I hope to eventually match to the knife.

Thanks for the advise, keep it coming. I have a lot to learn.

[chetr1200c]

hunderds of fightin roosters??
now theres a collection of some unique pocket knives. sad part about fightin r's is that most were made with celluloid handles.
i hope they didn't do any damage to the blades. celluliod has natural gases that emit from the knife over a lenght of time. and if they are stored in confined places, it can affect any sort of metal near them, especially the blades on that same knife.. keep them in the open and away from other knives if you can.
if nothing has happened yet, then there is no need to worry. but celluliod can react to dampness at any time.. they need to be kept in a controlled envirorment.
a lot of fightin r's were made of stag or pearl, which is nothing to worry about. it is the handles that look like plastic designed by ken keasey....

[red222rox]

I read about the celluliod handles in Dad's notes in a binder he kept, logging most of his knives. I counted the fightin roosters tonight and have come across 60 in mint condition or near so. Dad's binder says 125. Did find 15 in the banished box of rusted knives. Fightin roosters have always been my favorite of his collection.

[orvet]

I think it is important for collectors to be educated about their collections. It sounds like your dad was educated and methodical. I would have liked to meet him. You might wish to read the following article about celluloid knife handles and some of the perils they can present to themselves other knives in a collection.

http://www.oregonknifeclub.org/celluloid_02.html
The article was published in Knife World in February of 2000. Another article was published in Knife World this last July (I think) of 2011. Between the two articles you should be very well informed about the joys and pitfalls of celluloid handled knives.

[red222rox]

Yes, I have a bunch of research to do. My dad was a fantastic man, who love to collect, not just pocket knives, but sheath knives ( he began buying and restoring, remaking these over the past ten years.) There is a knife or two that he made himself. I have found many case knives that have been used, that I assume he bought on ebay. I have not got that into his binder yet. He also had a couple hundred or so model cars, die cast cars, even match box cars.

[msteele6]

Just chiming in to second quick steel's suggestions and to say that generally I believe it is better to sell knives individually than as groups.

The reason is simple, a large group of knives eliminates a large group of buyers, those that don't have enough money to make a large purchase, but do have enough to make a small purchase. Any time you eliminate a class of buyers from your sale, you lose money.

Secondly, when you sell a large group, you often are selling knives in that group that potential buyers already own. Very few collectors like to purchase duplicates of knives they already own and so those potential buyers are going to value such knives at much less than buyers who don't own them.

Of course, the down side of selling individually is that it requires more work.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[red222rox]

Ok, I have a general idea of what my collection consists of, mainly due to the binder. The largest collection is Case. Most of the knives are in mint condition. I need to pick a knife, research it and put it on ebay, just to get my feet wet. It is emotional to sell these, because my dad loved them so, but I need them to go to people whom appreciate them as he did. If there is anything in particular you would like me to look for or you would like to see, let me know.

[red222rox]

Can you give me your opinions and input on proper shipping procedures for knives in their cases/boxes and ones without a box?

Thanks.

[philco]

I sell a few knives through my store here on AAPK and I prefer to ship them via USPS Priority Mail in a box with plenty of padding on the inside and tape on the outside. I ship using delivery confirmation so that both I and the buyer can track the shipment and so if there's a question of its delivery there is a record to say if it was or was not shipped and or delivered. If you have the box for the knife you are selling you'll definately want to sell it with the box as many buyers will pay a premium for one new in the box (NIB) . When you mail it you'll want to protect the box from being crushed or damaged as well as the knife. That's why I prefer the priority boxes provided by the post office.
If shipping the knife in its box I'd wrap the knife in a protective layer of plastic wrap or part of a paper towel and then slip it back in its original box. If shipping a knife without its original box I'd wrap it in a paper towel, then in some bubble wrap and then place it in a well padded priority mail box. That way the mint knife arrives in mint condition. Also be SURE to wipe off fingerprints from the blades and backsprings before shipping.

Phil

[red222rox]

Thanks. How do you estimate the shipping costs?

[philco]

A small flat rate Priority box can be shipped with up to four pounds of contents anywhere in the lower 48 states for $5.90 with delivery confirmation. I usually just charge an even $6 for the shipping.