All About Pocket Knives

Guys. My buddy bought this one in a pile of junk and I really cannot tell him much about it. Its a sheffiled thats all I know, can you tell me its function?

That's called a Horsemans Knife mainly due to that long curved tool that was used to pick rocks out of a horses hoof. Other than the obvious blades looks like an awl(gimlet) and a leather boring tool. Is there any other marks on the tang? Some old horsemans knies can be worth hundreds.

Can you tell me what I am looking for? I know it says Sheffield England but is there something I should be looking for??? I genuinely appreciate your help.
WHIT

Ive seen hoof picks before, and it didn't look like a hoof pick to me, but that's just me. Can you give me an approximate date per chance and a value would be good although I realize that is speculative at best.

whit107 wrote:Can you tell me what I am looking for? I know it says Sheffield England but is there something I should be looking for??? I genuinely appreciate your help.
WHIT

Look on the blades for any makers name or even a mark or design.
Without a mark I don't think you'll be able to date the knife.
If it is an old knife it should have some sort of makers marks.

JW~

whit107 wrote:Ive seen hoof picks before, and it didn't look like a hoof pick to me, but that's just me. Can you give me an approximate date per chance and a value would be good although I realize that is speculative at best.

The maker's name is usually located on the tang of the master blade(sometimes all of the blades) where it is stamped Sheffield England.The inclusion of the word England usually denotes a knife produced for export after 1891.
Dating these knives can be difficult some times as they were produced for a long period of time.This one is a bit unusual in that the scales look to be made of jigged black composition(an early form of plastic)or perhaps hard rubber.Most knives of this type had either stag or jigged bone scales.The hoof pick(the hooked item) also has a secondary use;that of being a nut cracker.Near the pivot on the underside of the pick there is usually a series of V shaped cuts.The nut to be cracked is placed in the notch between the pivot and the pivot for the awl and the pick folded onto the nut;the notches holding the nut in place.
Value is very subjective.The blades have a considerable amount of wear which lessens the value a lot.The fact of the unusual handle material might bring the value up a bit.The maker's name also is an influence.
Here's a picture of 3 that I own(the 3 bottom knives).

Upon closer examination it says IBBERSON. Sheffield England

whit107 wrote:Upon closer examination it says IBBERSON. Sheffield England

If your knife does have rubber or plastic handles I wouldn't think it to be 1800's.
They used natural products in that era ~ bone, stag, horn and even ivory.
Maybe the knife is early or mid 1900's but could be even newer than that.

click on link :
http://www.eggintongroup.co.uk/history/ ... erson.html

This is the only knife of that type I have.
The knife was in very bad shape and falling apart with broken stag handles and a broken cork screw.
Since the main and secondary blades were in good shape I opted to restore the knife.
Pretty hard knife to put together with attachments on both sides sharing the same back springs.

Thanks so much for the reply. The scales are odd, don't seem like rubber more like wood of some kind but I really cannot tell. . Maybe someone will chime in with further info but I sure do appreciate what I have thus far and the old fella inam trying to help does too
WHIT

The handles on your knife are a pressure molded composition that is usually referred to as "hard rubber", although that is not exactly what it is.

This material was in wide use as knife handles from around the turn of the 19th century until WWII.

Here it is on a couple of old Robesons I have.

Charlie Noyes