All About Pocket Knives

This old Russell is missing its shield, but if you appreciate the fine workmanship of our forefathers then you might like these pictures.

Beautiful, beautiful old knife. What great stamps! Great old bolsters. Every thing is beautiful about that knife. There can't be many like that one around. Each blade is a legend.

FRJ,
Thanks! I'm glad that you enjoyed these pictures. I should have mentioned the size of the knife which is about 3 3/8 inches when the knife is closed.

very nice, thanks for showing that. love all the stamping

cato,
I'm glad that you liked the pictures. Another thing I should have mentioned is that all of the blades have close to zero wobble, and all except one blade have an excellent snap open and closed, along with the half snap. The one blade that has a problem is only a week snap when put to the closed position.

That is one very unusual Russell knife.Are the scales two different shades of horn? My monitor is giving up the ghost and the brightness control is non existent so it is difficult for me to see images well.
If I had to guess I would say that was made very early in the history of the John Russell company.Thank you for posting it.

That knife is rare on many levels, thanks for posting it

knife7knut,
There's a big difference in the color of the two sides. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Dimitri,
I'm glad you like this post! Do you have any idea when this knife was made. Someone today beside knife7knut said it could be as early as pre American civil war. He said I should ask you.

eyeselect wrote:I'm glad you like this post!

Like it? I love this kind of stuff!!

Russell did not start making pocket knives until 1876 so no way it is pre civil war. All their best spring cutlers came from England, John Russell paid them twice what they were making in England so many of them came over here to live and work. Just looking at the knife the English influence is quite evident.

Almost impossible to exactly date a knife like this but 1876-1890`s would be my guess.

Dimitri,
Thanks for the information. I have an tiny old ivory two blade Sheffield that's shaped like the Russell. I also have a really nice looking old knife made by Edward Barnes & Sons. I'd like to know more about it. It too looks like an old sheffield knife.

FWIW, Goins does not say anything about that "Superior Cutlery" stamp on those blades.

I'd love to see that knife with the correct shield back in place.

I think the knife is as rare as hen's teeth.

Edward Barnes is another very old company.

Charlie

Thank Charlie,
I don't know where you'll ever find period shield for that knife, but there's probably one out there somewhere. I'll try to post those two knives tomorrow. Thanks again!

That was a fairly common shield for congress knives and they were probably acquired from an outside source, the same place most everybody else got them.

Find a relic congress knife with the right sized, right shield and there are folks here that could put it on your knife.

Most likely, it was an arched bar with rounded end tips.

Like this one on a Robeson.

Charlie

Nice one eyeselect! The horn is a beautiful cut. As Joe said, everything is beautiful about that knife. No shield, no worries, still a fine old knife.

Charlie, I'll keep my eyes open and if I find one I'll do as you suggest. Thanks

Beechtree, Thanks for the comment!

Miller Bro`s wrote:

eyeselect wrote:I'm glad you like this post!

Russell did not start making pocket knives until 1876 so no way it is pre civil war. All their best spring cutlers came from England, John Russell paid them twice what they were making in England so many of them came over here to live and work. Just looking at the knife the English influence is quite evident. Almost impossible to exactly date a knife like this but 1876-1890`s would be my guess.

I thought it possible that the knife could be earlier after reading this from Goins' 1998 edition:

tongueriver,
Thanks for that very interesting bit of information. There's a lot of history to these old companies.