All About Pocket Knives

The corn knife was my grand-father's.
One side of the ricasso has: " T. HARDY & SONS " and the other side has " SHEFFIELD ENGLAND ".

The pen knife was my father's or grand-father's.
It is 2 1/2" long closed. Both blades have " IXL George Wostenholm Sheffield England " on one side of the ricasso, and
" Stainless Steel " on the other side. The blades are both shiny clean in person.

The scout knife is mine, bought about 45 years ago
Only the main blade is marked. It has IXL George Wostenholm Sheffield England " on one side of the ricasso, and " OIL THE JOINTS " on the other side.

The photo is my best effort for now.

I don't know what the handle materials are but the pen knife scales have shrunk substantially and remain so after soaking for a week in oil.

Thanks to AAPK for making photo attaching so simple even I could do it.

Hi Edgewise, nice set of Sheffield knives. Did you buy the Wostenholm scout knife new? I think these first appeared around the 1930s. The handle is a composite material jigged to look like stag. I like the corn knife too.... early 1900s can't tell the handle material but these were often bone or ivory. The little one is celluloid (c 1930s ?) and no amount of soaking in oil will help. s-k

smiling-knife wrote:... Did you buy the Wostenholm scout knife new?...

Brand new. Right out of our local Scout Association Headquarters shop, along with my WW II PAL 36 Navy sheath knife.
I'll post that one on the fixed blade section soon.

Thanks for the good word Smiling-Knife, the very first endorsement of my budding "collection".

Hi Edgewise. If possible could you post a close-up of the corn knife please. Thanks s-k

Hey Edgewise those are great looking knives..Priceless since your father and grandfather had contact with them as well..Thanks for sharing..

Sunburst

More pics of my corn knife, IXL scout knife and IXL pen knife.
I bought the puma new in 1973. It's HEAVY and has brass double bolsters. I don't know what the wood is but it looks as it did the day I got it.
Sorry about the lack of picture quality.
I'll post something unusual on Fixed Blades soon.

Forgot this one.

vry unique camp knife! I have a corn knife similar to that with elephant ivory scales

Edgewise wrote: ...The scout knife is mine, bought about 45 years ago
Only the main blade is marked. It has IXL George Wostenholm Sheffield England " on one side of the ricasso, and " OIL THE JOINTS " on the other side...

Sorry to revive this old thread but my old IXL Scout was stolen yesterday and I had to tell the only people who know how I feel now.
"And then there were two."
If this is supposed to be a lesson for me on not becoming too attached to material possessions, it's not working. I am now going to buy a safe for my knives. Trusting people is just plain stupid.
Now I have to try to replace the irreplaceable. For the first time my knife collection seems strangely incomplete.

was that the only thing stolen? trusting the wrong person is only evident after the fact. sorry about your loss. gun safes are good.

Losing a knife is bad enough, having one stolen is even worse Sorry to hear that happened to you too. I lost an old combat knife with cast aluminium handle to a relative a few years back

I feel for your loss edgewise . We'll see if we can get you another one like that. I know it won't be quite the same though. s-k

Thanks guys. Your kind words started me counting my blessings.
I've been doing a little searching myself and saw some interesting Scouts on Vintage Blades LLC. I plan on getting one of them.
This morning I also discovered my Dad's old sharpening stone in his cluttered workshop. Lose one, win one.
Will this be adequate for my knives, or should I get something coarser also? I'm accustomed to a hand steel.

After more digging, I turned up more old sharpening stones, in a box of twelve wood chisels, manufactured by Army and Navy Stores Ltd., London, S.W.1

Pike's No.1 Washita Oilstone by Norton Abrasives of Behr-Manning, Troy, N.Y., U.S.A.( Division of Norton Company)
Carborundum of The Carborundum Co. Ltd., Trafford Park, Manchester, U.K.
Pike's Genuine (hard) Arkansas Oilstone The Best in the World.

The Carborundum instructions state: "... If stone cuts too rapidly,temper by soaking the stone in a pan of hot vaseline..."

These look more like relics than users. Wish I knew how to do them justice.