All About Pocket Knives

It's great to see a new catagory dedicated to "J. A. Henckels", which produced not only some of the best knives in Germany, but certainly among the best in the world. Let's see some nice older (hopefully pre WWII) models in this thread. Enclosed is a very fine old Henckels Whittler.

Thats a beauty Mason, I dont know much about them though. The stag handles and the badge are really eye catching. I would like to see the tang stamps. I just want to know what to look for and would like to know how tell the age of their knives.

Monte

Mason, your Henckels whittler is a fabulous example! My wife has some modern Henckels kitchen knives otherwise I'm not familiar with their pocket knives. Glad to see the new forum and some nice knives!

Thanks montemojo and RalphAlsip.
Here is an old Champagne model with some wonderful detailed metal handles.

Good one Mason, great looking set of legs on her. I dont beleive I've ever seen a cork screw with a groove going down the spiral like that. The craftsmanship of the old knives is outstanding. You can tell how people really took pride in their work. Most that I work with just want a pay check.


Monte

I have one you guys have probably seen in another thread but belongs here , it`s an old switchblade most likely pre-war

I am late to the party, again !
I am the member who asked for a Henckels forum and i did not realize it had been created. I am at my 'bush home' for the next week or so but i will add many knives to this forum starting when i get back to my 'knife home'.
What every Henckels collector needs to know is that every folding knife made after 1960 with the Henckels name and logo are contract knives; i.e. made by other manufacturers, not made by Henckels.
The Henckels made knives are superior and are the knives that i hope this forum focuses upon.
In the early years of contracting out, the knives made were copies of Henckels patterns. These can be a challenge to differentiate from the Henckels made knives. Some of these early contract knives are hafted in what i think is Henckels Stag and Henckels "PSB" (Patent Stag BONE), suggesting to me that Henckels either hafted them or sent their own handle materials to the contract company.
A big part of this forum hopefully will be to help each other differentiate Henckels made folders from the early contract folders.
Some years after contracting out began the knives became the same patterns as those of the contract company (mostly Boker). These are easy to tell are not Henckels made. More recently i think the Henckels branded folders might be made in China. Note: this does not necessarily mean a decline in quality from the German made contract knives, as many Chinese made knives are now of high quality despite their low price.
Please also note: That Henckels stopped making their own folding knives in 1960 is fact. The rest of the 'history' above i made up myself based on observations of my many Henckels knives. It may not be accurate although i can see no other way of explaining the evolution of these knives from 1960 to now.
I'll be back in about 2 weeks with pictures.
kj

Good to see this part of the forum, and the posts by Neil and Roland.

I just realize that i forgot to return with pictures and again i am away from my knives, but i will post a variety of Henckels but none as spectacular as the one just posted by Obsidian Edge. I don't know how old that one with the fancy scroll work on the blade is, but it is a pattern seen in circa WW I Henckels catalogs, so, old.
kj

Roland, it's in the 1898 "Musterbuch" I have but with a corkscrew. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your Henckels collection. We used to trade a lot of emails on Henckels knives many years ago. Thanks for your nice comments.

Reviving this old thread which I had never seen before.

Two nice older Henckels knives.

Seems not too many here collect Henckels knives?

I agree with Mason and Roland , old Henckels are top quality knives.

Unique Dimitri, I applaud your collecting efforts.

A couple, the bone handled is the only farmer's jack Roland had. A testament to this pattern's scarcity and Roland's love of Henckels.
The other is what's called pressed stag, a mysterious handle material.

wlf wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2024 1:08 pm Unique Dimitri, I applaud your collecting efforts.

Thank you Lyle!

wlf wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2024 1:08 pm A couple, the bone handled is the only farmer's jack Roland had. A testament to this pattern's scarcity and Roland's love of Henckels.
The other is what's called pressed stag, a mysterious handle material.

Considering Roland had around 10,000 knives I would say so

Miller Bro's wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2024 5:28 am Reviving this old thread which I had never seen before.

Two nice older Henckels knives.

Seems not too many here collect Henckels knives?

Omg. It might be a Dad joking/ knife collector's dream.

....is that a "pen" knife

Here's one I haven't been able to dispose of...Anyone have info? Would sure appeciate it!

/Users/johnbutler/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/derivatives/9/94B7C155-E371-4AAA-8C34-478B599E667A_1_105_c.jpeg

former173rd wrote: ↑Sun Jan 26, 2025 2:08 am Here's one I haven't been able to dispose of...Anyone have info? Would sure appeciate it!

Going to need better pictures of the knife.

Looks like a take apart eating set.

I have this one, I believe it is a 471 and 1/2 pattern number bone whittler. Snaps like a bear trap. I see there are some comments from Roland in this old thread. I remember discussing this whittler with Roland back in the day. May he RIP.

That’s a beauty OC.
It’s sad to see that Roland was going to post his old Henckels and never did. He had many and it would have added to the value of this thread if he had remembered to post pictures of them. He was very excited about the Henckels knives of old.

Members interested in old Henckels knives should get J.A. Henckels Knives by AAPK member Neal Punchard. It, and other great books on collectable knives, is available from Knife Magazine. https://www.knifemagazine.com/product-c ... le-knives/

As Benjamin Franklin said “The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance”.

Ken

Sharpnshinyknives wrote: ↑Sat Jun 21, 2025 10:54 am That’s a beauty OC.
It’s sad to see that Roland was going to post his old Henckels and never did. He had many and it would have added to the value of this thread if he had remembered to post pictures of them. He was very excited about the Henckels knives of old.

Yes, he had many fine Henckels and knew a lot about them. There were numerous other threads that he posted his Henckels in too.