Hammer brand pocket knife

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Phify
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Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:23 pm

Hammer brand pocket knife

Post by Phify »

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My father gave me my first pocket knife when I was 5 years old back in 1980 for skinning rabbits.
It is a Hammer Brand with 3 blades, I was hoping someone could give me some information about it.
kootenay joe
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Re: Hammer brand pocket knife

Post by kootenay joe »

Your knife was made in USA by Imperial Knife Co. It is an inexpensive but good knife. The reason for it's relatively low price is the handle which is called "shell construction" in which a thin sheet of plastic covers the liners. In standard construction, a thicker more rigid piece of plastic (Delrin) or bone, wood etc is pinned to the liners. The steel is 1095, same as the Schrade Old Timers (USA ones) and is a very good knife blade steel.
kj
Phify
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Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:23 pm

Re: Hammer brand pocket knife

Post by Phify »

Thanks for the info, my father had it for years before passing it on to me so I was trying to get a closer date of manufacture. It has been a great knife, the blades really keep a good edge, and trust me, it has certainly seen a lot of use. I don't know what the value of it is, regardless I wouldn't sell it as it has sentimental value to me.
I have found the tang stamp info that matches and it puts it somewhere between 1956 and 1988, but as I said I was hoping to get a more accurate time period as my mum can't remember when Dad brought it.
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jerryd6818
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Re: Hammer brand pocket knife

Post by jerryd6818 »

Unless someone here already has that information at hand, anyone who comes up with information would have to do extensive research to nail down a date closer than what you have in your tang stamp image. Keep in mind, Google is your friend.

As you can see from the cut below, yours is the HB-4 Explorer.

The medium jack I picked up for my small collection of medium jacks, cost me %20 on eBay so I doubt the value of your knife would vary much from that figure. They were not a high dollar item when sold new and still aren't. Probably sold for less than $5 when new ('60s?? '70s?? All guesswork) and maybe even $2 or less. ::shrug:: Just a guess.

Here is an image of the one I bought, plus some advertising cuts others have posted on the forum. Do some research on the patent numbers stamped on the tang.
The Belknap catalog cut is from 1974. I don't know the date of the other two images.
Imperial Hammer Brand Jack Forged Look - Mark Open.JPG
Imperial Hammer Brand Jack Forged Look - Tang Stamp.JPG
Imperial Hammer Brand Jack Forged Look - Patent Numbers.JPG
Attachments
Hammer%20Brand%20-%20Belknap%20Catalog%201974.jpg
Imperial%20Hammer%20Brand%20Flyer%202044.jpg
Imperial%20Hammer%20Brand%20Flyer043.jpg
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.

This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.

"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
kootenay joe
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Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:36 pm
Location: West Kootenays, B.C.

Re: Hammer brand pocket knife

Post by kootenay joe »

The OP knife & Jerry's both have the 'faux-forging' marks parallel to blade spine. Imperial did this for a certain period of time. I don't know the years they did this, but this feature likely can be used to narrow it down within the 1956-88 dates.
kj
Phify
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Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:23 pm

Re: Hammer brand pocket knife

Post by Phify »

Thanks for all the info and tips ::tu::
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