All About Pocket Knives

I found a couple fixed blades today.
Both seem to have full blades.

I am not familiar with the Marbles. Can anyone tell me if this is an old Marbles or one of the newer ones. It is not made in china, but I don't know when it was made.

Thanks,
Dale

Heres the current Marbles Woodcraft for comparison. Note the difference in the, I cant remember the name...metal thing on the end.

marcinek wrote:Heres the current Marbles Woodcraft for comparison. Note the difference in the, I cant remember the name...metal thing on the end.

Pommel.

want to sell or trade the catt Dale?

Hukk wrote:

marcinek wrote:Heres the current Marbles Woodcraft for comparison. Note the difference in the, I cant remember the name...metal thing on the end.

Pommel.

Thanks Hukk! You sure it isn't "doohickey"?

By the way, nice knives Dale! Congratulations!

Thanks guys.
Does anyone have an idea of when this Marbles might have been made?
I would like to have a rough idea of how old it is.

Dale

It's a Marbles woodcraft, Dale. Made here in Michigan and still in use at many old time deer camps. The design was patented in 1916. Made for many, many years, into the 1960's I think. Judging by the tang stamp, it is a very much newer issue. Although I am no Marbles expert (Hey, the 'Expert' was another Marbles knife).

I like it. I like it a lot.

Two periods in time mark the bad times for the Marbles brand. First, when Jim Parker got a hold of the brand name and had them made in Germany, maybe even in Japan. The courts later restored the name to the rightful owners. There was a brief time when these wonderful old knives were made again, quality made in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. Sadly, Marbles now seem to be made in China.

Phil

Thanks Phil,
I thought you might know something about them, especially since they were a "local" product for you. This is a very solid, very well made knife. I concur with you that this is not one of the "old" Marbles. Judging from the way the knife is made & the way it feels, I would say it it is probably from the 1950s-1960s. It feels so good in the hand that I think I will carry it this year when I go hunting.

Thanks again,
Dale

I just found this thread and thought I would post a photo of my Dad's old Woodcraft to use for comparison.
The photo is one of my early ones, so is not great by any means but maybe will give a basis for comparison.
Ray

Thanks Ray.
It is nice to have a knife that has a family history.
Do you know the approximate date your Dad got his knife? I notice your pommel is the more traditional one that I think of when I think of a Woodcraft. Mine has a hexagonal pommel.
I wonder where to find out the time frame of the different pommels that Marbles used?

Thanks again,
Dale

Dale,
There is really no way to know the age of this one, tho I remember it as far back as my memory will take me. I am sure, within reason, that it was pre-WWII and I would bet back into the 1930s.

Ray

Hi Dale,

I found an interesting note in my Marbles book asking the same question of the same knife.

The response was " The hex pommel indicates manufacture between the late 1950s and the mid 1970s (possibly contract manufacture, but I can't prove this). Quote was taken from Knife World, July 1987.


This is my little Woodcraft I use as a skinner, great steel!

gary

Thanks Gary!
That helps. I didn't think it was a real old one. That makes sense with the way I "read" the knife.
You are right about the steel, great stuff. I may even take this one hunting this year.

Dale

Hi Dale:
Just got thru reading an article on the Jet Pilots' knife. The jist is Marbles made a offer to the mil. to alter their Expert to include saw teeth and a hex pommel for the sawing cutting duty that might arise. Now all that really means nothing til you put it together with Marbles making a scout knife version out of the woodcraft. They, the scouts probably would not need the saw to cut thru canopies, They might need the hammer tho. I don't have a book that shows the scout knives, if anyone does it might show the hex pommeled version if there was such a thing. That military alteration was in mid 1954 by the way if that helps.
moss

edit; Just went back and enlarged your photo of woodcraft and see it does have sawteeth. That being the case you can toss part of my post out the window. It sure makes reason for more speculation though.

Nice knife--Marble's knives are very nice knives. It is hard to find a better production knife.

Hello All;
This knife Orvet Posted was causing me some consternation so I contacted our compatriots at the Marbles Knife Collectors Club. I have cut and pasted the info I received from that contact:

It is a Maverick no. 49ml it is a marbles woodcraft blade with a hex steel pommel it had it's own sheath with a long horn on it. Tha catalog scan is from a 1962 catalog. I think these knives evolved from the survival knife. I found out that the maverick production started in 1961 and ran till they basically stopped making knives in 1975 the production of the survival started in 1957 and ended in 1979.

Also attatched is the aforementioned catalogue page.
moss