All About Pocket Knives

Very Old Joseph Rodgers Knife made in the reign of George IV ( 1820- 1837) and made at no. 6 Norfolk St. and with the Royal Warrant, so after 1821 when the Warrant was awarded by the Prince Regent and Rogers extended to their new premises at #6. In 1837 Victoria came to the throne. Wow, still has excellent snap, smooth action and precise 1/2 stops and only a very small amount of lateral play on the main blade.
Let's see if I can give this one the kiss of life! It will be will fun trying. This one spent all its' life in Tasmania, so I,m told (?) It has serious rust and gaps in the blades.
S-K come in....Have you ever seen that large tang on the pen blade before? I've seen that shape but not that large. That's huge; to contain the newly acquired Royal Warrant, perhaps?

Wow John, the history is dripping off that knife!!! A very nice find that looks to be in great condition considering it's age.

Sunburst

GASP ! Are you implying, by saying "kiss of life" you are going to clean that ancient hard-earned patina off that beautiful knife???

Hi upnorth,
No! What I will do though is remove gaps from edges and gently lift the large rust clumps off; internally the knife is a miracle but with mineral oil and 0000 steel wool I will remove rust without damage to the patina. With W-D40 soak and a stainless steel razor blade stubborn rust can be removed
by gently slicing off the rust; if it's had a good soak a lot of the big pieces of rust will pop off (sometimes). The tip of the pen blade will need to be re shaped and the edge is eroded but with patience this knife can be carefully cleaned. The previous owner hit this knife with a buff in a couple
of places most noticeably on the back which I should be able to re- color.
Kaleb could do a much better job than me, but here goes!

Phew, following your own advice, which I also followed !
Please show us when it is done! I hope the pits are not as deep as the ones on my Barlow!

upnorth,
The pits are craters and the broken tip is crumbled steel and I'm not sure what shape I can come up with, even where there is edge some of it has small holes through the steel I will lose length on the pen blade and some belly on the main blade which has only one big gap, so...Wish me luck.

hey john, jmo.....if that knife were mine i would remove rust and dirt and keep it just as it is. blade repair on the pen blade would use a lot of steel. i don't think it would increase it's value. it's a great knife and i like it as it is unless you plan to carry and use it. again, just my opinion.

johnnie f,
I think I can do this and yes I will carry it, if it's not too embarrassing. I carry all my knives and am not really a collector, just an old guy looking for the perfect pocket knife: Bizarre, really, because I think I found it 20 or more years ago 'Schrade small stockman 34 OT'. Cheers.