All About Pocket Knives

I have just received 2 vintage Sheffield pen knives and realize we do not have a forum dedicated to "Vintage Sheffield Knives". If i am correct and not missing something, then do you think it is a good move to establish such a forum and include it in the section for "Brand Specific Knife Forums". Although "Vintage Sheffield" is not a brand, but many brands, i think this would be the logical location.
Please post to voice your opinion.
In the mean time here are the 2 knives:
IXL Wostenholm 3 1/2" four blade senator with stag handles, sunk joints, lovely knife. The end of manicure blade is a scalpel for hangnails or corns, has a long pull and swage on the out side.
Can someone give a date range based on this pattern of manicure blade ? Other than after 1891 and probably before WW II is as specific as i can be for age.

3 1/8" Crown pen knife, pearl, marked : "William/Rodgers/Sheffield" and "I Cut My Way".
This top notch example is a gift from my knife friend Brad in Missouri. Relatively rare, or uncommon pen knife pattern.
pics in post 2.
kj

William Rodgers Crown pen knife, 3 1/8".
kj

Can't help you with anything except to say on the knives,KJ.

Lovely knives,can't beat Sheffield quality Roland.Would love to have some other farmers jacks myself. Wostenholms seem more plentiful. I have only seen the J Rodgers Tony bose has and a catalog cut of a J Rodgers, which is different from Tony's.

Most all of the makers would of had one though.I do have a couple small sized Saynors, which may have been assembled later.

Very nice old Sheffields KJ ... As you know Sheffield is one of my favorites too - not only for the quality but because the emigration of Sheffield cutlers to the Northeast had a major influence on knife making here in the early days at least in my opinion....

I do agree with you though about a subforum for Sheffield knives - right now I have probably put most in the European/Foreign knife subforum or Knife Lore... I would enjoy a Sheffield subforum all by itself - Also I can think of some valuable Sheffield info that can be pinned for some as well... when a question about other subforums was raised previously the question became "where does it all stop as one could think of many subforums" and that is true if there was a subforum for each maker - but this is a case where so many different makers etc would fit under this topic it can be a huge subforum all to itself - just my opinion but I do think it would work .. If not a subforum than as a second choice perhaps a pinned thread on just Sheffield under Knife Lore - I don't know why but Sheffield stuck in with all other foreign knives in that European subforum doesn't sit right with me ...

Roland, very nice finds and I also feel the Sheffield knives deserve their own sub forum.

Great looking vintage Wostenholm Hawkbill John ... The stag is superb - classic Sheffield even though that one is more +/- mid 1950s I think based on "oil the tangs" ...

Wow, that is STAG ! GEC please take note.
I once read a post saying Wostenholm stop marking "oil the joints" in late 1930's. Do not know if this is correct.
kj

kootenay joe wrote: I once read a post saying Wostenholm stop marking "oil the joints" in late 1930's. Do not know if this is correct.
kj

KJ - I believe they started using "oil the joints" around 1930 ... I believe it was Goins who noted oil the joints was about 1930 to 1970 - I have always associated oil the joints with the mid 1900s on Sheffield knives..

I think oil the joints goes back much earlier than 1930's. If Charlie C. reads this he likely will post an answer.
kj

Hey KJ my friend - I can only say I have never seen a Sheffield "oil the joints" knife that wasn't mid 1900s time frame (and just as an aside you may know the Germans also started doing it in the 1900s which is not surprising given some German cutleries had "Sheffield Envy" )... Everything I searched this morning was the same conclusion as to the dates when oil the joints was used - mid 1900s and no doubt post WWII)... I hope if anybody has a knife with such a marking that no doubt was very early 1900s and supports dates for that stamp please do share it ... (PS - A topic like this would be perfect for a Sheffield subforum )...

JMO, we have to many sub-forums now. This thread belongs in Knife Lore

D. i am surprised by your suggestion.
The 'best' knives ever made are vintage Sheffield. This would be one forum that encompasses many manufacturers. Historically most important as that is where the majority of traditional patterns originated.
In Knife Lore it would either be one huge thread or else posts scattered throughout the forum.
I think it would be better to have the vintage Sheffield posts in the same forum. It would then be easier to get an overview of Sheffield cutlery as well as look for specific patterns or knives.
As huge a topic as "U.S.A. Cutlery" is, "Sheffield Cutlery" is even more massive, covering over 100 years for the "Golden Age" (1830 -1940) and a great many manufacturers, big and small.
I know you are a well thought out individual so you must have some solid reasoning behind your rejection of a Vintage Sheffield forum beyond simply 'too many forums'. Really, there are 'too many knives', & 'too many manufacturers' so a representative knife forum should have too many sub forums.
kj

Roland, it would not be placed in the "Brand Specific Knife Forums" it would have to go in the "Specialty Forum".

Creating another forum is redundant in that the thread should be placed in Knife Lore or European And Other Foreign Manufactured Knives. From past experience new sub-forums don't receive much traffic the forum sits there idle with few new posts or threads created.

kootenay joe wrote:In Knife Lore it would either be one huge thread or else posts scattered throughout the forum.
I think it would be better to have the vintage Sheffield posts in the same forum. It would then be easier to get an overview of Sheffield cutlery as well as look for specific patterns or knives.

What's wrong with one huge thread? I think it would be much easier to look for a knife in one thread than searching multiple threads scattered throughout a forum. We have several "Huge" threads in Knife Lore that are a great resource all in one place.

The purpose of a dedicated forum would be so that topics can be grouped together in specific threads: e.g. "Pearl Senator Pen Knives", or "Sportsman Knives", etc.
Then if you have an interest in one of the thread topics as it relates to vintage Sheffield knives, all the information is in one place.
If just one huge thread all info is scattered randomly. You could pull most of it with a search but the info is much easier to understand if all on one page or sequence of pages rather than hopping around.
Perhaps an overhaul of the AAPK forums is needed ? with a view to making it more slender, less overlap ?
kj

I bought one of these as a kid on holiday and was happy to find this

That's a cool old knife, David.
And in it's original packaging to boot as a bonus.
to AAPK!

What a find, David! Very nice! Welcome to the Forum!

BRUMBY & MIDDLETON, Sheffield. 1/2 hawk. Nice stag, buttplate, integral bolsters. Sweet old knife, Lord knows how it got to the US ?! J.O'.

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 5:36 pm BRUMBY & MIDDLETON, Sheffield. 1/2 hawk. Nice stag, buttplate, integral bolsters. Sweet old knife, Lord knows how it got to the US ?! J.O'.

Very nice old Sheffield knife j.o. Does make you wonder how it got here.

I think those old Sheffield knives were designed to fit the curve of the stag instead of fitting the stag to a pattern.
If that makes sense. It's like they took the antler, sawed off the slabs from opposite sides, drew it on the metal and made the liners. There is so little evidence of grinding or sanding the scales. They're natural right to the edges. Neat! J.O'.