All About Pocket Knives

This knife was given to me some time back. I suppose a Russlock was the inspiration. The handle is a piece of crown stag. It measures right at 6" open and there is a makers mark on the tang that appears to be a P with a W attached inside a circle. The blade appears to be hand forged. All in all, quite a nice bit of work...but it's the carving on the butt that really makes it a keeper.

That is beautiful

Really interesting and inspired folk art piece. Wonder what it’s history is and I wonder if the inspiration is the other way around, with the RussLock being inspired by pieces like yours. OH

Wish I could see the knife that carved that, had to be some decent steel. Antler is tough stuff

Looks to me like someone with skill had artistic inspiration. That's a really cool piece.

Very interesting take on a friction folder. Love the handmade look of it! And that carving at the butt end!

That is a really cool friction folder.

The blade looks to be inspired more from a Higonokami knife. Of course a Russlock is inspired by that as well. Or the person who made it just wanted a way to open it and have the lever flow into the back of the stag. It’s very well done. The carving is pretty amazing.
SSk

WOW... I just LOVE the face on the end of the horn. That is really great!!

I have seen many items that had faces carved into them for what ever reason the artist deemed "necessary".

I have an old fusee watch from 1810 period that has a face carved into the balance arm....
Mike

Attractive knife, dweb1897!

In the world of hand-forged knives, knives like yours are generally known as goblin friction folders. While many modern “heat and beat” knifemakers have tried their hand at making at least one of these folders, I believe that this style was first popularised by a bladesmith named Larry Fuegen. You can find more photos of goblin folders online by running a image search using the keyword string “goblin friction folder knife”.

As mentioned by Old Hunter, extended-tang friction folders existed long before Case introduced their RussLock. I suspect that Case’s designers got their inspiration for the RussLock from these primitive folders.

I want to thank all of you for the kind words and the info. I learned a lot from this post and sure appreciate it.