In praise of Olbertz factory knives

[longbeachbum]

I received my first Fightin Rooster today. A red smooth bone stockman. I am VERY impressed with the fit and finish, as well as all around beauty of the knife. I had heard that Fightin Roosters were very nice and now I can personally attest to this. I got it off Frank Busters ebay store. From what I've seen there are some great bargains there on brand new FR knives.

It got me to thinking how many knives I have from different makers which are all made in the Olbertz factory in Solingen. These include Bulldog, Weidmannsheil, Indian Head, Shapleigh, Eye Brand, and now Fightin Rooster.

I must say, for beautiful craftmanship, and consistent quality, I've become a huge fan of these knives. In addition, I've had occasion to e-mail various inquiries to them and Friedrich Olbertz answers personally and is always very gracious in his responses.

These knives are not interchangable in the quality, I'd imagine due to the differing demands and target price points of their various partners. Based on my experience I would rank them as follows:

Fightin Rooster (Both from what I've heard and now based on my one knife.

Indian Head, Shapleigh

Weidmannsheil

Bulldog

My one Eye Brand was a little dissappointing out of the box, but I'm not going to rate it, because I've heard good things about these knives. Plus when I e-mailed Olbertz about it, they offered to fix it for free, but suggested I contact C. Risner first since the shipping costs to and from Sonlingen Germany would probably be prohibitively expensive. I've by no means made up my mind about Eye Brand.

Hopefully this is informative to someone. I'm really just venting my exhuberance after receiving a knife I'm extremely pleased with.

[Bryan]

Very informative Jim,

Thanks for sharing. I have very limited experience with Olbertz made knives. I'll have to get a few and check them out.

Bryan

[nickiemae]

longbeachbum, can you post the image of your knife here? I'd love to see it. Hope you could share it with us..




***God speed!***

[sunburst]

longbeachbum,

Thanks also for your post, it is most appreciated. At the moment I collect Bulldog & Fight'N Rooster, I have one Eye brand and two fixed blades made by Weidmannsheil. I honestly did not even know of Indian Head, Shapleigh.

I can tell you this about the folks at Fight N' Rooster (Frank Buster Cutlery). The other day I mailed off two money orders for items I had bought, one for Fight'N Rooster and another for a private custom knife maker.

While I waited impatiently for my stuff to come in the mail I had a call left on my voice mail from Sterling Frank Buster. He said that he had received some money from me that was way over the amount I should have paid and what else was I wanting to buy with the money.

Well it seems that on the day I mailed off my money orders, my one working brain cell was overloaded and I mailed him a $130.00 money order instead of the $6.00 I needed to .

So I called back the next day and explained things and they said no problem we will mail back your money. I cannot say how much that impressed me with their service and hospitality on the phone. So to make a long story short I will recommend Fight' N Rooster knives to anyone who is interested not soley on the quality of the knife but also on the quality of the people behind the blade.

Thanks again,

Sunburst

[longbeachbum]

longbeachbum, can you post the image of your knife here? I'd love to see it. Hope you could share it with us..




***God speed!***

This is the pic from the e-bay listing, doesn't really do it justice. The handles are a very deep two toned red, and the hafting is superb. If you close your eyes you literally can't feel where the pins and shield are, or where the bone handles meet the bolsters. All blades walk and talk without being overly stiff, and there's no lateral play in the open position. This all constitutes my definition of a quality slipjoint.

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[El Lobo]

Jim,

I've collected a few Fight'n Roosters. IMO, they are the nicest knives Olbertz makes, but much harder to find than Bulldogs, which I also have a few of as well.

You mentioned Eye Brand as well...is the Carl Schlieper facility closed now and Olbertz is making them?? That is really narrowing down the German makers, I guess.

Did Clarence Risner take care of your issue with the Eye brand knife?

Bill

[longbeachbum]

Jim,

I've collected a few Fight'n Roosters. IMO, they are the nicest knives Olbertz makes, but much harder to find than Bulldogs.

You mentioned Eye Brand as well...is the Carl Schlieper facility closed now and Olbertz is making them?? That is really narrowing down the German makers, I guess.

Did Clarence Risner take care of your issue with the Eye brand knife?

Bill

I haven't e-mailed him yet to be honest. It does seem very confusing because the Eye Brand Knives still have Carl Schliepers name on the blade and the box, but they definitely referred me to Clarence Risner, who's e-mail address incidentally is [email protected]

My Eye Brand stockman seems clearly to be of Olbertz manufacture. I have three other Olbertz stockmen and they are all identical to this one in terms of the frame, the blade shapes etc.

I don't know anything of the history of the Carl Schlieper German Eye Brand knives but from your comments it sounds like this is a fairly recent development, huh?

[El Lobo]

I've found the Olbertz website, but haven't had much luck with a site for Carl Schlieper. If you decide to email Mr. Risner, maybe you could ask him for us, if you're so inclined, since you have one of the knives in question? Just a thought, of course.

Bill

P. S.
Here is a great site for helping those of us who enjoy research about sharp things.

http://www.knifelinksportal.com/

Just wander around a bit...you'll get the feel.

[longbeachbum]

I sent C. Risner an e-mail this evening. Assuming I get a response, I'll try to take the opportunity to pick his brain on Eye Brand and what became of the Carl Schlieper operation.

[longbeachbum]

Here's the response I got from Clarence Risner:

PETER SCHIEPER IS THE OWNER OF THE EYE BRAND TRADEMARK. HE IS
IN HIS EIGHTIES. SO WHEN HE WANTED TO RETIRE, HE HAD TO GO
BANKRUPT IN THE COURTS OF GERMANY IN ORDER TO TRANSFER THE
RETIREMENT FUNDS OF ALL THE PREVIOUS EMPLOYEES, AND TO
LIQUIDATE THE FACTORY ASSETS. THUS AFTER GOING THRU THE COURT AND ETC. I ALREADY HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH OLBERTZ AS I
OWN THE INDIAN HEAD TRADEMARK. THUS WHEN HE ASKED ME WHAT
CO. I TOOK OLBERTZ. NOT MANY GERMAN MFG. THERE NOW. SOME
LEADING BRANDS STILL HAVE FACTORIES, BUT THEY ARE MAKING
THEIR KNIVES IN SPAIN, ARGENTINA SOUTH AMERICA & CHINA. I ONLY
VOUCH FOR THE ''EYE BRAND" "INDIAN HEAD" AND JIM BOWIE. AS
GENUINE GERMAN MADE KNIVES.

CLARENCE

[El Lobo]

Thanks for the detective work Jim...

Bill

[longbeachbum]

Did Clarence Risner take care of your issue with the Eye brand knife?

Bill

To update anyone who's interested, I did send my Eye Brand knife with the wobbly main blade to C. Risner for repair. Today I received a replacement knife in the mail so the one I sent must have been a lost cause.

I am happy to report that Mr. Risner was very responsive and prompt in taking care of my issue.

I can also say, based on my experience with two Eye Brand knives, that I prefer some of the other Olbertz brands to these, namely Fight'n Rooster, Shapleigh's, Weidmannsheil, and Indian Head. Please take this opinion only for what it is worth, since it's based on my experience with only one or two knives of each brand.

[Bryan]

I just got in a few German Eye brand knives a couple days ago.

I picked up an Indian Head stockman, a Jim Bowie Lockback, an Eye brand toothpick, and an Eye brand congress among a few others. Gotta say... I'm overall very impressed. I was most impressed with the Indian Head stockman. I haven't compared them side by side with Fightin Rooster or Weidmannsheil yet, but just going by these, I have come to the conclusion that our German friends are doing great work over there.

Bryan

[longbeachbum]

I was most impressed with the Indian Head stockman.

I have one in the same handle material. I agree--it's one of my favorite knives.

[sunburst]

I was reading the following information for a Shapleigh knife for sale on Ebay. Is he saying that these knives for sale were actually made between 1940-1950 and he is selling those dated knives or just that this particular brand was made at that time and he is revising the brand...???

3 1/2" closed - Cattle Knife

Genuine Second Cut Stag Handles.

Mint

Shapleigh - St. Louis,USA - M.I. Germany

Comes with certificate that reads: I certify that these knives came from the closed Krusius Brothers factory. I estimate that these knives were made sometime in the late 1940s to 1950s. The name Shapleigh's was discontinued on cutlery in 1960 according to Jonh Goins book. Jim Parker

Back of certificate reads: Jim Parkers Gaurantee. To the original purchaser of this fine antique pocket knife. I will be a buyer for these knives at any time. One year after the original purchase date, I will pay at least 10% profit. At any time three years after purchase, I will pay at least 20% profit.

This knife is Mint

Confused as usual,

Sunburst

[El Lobo]

This is JUST MY OPINION, as usual.

However,
Some knifecollectors do not feel these knives were found in storage, or "new, old stock", or assembled from original parts...or, whatever. But, may have been recently manufactured using older tooling....or, just recently manufactured. Some of us also feel this method of selling (utilizing defunct stamps like Simmons, Kinfolks, Groten, New York Knife Co., etc) has tainted some of the otherwise fine contribution that the late Mr. Parker brought to knife manufacturing and collecting.

Other folks may feel differently. This is not intended to start a flame war...just to state one side of the story.

Bill

EDITED: For clarity of thought.

[sunburst]

No Flame intended or received on the topic Bill...Your opinion is most appreciated...

It sounds like a bit of good salesmanship to me but what do I know...If they really are knives that were made in the 40s and 50s why wouldn't anybody want to buy one or two

Once again since my currency seems to always be on the slim side I will wait for a sure fire purchase...

Thanks,

Sunburst

[longbeachbum]

I was reading the following information for a Shapleigh knife for sale on Ebay. Is he saying that these knives for sale were actually made between 1940-1950 and he is selling those dated knives or just that this particular brand was made at that time and he is revising the brand...???

I certainly don't know for sure, but I have two of these Shapleigh's knives, and there's no way they are 50 years old. I've also e-mailed Friedrich Olbertz about it and he confirmed that the knives are made in their factory.

That certificate you refer to does in my opinion make the claim that the knife you have bought is an actual antique. I don't see how this can be the case.

I'm thinking that perhaps there are some old parts incorporated into the knife or something. As I stated previously in this thread, the punch blade in the Cattleman pattern looks really old school, so maybe that is genuinely old. Personally I consider the claim that these are old knives found in some old defunct factory fifty years later to be pretty much complete hype.

That being said, I do have an interest in these Olbertz made Shapleighs brand knives, because based on the two I have, quality, fit and finish is very good.

I think they are a good buy at under $50. However, I lose interest when the bidding goes north of that on ebay. I'd buy one for $40 in a heartbeat.

Sorry no actual knowlege or facts here, just my personal opinion. Hope it helps.

Edited: I didn't see Lobo's response before I posted this. Obviously I agree with his assessment.