All About Pocket Knives

Does anyone have any good tips for reading old tang stamps on pitted high carbon blades like the attached? I've tried all I can with filters and light, but I figured there might be some tricks out there like etching with a pencil, using ink, or other creative ideas.

Note: I can make our Shuredge and NY at the end, but the rest I'm not sure of. I thought it said Rochester, but that doesn't correspond with Shuredge.

I’m glad you asked this question, I’d like to hear more as well.
When you refer to ‘filters’ what is it are you referring to?
Thanks
Froe

Ahhh, I was thinking Imperial. Not Robeson, Shuredge. But still, tips welcome!

By filters I just meant tinkering with settings in my photo editing software. Contrast, shadows, color density, etc.

Gr8wazu wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 3:41 pm Does.....

It DOES say ROCHESTER.

Gr8wazu wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 3:41 pmI thought it said Rochester, but that doesn't correspond with Shuredge

I'm not sure what you mean by "correspond". Some of the most collectible vintage knives were made by the Robeson Cutlery Co of Rochester, NY and featured the Shuredge, Pocketeze, Mastercraft and Premier shields and tang stamps. In 1894, Millard F. Robeson began making knives in Camillus, NY and soon moved to nearby Rochester, NY in 1898. The factory in Camillus NY was sold to Adolf Kastor and soon became the successful Camillus Cutlery Co. The famous Shuredge trademark was registered in 1901.

Have you tried looking in this thread for your answer: https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... hp?t=49917

Back to the original question. I recently bought a old Case. 0000 steel
wool, WD 40, and a lot of careful elbow grease made the tang stamp
easier to read. Went outside on brightly lit daylight porch and a old magnifying
glass and got the information. ( It was better than using iPhone camera
and blow up)

Bob

On axe heads I have seen other collectors cover the tang stamp with a fine white chalk powder and then blow off the excess or tap the axe to force the excess off and sometimes an outline of the stamp will appear in the remaning white chalk. Now that might work better on the axe head as the tang is usually much larger.

I have a free standing magnifying light next to my bench. It comes in handy.

Try a regular pencil. Color the mark completely, especially if there's rust. Then rotate it at different angles of light. Usually works for me. When you wipe off the graphite later, some stays in the mark. i feel that abrasives tend to make it worse. O'.

Sometimes I use my cellphone camera for better lighting and magnification.

Some good thoughts and ideas. Thanks for the feedback.

The cell phone suggestion is very handy. I find it best to enlarge the field first and pull the camera away until focused. That eliminates shadows and affords more angle adjustments. Good luck. J.O'.

5 or 6 bucks on ebay and I've never had a problem reading them since.