A Box O'Knives

[eisman]

It's amazing what just a little mineral oil can get knocked loose:

That being said, I could use a little help with this one. Cannot find a makers mark anywhere. It's going to be a bit before I can drag out the case with my Scout collection to compare blades. I think it's an Ulster, but I've been wrong before. I think I see a "UL" on the main blade under high zoom.

The knife obviously got used, and there's not much spring left on the main blade. The screwdriver, on the other hand, needs to be pried out. Both blades on the other end have great walk and talk.

 

[eisman]

The dark equal end is one of the knives I bought this for. A totally unexpected find! An LF&C and it still has the blade etch!

And it get's better...Harness Jack! (I thought Charley had them all.)

I'm loving the punch.

 

[Campbellclanman]

Very nice Eisman.
I’m especially interested in that HJ - interesting Punch.
The scales on this knife - composite? From memory LF&C called “ Perfect Stag “.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Real nice haul seems like a lot of functional users, I wouldn't mind seeing what's hiding in that sheath at the very top.
Kind of looks like what I've seen Kinfolks fish knives come with

 

[screened porch]

I believe "Anvil" was a Colonial brand.

 

[eisman]

Digging deeper into the pile I came across this. I's a Camillius and has really nice bone. I haven't done much to this, it still needs some cleaning, but it intrigued me.

Sadly the off side scale is missing piece.

This knife was obviously used. Even the area where the missing bone is on the scale is smooth and worn. But what really got me was the small size of the little pen blade.

If you look at the way the blades sit it's obvious that they have not been shortened much (if at all).

 

[eisman]

Next we have this lovely little PAL Serpentine Jack. I don't think this got used at all.

 

[eisman]

This is, in my opinion, the favorite knife of the guy who had these. And he had it a long time. The blades are really worn down, and the bone is smoothed down to just the major ridges.

I had to take a picture to try and figure out the brand. I'm fairly certain it's a Utica, but I don't know the pattern.

If you look at the blade position it's not a normal Whittler. The shape says it's not a Stockman. There's no way to be certain what the original blade profiles where, but it's unusual in that both the main and one of the secondary blades where given a relief to get to the nail nick. Whatever the main blade was, it had to ride low. I think there's also a chance one of the secondary's was a punch, which would make this a Cattleman pattern? Going to have to hit the books again.

 

[eisman]

This ebony scaled equal end makes me believe even more deeply that this collection was started on the east coast.

I've never found a Valley Forge in this condition anywhere around here. Heck I've only found 2-3 Valley Forge knives, period.

I'm going to have to put an edge on this and carry it awhile.

 

[eisman]

Here's a couple more, not entirely cleaned up, but better than they were.

First, a Camillus Balloon (or Swell Center) Jack. Nice little knife that's seen little wear.

Beautiful bone, and rat-tailed iron bolsters. Interestingly enough, while the pen blade has a half stop, the main clip does not. I don't see that often.

This one's a little hard for me to make out. I'm fairly certain it's been lying next to a celluloid knife for a while just looking at the rust pattern on the top of the blades.

I'm pretty sure it's a Robeson Shuredge, but not positive. If anybody can help clear that up I'd appreciate it.

 

[brownshoe]

I'm lazy and "fixed" a piece of missing pearl and crack, kind of like your Camillus, just with 5min epoxy. It's not pretty, but has worked for years and I pocket carry it.

 

[5K Qs]

Your thread title is a little misleading, eisman . That "box o'knives" your mention turned out to be a treasure chest!!!
Congrats on all the champion cutlery and fine entertainment you (and we ) are getting out of it!

- GT

 

[Vaporstang]

That LF&C Harness Jack is awesome!

 

[Ernie1980]

Wow what a haul! I always seem to arrive at shops just after people like you though, there is not usually much left...

 

[willard0341]

Very nice, thanks for sharing

 

[Will Power]

I like those single-spring knives a lot. You got a mainline to some quality oldies there

 

[Jody744]

Both LF&C knives, the Valley Forge, and that Keen Kutter are probably worth the cost of admission. I would pocket that Keen Kutter, already scratched you won’t hurt it. My HJ isn’t near that nice, but I have only seen one so I got it soaking in mineral oil for a few weeks

 

[black mamba]

Lots of goodies for sure, but the Pal dogleg is a real gem to my eye. The last one is definitely a Robeson ShurEdge.

 

[jec88]

I really love all of those worn brown bone knives! I'd rather look at those than any new knife any day. Look like they just need a little cleaning and oiling and then to just be carried and used!

 

[eisman]

OK, so here's a couple more. The first, which I had to take a lot of pics to get, is another Robison Shuredge. This is one of the smaller knives, a real beauty, and in nice shape.

The bone is really well matched on this, and it's got great walk and talk.

But the die struck this pretty light and I wasn't sure about the brand until after I played with the photos a bit.

The model number is much more legible (except in my photo).

This next knife screams Germany, and when I first saw it I thought it was true stag on the scales.

The pivot pins are steel, the bolsters German silver, the jigging is wrong for most USA companies. The blades also look a bit strange, since they sit a little high when open as opposed to following the line of the body. It was pretty stiff, but really took to some oil and cleaning. Nice action still...

The scales are bone (which really pops out in the photos) and have some cracks forming.

No shield either. But what really got me, after a bit of cleaning, was the name...

I've never seen a Dixon. I had to crawl thru a couple books just to get a basic idea, and there's not much. (I'd be happy for anything anyone can add to what I know!)

What I've put together is this: They date from around the 1920's. They were made in Germany. They were imported. The Company was either Dixon Cutlery Co (USA) or Dixon Cutlery (Germany), or possibly J. Dixon Cutlery. Strangely this knife appears to be stamped Dixon Cutlery Co Germany.