A Thomas Turner (of Sheffield) Penknife

Jack Black

Jack Black

Seize the Lambsfoot! Seize the Day!
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Picked up this wee Thomas Turner penknife yesterday, thought I’d post a few pics.

Jack









 
Oh, nice find Jack.

I love those scales. What are they made from, old suits micarta by the looks of it!
 
scruffuk said:
Oh, nice find Jack.

I love those scales. What are they made from, old suits micarta by the looks of it!
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. Yeah, it was the scales that caught my eye first. I'm not absolutely sure what they're made of, the feel of the material reminds me of something I once got a sample of, I don't have my old address book to hand, but I think it was Whale Brand 'Tufnol'. It has a smooth syntheic/plastic feel to it, but the pin-stripe pattern is intergral. Have to give you a look at it when we meet up :)
 
Jack Black said:
Thanks mate. Yeah, it was the scales that caught my eye first. I'm not absolutely sure what they're made of, the feel of the material reminds me of something I once got a sample of, I don't have my old address book to hand, but I think it was Whale Brand 'Tufnol'. It has a smooth syntheic/plastic feel to it, but the pin-stripe pattern is intergral. Have to give you a look at it when we meet up :)
Click to expand...

That sounds like Tufnol to me too then. It's nice to see it, and cut with the 'grain' exposed.

I have sheets of the brown stuff at work, all obsolete, and mine for the taking!
Its 'orribly acrid to work....and very dusty, but it comes up nice.
 
Great knife. To me, it's the epitome of a gent's penknife. :thumbup: And it's a mighty capable pocket companion for a myriad of day-to-day tasks, I might add.

-- Mark
 
scruffuk said:
That sounds like Tufnol to me too then. It's nice to see it, and cut with the 'grain' exposed.

I have sheets of the brown stuff at work, all obsolete, and mine for the taking!
Its 'orribly acrid to work....and very dusty, but it comes up nice.
Click to expand...

The only experience I have of it is the sample I was sent, dark grey with a black check. It was too smooth for what I wanted (handle material for my old U1). I remember it being nasty to work, but nice-looking material though.

mnblade said:
Great knife. To me, it's the epitome of a gent's penknife. :thumbup: And it's a mighty capable pocket companion for a myriad of day-to-day tasks, I might add.

-- Mark
Click to expand...

Thank you very much Mark :)

Jack
 
What a nice pocket knife.:thumbup:

It's like the classic example of a clean design of a handy little knife that can be used for a zillion things. Nicely rounded off with no corners to wear pockets, two blades to choose from. How many of these type of knives where made and used by generations of men as an everyday little pocket cutter? No, you don't have to answer that, it's a rhetorical question.

Carl.
 
jackknife said:
What a nice pocket knife.:thumbup:

It's like the classic example of a clean design of a handy little knife that can be used for a zillion things. Nicely rounded off with no corners to wear pockets, two blades to choose from. How many of these type of knives where made and used by generations of men as an everyday little pocket cutter? No, you don't have to answer that, it's a rhetorical question.

Carl.
Click to expand...

Thanks Carl. I've had a lucky couple of weeks. Shows there's still a few decent knives around to be had here :)
 
Looks like an elegant workhorse you've got there. I tried to date it from the Tufnol, but suppliers come up instead of antiquarian articles. Pre-1952, anyway, right?
 
scrteened porch said:
Looks like an elegant workhorse you've got there. I tried to date it from the Tufnol, but suppliers come up instead of antiquarian articles. Pre-1952, anyway, right?
Click to expand...

Thanks. The Tufnol is only a guess, I may well be wrong about that, though it does have that look and feel. Yes, certainly pre-'52! I'd be surprised if it's much older than that really. It's a nice well-made knife though, great walk and talk, and very solid despite the fact it's clearly been a user. Only the blades are stainless.
 
pertinux said:
Thanks for showing us this one, Jack.

I do like the pinstripes!

~ P.
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Thanks P, if I ever get a better camera, I'll take some more pics. It's dark and dreary here today I'm afraid. My girlfriend bought me a new camera yesterday as an early Xmas present, and it turned out to be faulty and has to go back :(
 
Jack Black said:
Thanks P, if I ever get a better camera, I'll take some more pics. It's dark and dreary here today I'm afraid. My girlfriend bought me a new camera yesterday as an early Xmas present, and it turned out to be faulty and has to go back :(
Click to expand...

Oh, that's a bum-wah (French for "bummer") for sure.

Still, your current pictures capture the knife well enough to get a good sense of it.

-- I think now having experience trying to take pictures of knives helps me know what I am and am not seeing in a given photograph, ie, my brain adjusts for lighting, understands that some features are seldom as stark as appears on-screen, wood almost always has more subtlety and depth, etc.

Thanks again for posting this one up.

~ P.
 
Great find, Jack. I like the handle as well and I really like the tang stamps. Glad your finding some beauties as of late.
 
Thanks folk, I wasn't even looking yesterday when I came across this, just a lucky find. Just the thing for opening Xmas cards :)
 
Hi Jack, nice catch, I love pen knives. The handles are likely celluloid. I actually have experience with tufnol, one of it's early uses was turning blocks for sailing dingys and later larger sailboats. I believe it was early micarta in that it was layers of linen with some sort of early resin. I was actually looking for some early large turning blocks to cut up for handles.
I'm pretty sure tufnol was a British invention.

Best regards

Robin
 
Pipeman said:
Hi Jack, nice catch, I love pen knives. The handles are likely celluloid. I actually have experience with tufnol, one of it's early uses was turning blocks for sailing dingys and later larger sailboats. I believe it was early micarta in that it was layers of linen with some sort of early resin. I was actually looking for some early large turning blocks to cut up for handles.
I'm pretty sure tufnol was a British invention.

Best regards

Robin
Click to expand...

Thanks Robin, and thanks for the extra info :thumbup:

Jack
 
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