A working knife -- Tina Pruner

kamagong

kamagong

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Jan 13, 2001
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Here's a bit of a novelty for me. A Tina 620 light pruner. Made in Germany with walnut covers and a hand forged carbon steel blade.

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The blade is chisel ground.

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This knife is a bit of a conundrum. The design is very simple -- shadow construction with plain wooden covers. Yet the build quality is excellent, exceeding the GECs I've owned and with a price tag to match. This on a knife that is meant to be used and used hard. It's a tool, plain and simple. I like it.
 
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Tina makes good knives. I have a Tina grafting knife. You are right, they are made to be used.
 
They are used by professional horticulturists - possibly the knives of choice.
My grandson's other grandfather had a couple in his pockets for 35 years, before he passed away.
 
glocktenman said:
Shadow = no bolsters?
Looks like a solid knife.
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Exactly right.

JB in SC said:
They are nice grafters but pretty expensive in the US.
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Ernie1980 said:
I just looked them up, they are very pricey for a simple working knife!
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I agree. There’s no way I’d pay retail for one of these, but I got this knife for a fraction of what they sell for.

This particular specimen looks like it was a tool box knife that was never used. The wood is a little beat up, with the tell tale dings that come from banging against metal. The blade looks like it has never been sharpened since it left the factory.
 
Real nice knife, Christian!! I dug Gord's knives out to remind me how well they are made. Notice how the liners extend out along the open blade to give the pivot a little extra twist-resistance!!
These knives here, were used regularly for decades, and have decades more left in them! And they take a razor edge!!
You can enjoy that knife for the rest of your life (if you oil the joint!!:D)
Tina Horts 1.jpg
 
This knife tickled my "love of knives" gene as you so aptly put it Charlie. A single blade, with handles made of wood, one of the earliest (if not the earliest) materials used for that application. No fancy embellishments, just a cutting tool pared down to the essentials. :thumbsup:

I've been a fan of Tina (the company) ever since I first learned of them. They specialize in making professional tools for a tough and dirty job. The conditions are perfect for this market to be dominated by cheap and disposable imports. Yet this company has carved out a niche for itself, crafting instruments that are recognized as the best in their class. The knives are not cheap by any means, they command a premium price, but people pay because they are worth it.

I'm reminded of something Jack has posted many times. He's of the opinion that if the Sheffield knife industry had made the decision to compete with cheap imports based on quality, rather on low prices, it would be in much better shape today. We can never know if he's right, but here's a knife company that has decided to embrace excellence, rather than cost cutting, as its guiding principle. Bravo Tina!
 
I wonder if I would find the chisel edge easier to sharpen. I don't think I've ever been comfortable with an incurved edge.
 
I'd like to find one of these now....theoretically, it should be easier for me as I'm in Europe but you never know...wasn't with the Spanish knife I bought from the USA;)

The handles may be slightly knocked about Christian, but the wood takes a nice lustre by the look of it or have you been giving it extra buff too? ;) Great subject though.
 
Don't forget that the knives are cheaper here too Will. :rolleyes:

The knife came looking like this. Received it yesterday. The covers appear to be covered with some sort of shellac.
 
Had to check out the prices...knives come from Reutlingen Germany, which I think is Baden-Würtenberg. A rather eye-watering 85-100 € depending on model. Think I'll have to pass on this one....
 
I've also admired these knives since I first got hold of one some years ago. It was a small budding/grafting knife, with the spud or comb on the blade. A really lucky find since it was in 'as new' condition, and I didn't pay a great deal for it. I gifted it to @pertinux, and don't have a photo. I might get round to buying a Tina Sheepsfoot at some point. Yours are really special Charlie waynorth waynorth :thumbsup:
 
All these comments about price made me look up what they go for these days. I got my grafting knife (the middle one in Charlie's picture above) at a local ag supply store about 10-12 years ago for about $55. I see that now they seem to run for twice that online. They had a display case full of them at the ag supply.

Since fruit (peach, plum, nectarine, apricot, citrus, olive, pomegranate) and nut (almond, walnut, pistachio) cover millions of acres here in this valley, pruning and grafting tools are sold and used in large quantities. I used to drive through stone fruit orchards on the way to work, and would frequently see acres and acres of freshly grafted trees.
 
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I'm in - these are beauties - elegant in their simplicity AND Tina was a great love ;),
alas - I digress :)

Must keep an eye out...

Ray
 
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