Beauty of Old, Worn Knives

[jlhoffman74]

 

[waynorth]

While scrounging around my cigar boxes for an old Cocobola knife that I could test sand, I found this wonderful EO Teardrop Jack made by my dear old knife company!! For a simple Jack, this one has a lot of features; a bail, an EO notch, a "SCOUT" shield ( my favorite shield pattern!), and a decent amount of blade remaining!! That's real Ebony also, I'm 95% sure!!
Nice to bring it into the light for a while!!!

Oh; and hammered pins!! With half stops, the springs are flush in all three positions!!!! The knife was probably made near WW 1 !!

 

[Old Hunter]

An old Schrade-Walden that has seen better days, but is still useful and hanging in there.

 

[kyhunt]

My old 18.

 

[kyhunt]

My 92.

 

[Old Hunter]

Capped, stag handled Jackknife offered by the Belknap Hardware & Manufacturing Co.

 

[Old Hunter]

Boy Scout Knife by Imperial laying on my old Boy Scout shirt. OH

 

[Buck_Fan]

I wouldn't say this is worn. But it is old. The year I graduated highschool. 1986. I really love the color towards the bolster's. It just doesn't get any better than that.

 

[waynorth]

Goodly sized Gent/Pen at 3 1/2", this is a usable knife!! All blades still snap crisply, and the handles are a nice version of "pressed Stag"!!!
Fine Old-School Sheffield craftsmanship!!

Note the remains of a "reversed etch" on the main blade!!! "Congress Knife"!! Fancy bolsters; a premium knife in its time!!!
And still good ~100 years later!!!

 

[Stelth]

Do you age your new knives a bit to give them the special worn in feel?

Nope.

 

[Ironbut]

This Uncle Henry 885 was my first stockman. I bought it in 1970, and it was in my pocket every single day for about thirty years, before I retired it.

 

[RLB0414]

Beautiful knives in this thread. Wish they could talk and tell their life's story. I bet some would make for interesting conversations.

 

[lambertiana]

Here are a few that were within easy reach.
Southington with broken pen. Has a partial etch just barely visible CO&M. The &M are clear, I’m not absolutely sure about the CO.


Ulster with reasonably full blades and well worn bone. It must have seen a lot of pocket time with light use.


An Ulster with a nicely worn blade that still has some life left.


Another Ulster


Finally an Ulster EO that had seen the sharpening stone more than a few times and looks like it has had a hard life.

 

[Old Hunter]

Couple of WWII Navy-Coast Guard EO pocketknives by Imperial USA.

 

[Headwinds]

Speaking of a hard life - this Imperial is a little past worn. My father broke the blade and dropped the knife in his junk box probably over fifty years ago.

By the way - is anyone familiar with these scales which look like real scales? I can’t find any photos of anything like them.

 

[afishhunter]

Speaking of a hard life - this Imperial is a little past worn. My father broke the blade and dropped the knife in his junk box probably over fifty years ago.

By the way - is anyone familiar with these scales which look like real scales? I can’t find any photos of anything like them.

Are the scales (bolsters & covers) clipped onto the liners?
If not, and the lower "cover pin" is actually a center pin, the knife is pre-1955.
The covers might be called "Armadillo"?
The pattern remind me of Armadillo hide.
(Affirmative. I am probably wrong on the name. )

 

[Headwinds]

Are the scales (bolsters & covers) clipped onto the liners?
If not, and the lower "cover pin" is actually a center pin, the knife is pre-1955.
The covers might be called "Armadillo"?
The pattern remind me of Armadillo hide.
(Affirmative. I am probably wrong on the name. )

Thanks for the info. Given when my father would have been using a knife like that in his work, your pre-1955 date is probably correct. Unfortunately he passed almost forty years ago and I didn't find the knife until about ten years ago. I don't think it's shell construction, but I won't know for sure till I find it. I thought it might be celluloid so I stored it separately from my other knives. Whenever I remember where I stored it I'll check it and let you know.

 

[mauser9]

Grip material was as interesting as the vintage knives. Maybe Delrin like plastic. Those pictured look better than some of the junky variety store knives from the early 60s. Those polished blades were most frequently seen. Priced around a buck I recall. Always had thinner blades.

 

[tongueriver]

I do not deliberately change anything on a knife except to try to keep it somewhat sharp.
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept and philosophy that finds beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. It encourages an acceptance of the natural cycle of growth and decay, celebrating flaws, roughness, and age as marks that add uniqueness and character to objects and life.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I must be part Japanese.

Think of that. A Japanese redneck.