Cake Knife?

[eisman]

I had to visit a place right around the corner from a thrift store today, and having time, I stuck my head inside to see if they might have a knife or two. Turns out they had a pretty big selection of kitchen knives, a couple of inexpensive folders, and a couple fantasy/presentation fixed blades. I dug around and came up with these two for $5.

The smaller one is a 5" that's going to be my cheese knife for picnics. The second was the weird turn...It's marked Fremont, but I think the maker is Claus, a maker of kitchen cutlery from Fremont, OH. The wavy blade is for cutting cakes or pastries according to someone who should know. The handle appears to be cast iron, the blade is built and ground like a large hacksaw blade, and fastened to the handle with a rivet.

I've never seen one of these before. I'm going to clean it up, get rid of the rust, and put an edge on it. It's going to be interesting seeing how it cuts after that.

 

[Misplaced Hillbilly]

Very interesting knife! Cool find.

 

[Hickory n steel]

The handle makes me think medical, but it probably is just something a baker would use.

 

[Vaporstang]

Awesome score! That cake knife is very interesting.

 

[Shurke]

Maybe you're thinking of a different Claus than the company from Fremont, OH? Claus manufactured razors, shears, nail files, scissors, and grooming products until about 1920. After some mergers, buy-outs, and name changes, the company is still around, but its focus since 1920 has been on scissors and industrial tools. As far as I know, they never made kitchen cutlery.

 

[WinchesteRalox]

Looks the the Christy knife company cutlery.

 

[Jack Black]

Nice finds The larger knife could have been bought to cut pastry in a bakery, but I see a lot of knives like that, and with wooden handles (there's a couple in the middle of this pic from one of my old 'Table' threads). The blades are usually unmarked, but they were sold and used as bread knives here. The cake knives I have or have had are different. I've also had a baker's knife, but that was also different.

 

[screened porch]

Maybe you're thinking of a different Claus than the company from Fremont, OH? Claus manufactured razors, shears, nail files, scissors, and grooming products until about 1920. After some mergers, buy-outs, and name changes, the company is still around, but its focus since 1920 has been on scissors and industrial tools. As far as I know, they never made kitchen cutlery.

Clauss certainly made knives. I have a clearly marked dadley from Clauss Shear Company. I don't know about bread knives, which is what I would call OP's Fremont.

 

[screened porch]

Nice finds The larger knife could have been bought to cut pastry in a bakery, but I see a lot of knives like that, and with wooden handles (there's a couple in the middle of this pic from one of my old 'Table' threads). The blades are usually unmarked, but they were sold and used as bread knives here. The cake knives I have or have had are different. I've also had a baker's knife, but that was also different.

View attachment 952804

My bread-knife that didn't come over on the Titanic is like your thicker-handled one. I also have one handled like OP's, in that it is a steel loop, but I think it is welded to the blade and the loop is less elaborately wrought.
No pix, as I can't find either one.

 

[Jack Black]

My bread-knife that didn't come over on the Titanic is like your thicker-handled one. I also have one handled like OP's, in that it is a steel loop, but I think it is welded to the blade and the loop is less elaborately wrought.
No pix, as I can't find either one.

The two blades are very similar, I probably still have them somewhere. They can usually be had for £1 or less in the flea-markets here, but I don't usually buy them, the same with the metal-handled ones. My regular bread knife is this one, from the 20's, there's an advertising cut of it in Tweedale's Directory However, I have a big old Elliott butcher knife I save the hard crusts! I also have an old Lockwood Brothers Bread Knife

 

[eisman]

Jack;

I have a bread knife with the shallow teeth like in your picture. It works pretty well on crusty stuff. I've never had one with this wavy toothed blade, so I'm going to sharpen it up and see how it cuts. Cheap as it was there's no loss in doing a bit of work to the blade. I'd like to see your cake knife and bakers knife. It interests me to see what tools designed for specific tasks look like and the differences between them.

I can easily see this blade as and "industrial" use item. It's not fancy, and if the company offered blade replacement it would be easy to do. It's an amazingly simple design, and optimized for easy manufacture and unskilled assembly. Cast a handle, stamp a blade, rivet it all together and make sure you're putting out 60+ an hour.

 

[Jack Black]

Jack;

I have a bread knife with the shallow teeth like in your picture. It works pretty well on crusty stuff. I've never had one with this wavy toothed blade, so I'm going to sharpen it up and see how it cuts. Cheap as it was there's no loss in doing a bit of work to the blade. I'd like to see your cake knife and bakers knife. It interests me to see what tools designed for specific tasks look like and the differences between them.

I can easily see this blade as and "industrial" use item. It's not fancy, and if the company offered blade replacement it would be easy to do. It's an amazingly simple design, and optimized for easy manufacture and unskilled assembly. Cast a handle, stamp a blade, rivet it all together and make sure you're putting out 60+ an hour.

I'm sure that, like me, you get a lot of pleasure from using knives of this age I began using the old bread knife after discovering that my Taylor's Eye Witness Bread Knife was actually made in China, rather than Sheffield When I've bought the less fancy ones, it's been with an idea that I may be able to use the blades for something - that's on my 'To Do' list!

I might have to raid the boxes under my bed! Here are some I have pics of. The cake knives I come across are of two general types, trowel-shaped knives, and ones with thinner, more conventional blades. The latter I think may have often been given as wedding gifts, (possibly the first type too), here's one I sent to PMEW when he was married



And a similar knife I gave to my neighbours for their Golden Wedding Anniversary.



Here's my horn-handled Ibberson Cake Knife, which I generally refer to as my pie knife, since it sees more pie than cake



Another example of the 'trowel style' is this silver-plated Falstaff Cake Knife. I've seen similar ones, but this one was heavy enough to lay bricks with! I gave it to a friend to use in his cafe.

 

[eisman]

Thank you, Jack. The trowel types I've seen before, usually in shops or at weddings (where I think they're provided by the baker's staff). It's interesting the more conventional designs you show appear to be designed to cut on a push vs. a pulling movement of the blade. I wonder why? Perhaps since one has to cut "into" most cakes instead of drawing across?

 

[Bartleby]

Looks the the Christy knife company cutlery.

It certainly looks similar! Clauss and Christy seem to have had a strange relationship in the past. It is difficult to know for certain if it was a collaboration or a rivalry! There are certainly similarities in design.

The Christy Company started out with serrated blade wire handle kitchen knives of several types which were sold in large numbers, before moving on to scalpels, safety razors and their most famous design, the Christy sliding knife which is still being made.

I have a Clauss stamped version of the sliding knife. The words "Clauss, USA, Fremont O." are stamped into the side plate that contains the lock button, the side plate on the reverse side is blank. No reference to the Christy Company at all. I attempted to get production information from both companies some years ago while researching some Christy knives that were left to me by family members, with no luck. Mr. Christy answered all of my questions about the Christy marked knives, but had no information on the Clauss.

It is difficult to figure out if Clauss was having items produced by Christy for a time, or if they were producing items to directly compete with Christy.

The manner in which the handle is attached to the blade on your knife is certainly different that that used on Christy's kitchen knives. Perhaps a patent work around? Most Clauss knives of this type use two rivets rather than one to secure the blade.

 

[Jack Black]

Thank you, Jack. The trowel types I've seen before, usually in shops or at weddings (where I think they're provided by the baker's staff). It's interesting the more conventional designs you show appear to be designed to cut on a push vs. a pulling movement of the blade. I wonder why? Perhaps since one has to cut "into" most cakes instead of drawing across?

I think they are probably designed to be used on wedding cakes. The happy couple probably stab the cake, and then the catering staff come in and do the job properly! I believe PMEW may have cut up the wedding cake himself though. He and his bride are just admiring the knife in this photo



I'm afraid I've been unable to find a photo of the baker's knife I had (given to ScruffUK some years ago), I have seen a photo in a book, but haven't been able to find the particular book yet. It was a big-bladed industrial-looking thing rather than ornamental.

I do have this Victorinox Baker's Knife, which is unusual in that it has a straight-edge rather than a scalloped one

 

[Shurke]

Clauss certainly made knives. I have a clearly marked dadley from Clauss Shear Company. I don't know about bread knives, which is what I would call OP's Fremont.

Thanks, I wasn't aware. I collect straight razors, so I know their cutlery mostly from the grooming end of things. Claus was probably one of the two most prolific U.S. makers of straight razors.

 

[eisman]

I've never understood why anyone would get married and then hand the woman a knife. Cake or no cake that's an "iffy" proposition.

Now I'm wondering why a bakers knife would have a curved blade (al la Victorinox)...

 

[Jack Black]

I've never understood why anyone would get married and then hand the woman a knife. Cake or no cake that's an "iffy" proposition.

Now I'm wondering why a bakers knife would have a curved blade (al la Victorinox)...

Apparently it's used for scoring across the surface of the dough using the point.

The other knife had a specific purpose too, but it had a blunt-ended blade, and a 'dog-leg' close to the handle. I'm busily searching my computer for a knife pic, but I have a LOT of photos!

 

[eisman]

it had a blunt-ended blade, and a 'dog-leg' close to the handle

Like an offset saw? I wonder if they came right or/and left offset? Or maybe if you made a cut and then turned the blade 90 degrees you could use it to serve a slice? Interesting...

 

[Jack Black]

Like an offset saw? I wonder if they came right or/and left offset? Or maybe if you made a cut and then turned the blade 90 degrees you could use it to serve a slice? Interesting...

It was off-set parallel to the blade, just stepped up, about the same width again as the blade. It had a particular purpose, but I'm afraid I have forgotten, possibly for cutting dough. It was for use in the bakery though, rather than for serving. The blade was fairly blunt, about 2 inches across, if I remember correctly (it is more than 5 years ago since I gave it to Scruff), at least 18 inches long, including the handle, which had wooden scales, and an 1/8" thick, perhaps a little more. It was a strange-looking thing, and it took me a while to find out what it was.

I've just remembered I have a Joseph Rodgers Cake Knife somewhere. Post WW2, so nothing fancy, of the trowel type, but slimmer than the other two I have, with a rounded end.