Excelsior!

My apology Mr. Galvanic. I trust you can understand how a 130 yr old knife without even a few 'spiders' on the non stainless blades can lead to some doubts.
kj
 
Yep I know and no harm done at all. Matter of fact that is why when the knife appeared on ebay those many years ago people shied away from it and how I was able to snag it.
 
Mr. fs, what do you base this statement on ? I.E. why could such a knife not be a repro ? What am i as a novice collector failing to see here ?
kj
 
kootenay joe said:
Mr. fs, what do you base this statement on ? I.E. why could such a knife not be a repro ? What am i as a novice collector failing to see here ?
kj
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KJ, The first thing I look at when I suspect a repro, is the swedges. This knife has beautiful hand ground swedges that never appear on modern repros with stamped out blades. This old knife was made in the early 1880s. The blades were ground by skilled cutlers on wheels driven by the river. Swedges are the grind lines on the spines of the blades that enable the blades to fit into the handle when closed....BTW don't ever hesitate to ask questions, folks here are always happy to welcome a novice collector. So don't be shy. Thanks, Barry
 
kootenay joe said:
My apology Mr. Galvanic. I trust you can understand how a 130 yr old knife without even a few 'spiders' on the non stainless blades can lead to some doubts.
kj
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Hi there Joe, welcome. You'll get to see a great many mint and flawless untouched oldies on here. It's a wonderful place to see and read about great old knives.

Best regards

Robin
 
Barry, thanks for such a helpful reply. Building fake knives is not just a recent occupation but i believe has been going on for 50 or more years (50 only takes us back to 1960's). The ones i have seen look as well built or even better than the originals.
So i take it from what you have said that grinding a swedge on a blade spine is difficult to do such that these accomplished fakers have failed to master it ?
Certainly the long swedges on my small vintage Sheffield 4 blade Senators are remarkable: like how did the cutler hold such a tiny delicate blade without his thumb or fingers getting in the way of the belt grinder ?
kj
 
That Excelsior is a joy to behold! Thanks for sharing photos. The jigging on the handles is something else. From the random nature of the patter, I assume this was hand jigged? I love the contrast between the mark and pile side, and the swedges, and the fitting, and...just...everything about this knife. :D
 
That's really cool. It's in amazing condition for a knife 50 years old never mind how old it actually is :)
 
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