Photos Fishtail folder ?

[kwackster]

Just bought this older fishtail manual folding knife, and i would like to know the manufacturer and the time frame.
It says Superior Cutlery on the blade, and the knife indeed looks to be a quality item.
Pics are made by the seller.

 

[screened porch]

That's a beautifully and strongly made knife.
Sorry we can't help with Superior Cutlery or Rodson(?). Neither is in my Levine 2cd ed.

Is the slab over the pivot some sort of lock?

 

[danno50]

Superior Cutlery is not listed in Goins, but, it is listed in the list of knife brands in Levine's fourth edition. There is very little information, says it was made in Germany or Austria for a "generic importer". No other info given.

 

[draggat]

Is the slab over the pivot some sort of lock?

It looks very similar to some Italian stilettos that use a bolster lever release like this one. You can see the pin on the top of the blade cut out. Although the hole in the lock doesn't go all the way through, it probably has a notch on the inside.



Since it appears that the bolsters are fixed, it may just be like the following knife, on which the back spring can be fairly easily lifted with a thumb and finger to release the lock.



That's my wild guess at least

Cool knife, wish it was mine!

 

[knarfeng]

That's a beautifully and strongly made knife.
Sorry we can't help with Superior Cutlery or Rodson(?). Neither is in my Levine 2cd ed.

Is the slab over the pivot some sort of lock?

I had one similar to that as a youngster (ca. 1960's). The slab is a form of lock. There should be a pin under it. You lift the slab to close the blade. Have no memory of where or exactly when I got it. But I remember having one.

 

[screened porch]

it may just be like the following knife,

The slab is a form of lock. There should be a pin under it. You lift the slab to close the blade.

Thanks, guys.
It reminded me of my Klaas stiletto

 

[kwackster]

The plan is to make the knife useful again (all parts were loose & rattling), so in the last few days i have disassembled & cleaned it for the most part, and only one brass pin is currently holding the scales & backspring together.
Both the pivot pin and the tail pin were only 2.0 mm thin and quite corroded, so i drilled out & countersunk the holes to accept new 3.0 mm mild steel pins (new old stock ones originally for a Buck 560 model)





The 2.1 mm hole in the blade was drilled out to 4.75 mm using a few tile drills & a diamond drill bit to accomodate a pivot bushing i made from a hardened stainless Leatherman Charge multitool pivot.
Also sanded the blade a bit on 1000 grit SiC paper used with WD40 oil on glass and chamfered the hole.
Maximum blade thickness is 4.66 mm btw.



Two more pics:

 

[kwackster]

A knowledgeable member of a German knife forum just posted this info:

'Superior Cutlery' was registered as brandname by Hugo Eickenberg Jr. 'Export-Stahlwaren-Fabrik' in 1912.
Illustrated is a packing lable for a carton box of pocket knives.



Using this info i also found that Okapi was one of their brands.

 

[Will Power]

Really gratifying to see an old and interesting knife being refitted and put back into use. Excellent project and information.

Thanks, Will