Hammer Brand by Taylor

[cutter17]

I picked up a couple of Hammer Brand slipjoints today. The patterns are; a Swell Center Jack, and a Wildcat Driller whittler. There are a total of 5 blades between both knives, and all 5 blades were newsprint slicing sharp. They both had very good fit/finish, walk and talk, and no wiggle blades. The handle material for both was brown bone with a wormgroove pattern on the Wildcat, and a jigged bone pattern on the Swell Center Jack. The blades were a little sticky to open, but after I put some oil on the pivots, and let it soak in, the action became pretty smooth.

These knives are made by Taylor, and made in China. While that is one strike against these knives, being made by Taylor, not being made in China, they appear to be well done. They stack up well with the three Steel Warriors I've posted about on this forum.

Now don't think I am one that will only buy these inexpensive knives, just that I had been reading some good things about the China made knives, and wanted to try them out. All 5 of the knives I purchased, 3 SW's, and 2 HB's, cost me a total of $64.00. So when you measure the cost against the product you receive, you just have to figure the consumer is coming out on the winning end.

Also saw some very nice Case knives and will be going back for a couple of those. One is a big Sunfish pattern, and the other is a large Swell Center with two blades opening from the same end, a saddlehorn looking blade and I believe a clip point blade. I handled this knife and all id did was holler QUALITY to me!!:thumbup:

Some pics of the Hammer Brand's;

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

 

[Noddy]

Looks like someone grabbed the idea of a an Eye and a F&W Schatt and popped them in a blender - the result being a bland and characterless quantity of something like knife dough

 

[cutter17]

Meant to mention that. The Wildcat Driller looks exactly like the S&M File & Wire one. I knew there was something familiar about it, just couldn't put my finger on it.

 

[DennisStrickland]

i do'nt usually purchase chinese knives but i have to say the knives are eye catchers & the general quality is really decent.
dennis

 

[Will Power]

What size is that Swell Centre please? One spring or two?

 

[brownshoe]

Nice knives, but it's just a shame to see such a great mark (my family worked for the company) resurrected like a zombie. To me this is not about country of origin, but more that I believe that dead marks should stay dead. The same type of travesty as the mark of Scagel being used on production knives.

 

[KnifeHead]

Nice knives, but it's just a shame to see such a great mark (my family worked for the company) resurrected like a zombie. To me this is not about country of origin, but more that I believe that dead marks should stay dead. The same type of travesty as the mark of Scagel being used on production knives.

I agree. Dead marks should stay dead, or at the very least, modified so that confusion is minimized.

 

[Blues]

I agree. Dead marks should stay dead, or at the very least, modified so that confusion is minimized.

I agree. How about Hammered Brand? (Name seems apropos on a variety of levels.)

(Imagine my dismay when I saw my former employer, Abercrombie & Fitch, resurrected into the abortion totally unrelated mess it has become today. Though I must admit the female models are more fetching than those from the 70's. Come to think of it, there were no females in any ads that I can recall. )

 

[thawk]

I agree. How about Hammered Brand? (Name seems apropos on a variety of levels.)

Very good Elliot. I say here here on keeping dead marks dead, but none of us are in marketing I guess.

 

[KnifeHead]

I agree. How about Hammered Brand? (Name seems apropos on a variety of levels.)

(Imagine my dismay when I saw my former employer, Abercrombie & Fitch, resurrected into the abortion totally unrelated mess it has become today. Though I must admit the female models are more fetching than those from the 70's. Come to think of it, there were no females in any ads that I can recall. )

NICE! So true.

Seriously though, possibly the current knives using the HB mark are not so bad but my problem with it has nothing to do with the quality of their product. It's about the original intent of the mark being used and what that represented. Companies using an old mark are just trying to pull a fast one, IMHO. They trivialize the old mark...it's sad if you think about it.

 

[Blues]

Very good Elliot. I say here here on keeping dead marks dead, but none of us are in marketing I guess.

Thanks Hal, and (unfortunately) you're quite right.

I guess they ain't your father's Oldsmobile.

(And so it goes...:grumpy

NICE! So true.

Seriously though, possibly the current knives using the HB mark are not so bad but my problem with it has nothing to do with the quality of their product. It's about the original intent of the mark being used and what that represented. Companies using an old mark are just trying to pull a fast one, IMHO. They trivialize the old mark...it's sad if you think about it.

Couldn't agree more! :thumbup:

 

[shecky]

I don't really buy into the "dead brands should stay dead" argument. I dislike the whole knives-as-nostalgia mindset. Good craftsmanship and design are what's important to me. I mean, how far do you even take that? Most mature knife companies are not the same as they were fifty years ago, even ones that have never changed ownership, or even location.

I do kind of like that Hammer brand has picked up the cotton sampler pattern.

 

[KnifeHead]

I don't really buy into the "dead brands should stay dead" argument. I dislike the whole knives-as-nostalgia mindset. Good craftsmanship and design are what's important to me. I mean, how far do you even take that? Most mature knife companies are not the same as they were fifty years ago, even ones that have never changed ownership, or even location.

I do kind of like that Hammer brand has picked up the cotton sampler pattern.

Well then, their marketing campaign has successfully snagged another happy customer. Good for them and you. :yawn:

 

[Will Power]

Well, I suppose Tidioute and Northfield are 'revived' (recycled) brand names too....Don't actually hear complaints about that

 

[Blues]

Well, I suppose Tidioute and Northfield are 'revived' (recycled) brand names too....Don't actually hear complaints about that

You're right about not hearing complaints, generally speaking, but I for one have never been enamored with the use of those marks and wish that GEC had just used brand names of their own.
(Much like Greg, myself and many others frown upon the "Cripple Creek" brand being used without the connection to Bob Cargill.)

Then again, if it's legal, it's legal, and we can only vote with our wallets.

 

[KnifeHead]

Well, I suppose Tidioute and Northfield are 'revived' (recycled) brand names too....Don't actually hear complaints about that

You're right about not hearing complaints, generally speaking, but I for one have never been enamored with the use of those marks and wish that GEC had just used brand names of their own.
(Much like Greg, myself and many others frown upon the "Cripple Creek" brand being used without the connection to Bob Cargill.)

Then again, if it's legal, it's legal, and we can only vote with our wallets.

Ditto again also too.

 

[tomcrx]

I guess they ain't your father's Oldsmobile.

True and it brings up a lot of points. Case has been through multiple owners..is it really W.R. Case or should they call themselves Zippo? They have brought back old brands like Kinfolks, Crandall, Standard etc..should they?

Other companies have contracted for Case is it a Case?

Should Queen be reviving it's competitors name in Schatt and Morgan?

Even older knife companies themselves, especially hardware brands, were contracted knives in the first place etc. When they changed contractors should they have changed their name?

I personally think once a trademark goes fallow it should stay there but the industry says different.

 

[Blues]

True and it brings up a lot of points. Case has been through multiple owners..is it really W.R. Case or should they call themselves Zippo? They have brought back old brands like Kinfolks, Crandall, Standard etc..should they?...(snip)

I was thinking about just this earlier and the main justification (as I see it) with Case is that up until fairly recently there has been a direct family connection throughout the various permutations. Also, a lot of the same equipment, furnaces and heat treating formulas are still employed.

That said, your points are valid and an argument can be made (with plenty of supporting evidence) on either side of the divide. (Probably why I limit my own purchases with Case to the knives branded with the Case mark as opposed to the various others they employ.)

 

[zerogee]

I don't really mind (too much) GEC using the Tidioute and Northfield trademarks -- they're trying to live up to the quality and craftsmanship these names originally stood for. Unfortunately, Hammer Brand was almost immediately diluted after New York Knife Co folded -- slapped on untold numbers of cheap shell handled knives (meaning just a shell of tin - with a bit of plastic veneer - crimped to the liners instead of actual scales and bolsters). It's not nostalgia that makes me hate to see most brand recycling -- it's that far too often it's the equivalent of Ferrari or Bugatti folding, and in a few years seeing their brand names slapped on a line of resurrected Yugos.

 

[Nixelplix]

While its too bad the names and marks are being used, they are making some neat knives. I've been looking at their elephant toe (a pattern that I don't have from any company yet):

And I've been looking at their "large riverboat lockback," Just because it looks like it would be fun to have around the house: