Harness Jacks- any collectors?

is that the one that Billy has listed as a Farmer's jack?

It's gorgeous.
 
Just tried to get a slightly better pic of my Harness Jack. ;)

http://www.messerforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=20177
http://www.messerforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=20176
http://www.messerforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=20175

As mentioned already, carbonsteel blade and definitely made by Robert Klaas (Kissing Cranes) Solingen by order of another, not named company. But no mark on blades. They were produced in the 1950`s!
Got this informations by Robert Klaas Company today! :thumbup: :D

Ordered a couple of them and will receive them by end of next week.
Of course I`ll offer some of them for sale here on this forums!:D
 
I thought I'd add some Harness Jack pictures to this thread because all others have disappeared (hopefully temporarily). If anyone has some with unusual tang stamps, I'd love to see them. A rare pattern that was once a big part of U.S. history!
These two came to me in response to an ad in Knife World that I've been running for some time.
Advertisingpays.jpg
 
Was that HSB made by NYKC? It has the Harrison punch, but the bone jigging doesn't really look like what I usually see from NYKC.
 
I'm pretty sure it was made by NYKC. I have at least one more contract brand with that jigging from NYKC. I'll see if I can find it, and post a pic. Now that I've figured out the #@*%ing process of hosting and posting!!
 
I thought I'd bring this old thread up again, and see who missed it during the big Blackout! Here is a pic of a rare one, and I wonder if anyone has seen this tang stamp before. Bernie Levine added this brand to his list in Levine's Guide IV when he got his hands on this knife, and I feel very lucky to now own it.
HUDSONSBAYHJCOMPOSITE.jpg

Pleas post pics of Harness Jacks if you've got 'em!
 
Hey! If it's Hudson's Bay, shouldn't it be a trapper?:D

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Seriously, that is pretty cool. Obiviously if it was something Levine had to add to his guide it's a new thing for most if not all of us to see. Man if these old knives could talk to us. I'd love to know the travels of one like that.

It reminded me of a Winchester 92 I saw in Alaksa that a couple of the Down Under Guns (Fairbanks) shop faithful traded between them once. Somehow the (most) serious Winchester collector among us, who traded the gun off had managed to track down that this particular 92 came to be in Alaska via the Chilkoot Pass in 1895. The fellow he traded it to put an old Marble's tang sight on it, shimmed it with a shim cut from a file folder, then proceeded to shoot his .32-20 cast loads into an honest 1" and slightly less group at 100 yards. The gun and the guy were both amazing pieces of history. Just for the record, he wasn't quite as old as the gun though. I don't think.

Thanks for showing that very unique knife. Do you have any history on it?
 
No one has shed any light on it except Mr. Levine. He wrote an article in Knife World some years back about the history of the Hudson's Bay Company, and speculated the knife was made circa 1915. I heard the official HBC museum offered to buy it (lucky for me they didn't). Bernie sold it to a guy in the Chicago area 7-8 years ago, and this guy in turn answered my ad in KW, and sold it to me about 2 years ago.
A very recent history; sure wish I knew more.
 
Hey Anthony, nice looking knife. So you do have a Harness Jack after all! Send me pics front and back, make sure the punch shape is well shown, and I'll write you back here at BF with everything I know. I have a good file on punch patents etc. charlie.campagna@telus.net
 
waynorth said:
.. So you do have a Harness Jack after all!..
Click to expand...


How did I miss this thread before this??. Is my oldtimers kicking in already.:rolleyes:

Yes, I may have one more as well some where amongst my several boxes of older knives. I must upgrade my knife classification system by pattern instead of by age / condition asap.

Charlie,
Anyway, I have emailed you with the pictures showing alot more detail, and as stated in the email the punch blade shows the US patent number stamped on the obverse side.. Thanks for all your help on this, I really do appreciate all your very kind efforts!.. I will look for the other HJ as soon as I return home from the Blade Show next week.

Anthony
 
Anthony, your Harness Jack came from an interesting company. Most of my info comes from books by Bernie Levine, John and Charlotte Goins, and Phil Pankiewicz.
George and William Miller decided to manufacture cutlery at the end of the Civil War. As gunsmiths, they were well trained in using tool steel. They opened a cutlery in 1863, and grew and moved twice, in 1870, and in 1872, winding up in Meriden CT. Like many early knifemakers their business ran into trouble and was reorganized in 1878. Under better business management it flourished until 1926 as a cutlery.
Noted for good quality, they made knives that often used screws to anchor the handle material, which allowed it to be easily changed if broken in manufacturing, or in use.
The punch on your knife was invented by Seymour Alvord, the second generation Alvord to run Empire Knife Co.
S. Alvord received a patent for the punch in 1906, and it was used in many other brands contracted by Empire. Its widespread use was probably because it was very effective, and relatively staightforward to manufacture. I don't know if Miller Bros. made them under license, or bought them already ground from Empire, to use in their knives.. Someday I will get a few punches out of knives and see if the way the tangs are made sheds some light on that. If anyone who collects documents knows anything, please let me know.
A cluster of punch patents were issued from 1902 to 1918, 9 different ones that I know of. This reflects the importance of horses in society during that time period, and hence the demand for punches to care for the various types of Harness used.
Hope this info is interesting for all. In the era of the Harness Jack, I imagine that everyone who had or worked with a horse carried some kind of harness knife. A simple jack was the least expensive one that would get the job done. A rich man would of course own a full-on horseman's knife with all the tools including a corkscrew!! I like the humble ones myself.
Respectfully submitted,
Charlie C.
 
Very interesting indeed. With the harness jack's historical significance I can see why the pattern is being seen and talked about more now.

Great reading all around.
 
You have me wanting one since I want an animal powered farm. :)

What is the purpose of the punch/awl?

Thanks.
 
Terry Newton said:
What is the purpose of the punch/awl?
Click to expand...
Well, for punching holes in leather, mostly, such as in leather harnesses used with draft animals, hence the name.
 
Leather harness often needs repair or adjustment. To work effectively with leather you need to cut it, and to pierce it for fastening with laces, thread, string, even a nut and a bolt.
I've made shoulder bags, and belt pouches with a knife blade and a punch only, even some pretty fancy stuff.
If you are away from your shop or barn when you break something, you pretty much have all you need in your pocket if you've got an HJ!
The spiritual predecessor to the SAK IMHO!
 
I forgot to mention, you can clean your pipe, detail carve softwood, pierce your cigar, and probably all kinds of more abusive things, with a folding punch. I used one to put some nostrils in a dragon's head cane I was carving!
 
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