I need some insight on the stamp of my recently aquired h6 fixed blade.

Hickory n steel

Hickory n steel

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I recently bought this off a forum member, and the stamp is a little weird.
It's basically the '56-'88 style of stamp, but it has no crown.
The tang stamp was a light strike which could've resulted in no crown, but the the I is defined enough that I think there would be at least a hint of the crown

I'm pretty sure it's got some age to it as its carbon steel , and the sheath was petrified and brittle.
So do you guys think it's just a super soft striking, or possibly a unique stamp ?
( I know that the pics suck , but you get an idea of what I'm talking about, and can see that there's no crown )
 
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I have found that most tang stamp charts are the result of surveying pocket cutlery and not sheath knives. Look at the Imperial catalogs on the collectors-of-schrades-r.us site.
 
Codger_64 said:
I have found that most tang stamp charts are the result of surveying pocket cutlery and not sheath knives. Look at the Imperial catalogs on the collectors-of-schrades-r.us site.
Click to expand...

Would the catalog pages show the tang stamp ?
Because otherwise, the h6 fixed blades remained the same ( except for eventually using stainless Steel ) for as long as they were made and pictures wouldn't tell me squat.
 
It's in all capital letters so it could be pre-56 as well.

Its my understanding that fixed blades don't always match the tang stamp charts you'll find on Imperials but I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night so YMMV.
 
Imperial for years used the Hammerbrand stamp on this pattern. Our catalog selection on the archive site is sparse for Imperial, but look at them in the 50's.
 
Thanks man !
From the catalogs, in 1959 ( the others were hammer brand catalogs ) they were using a simple imperial USA stamp ( no prov RI ) and the date charts show the crown being added in 1946, now this may not be a correct assumption but this may have been made in the 40's as the crown wasn't in use before '46.
The fixed blade stamps were different, but I wouldn't think that they'd stop using the crown although they may have been slow at updating their fixed blades as they made so many more folders.

Lastly, I learned of something that I wish I hadn't.
That imperial big 3 hunting and fishing set is so awesome and now I just have to have one even though I know that I never will.
I already own the h6, and the camp king folders are very common, but the 1lb/14" hatchet is something that I've never even seen before let alone a complete set. They also offered the simple hunting and fishing set which excluded the folder, and had the knife snap to the hatchet sheath ( just like my dads old metal " hatchet shaped knife " and that's basically what it is )
And if I wanted that all I'd need to find is the hatchet, find a similar 1lb hatchet, or just use my Vaughan sub zero. But the hatchet and sheath that you get with the big 3 are much better looking.
 
The double and triple sets are still out there. As are the sets which have the sheath knife and special fishing pliars. You just have to watch and wait for them to become available and be willing to pass on the ones that are overpriced.
 
Codger_64 said:
The double and triple sets are still out there. As are the sets which have the sheath knife and special fishing pliars. You just have to watch and wait for them to become available and be willing to pass on the ones that are overpriced.
Click to expand...

Have you actually seen one of the real hatchets before ?
 
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