Imperials and Colonials are they the poormans' collectable?

Here's another nice Colonial Forest Master complete with ballchain Magnifyin' Glass and Compass, ya rarely find these whole in one piece.

I found this knife in a box at a fleamarket it's a Colonial Forest Ranger with a Compass/magnifying glass chain fob.

The scales are hard black plastic the blades are stainless, the stamping is

COLONIAL
PROV.USA

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Nice thread Ted, and some fine-looking knives pictured :thumbup:
 
Some nice pics guys, they really knew how dye and jig bone back in the day, keep the pics commin' ...
 
Campbellclanman said:
Christian my friend, those two knives look absolutely outstanding, what such beautiful knives those two are. I am lucky enough to own a few DE Imperials, and I think...in fact know that the knives are built just as good if not better than today's knives, I have always loved that shot of yours.
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Thanks Duncan. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that they're built as well as today's knives. Mine is roughly finished and doesn't compare to my GEC and Queens. But the basic quality is there and as lambertiana pointed out, they're pure cutting machines.

- Christian
 
Union Electrician in NYC in the early 70s
The only knife that was sold in the Supply Houses was a Colonial electrician's knife
And it was the only knife we were 'allowed' to hang on our tool pouch.

I once tried to carry a Stanley Utility knife
My boss asked if I thought I was an effing carpenter
 
Here are most of my Imperials. Kamp Kings and Barlows in the right column. I had to paint one side of the lower right one because one side was shiny and one black. Upper left are some solid handle-cover campers. A boys' knife on top. In there also is a 2-blade easy-opener with solid covers and a 2-blade fish knife.
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Colonials: anvil stockman and money-clip knives on left, mountain guide pseudo -sak, a lobster with the patent number for putting patterned material over a sheet-metal handle cover (no brand name), a couple of fish knives (one with my own mahogany). And a really nice barehead jack with solid covers.
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JK Knives, what is this knife you have here? I have what I'm going to call a "cheap" version of it. I am trying to find out some info on it. Mine has solid plastic handles.

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Christmas additions to my scout and Imperial and Colonial collections {along with a couple others}
Imperial Matterhorn (very like my Colonial Mountain Guide), Hammer Brand Imperial pretty blue scout (sorry about the label residue; it looks better now without), {off-topic cylindrical advertising knife for a Chicago insurance entity}, Colonial scout knife with pen blade instead of awl, {off-topic Crucible cutlery jack}
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I love that "Flint and Steel" knife Ted!

I still have my original Imperial shell handled Barlow I got when I was 8 years old, found it at the bottom of my tool box awhile back. I cleaned up the rust a bit and put an edge on it. I've been tempted to do what Doug did with his since one of the scales has a kink in it.
 
One of the things I've been trying to sort out is the huge variation in assembly methods and quality of workmanship in Imperial knives. This seems to be impacted by the location of manufacture also. I have some that are pretty well put together (not first class, but not bad) and some that are absoulute rubbish.

This little Colonial is built to last. And with three springs it wasn't the easiest design to put together right.
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This Imperial Matterhorn is built to SAK quality.
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Even this shell scaled Imperial (maroon plastic) is a reasonably well built knife.
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But I picked up a "junk" box at a local estate sale this past week with one of the worst knives I've ever seen in it; a shell assembled Colonial sheath knife. The grip had more exposed sharp edges than the blade and the whole thing was flimsy to an extreme. Just awful.
 
Imperial Jack
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Imperial TL-29
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And I guess this is in the same range as Imperial/Colonial. A Kutmaster Hawkbill
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$3 per knife- I guess they're a poor man's collectible: a couple of jacks and a Kamp King.
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The spear jack is the second I've seen that is silver on one side and black on the other- or at least the second one I've bought. The other was a Kamp King. Anybody know if they did this on purpose to showcase their versatility or if it's just a screw-up?
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I think the Imperials and Colonials are excellent collectibles, and both companies made high quality knives with nice handles as well as the economy lines. Especially when you get into the older ones. Look for ones with IKCO stamps. Older more high quality Imperials.
 
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