Is "Scales" a Misnomer?

Jack Black said:
I have images of 12 pages. The scales mentioned are Nylonite, silver, nickel silver, German silver, ivory, sterling silver, aluminium, steel, and Platinoid. The terms 'handle' and 'handles' are also used, but primarily 'scales' :thumbsup: I'll have a look through some of my other reference material, see what I can turn up :thumbsup:
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Interesting. I hadn't seen scales used that way on pocket knives in old writing except when the were all metal. I wonder if there are also examples in old American writing.
 
The Bombay Armoury 1932 catalogue uses 'handles'.
 
supratentorial said:
Interesting. I hadn't seen scales used that way on pocket knives in old writing except when the were all metal. I wonder if there are also examples in American writing that I haven't seen yet.
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It's always worth checking back I think Jake, I'll see what I can find among my stuff :thumbsup:
 
The Buck & Hickman 1935 catalogue also refers to 'handles'.
 
Hibbert, Spencer, & Bartlett 1886 use 'Handle'.
 
Maher & Grosch 1887 catalogue – ‘Handles’.


Malcberry Knives catalogue (late 1970’s) – ‘Scales’.


Our Silent Traveler/Stanley Mills & Co catalogue (1900) – ‘Handle’.


Remington 1924 catalogue – ‘Handle’.


H.P. Lipscomb 1913 catalogue - 'Handle'.


Thomas Turner 1902 catalogue - 'Hafts'.


Wostenholm IXL catalogue (1930’s) – ‘Handle’.


Sears 1913 catalogue – ‘Handle’.


George Worthington 1902 catalogue - 'Handle'.
 
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A detailed article on Sheffield cutlery in The Penny Magazine of 1844 refers to 'inner scales' and 'outer scales'.

“According to the technical phraseology applied, all handles are called hafts in which a tang of the knife passes through a hole in the handle and is there fixed; while the handle which is formed of two flat pieces riveted to a central plate, as in penknives, are called scales. A ‘haft and scale maker’, therefore (one of the trades of Sheffield), is in fact a handle-maker.”
A Day at The Sheffield Cutlery Works , The Penny Magazine, 1844.
 
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One book that has often been referenced is the Cutlery Story published by the Associated cutlery industries of America in 1950 (list of companies in the second photo). AG Russell's encyclopedia uses this book as one of its main sources.

In the diagram, it uses "handle" but in the text it says "besides having outside covers, or handle, attached". The diagram uses the words "scale" or "lining" for the metal parts.

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I rather like the use of "coverings" here :)

 
Sounds good to me.

Here's a 1939 Remington catalog

"The last figure of the number designates the handle cover used"

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AFAustin said:
From A.G. Russell's "Knife Encyclopedia" https://agrussell.com/encyclopedia

Scale
To knife people the word scale refers to the handle parts on each side of a full tang hunting knife or the parts on the sides of a pocket knife or folder.
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AG Russell's encyclopedia has changed a lot since I last looked at it. Previously, he used Cutlery Story as the main source... IIRC, he said he got his copy from Wally Garnier at Schrade. The new diagrams and definitions appear to be original now.
 
supratentorial said:
One book that has often been referenced is the Cutlery Story published by the Associated cutlery industries of America in 1950 (list of companies in the second photo). AG Russell's encyclopedia uses this book as one of its main sources.

In the diagram, it uses "handle" but in the text it says "besides having outside covers, or handle, attached". The diagram uses the words "scale" or "lining" for the metal parts.

RBwIutI.jpg

be9YTTO.jpg

soiPkAM.jpg

xqeZirV.jpg
Click to expand...

As you know Jake, Levine (Levine's Guide to Knives & Their Values) uses this diagram, but he only ever refers to 'handles' in the text, from what I can see :thumbsup:
 
I don't have time to look through all of my cutlery books, but I'll have a flick through a few of them, see what the learned authors are saying ;)
 
The Standard Knife Collector's Guide Identification & Values by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart has a diagram - 'Exploded View of Pocketknife Parts' - The name it gives to the part under discussion is 'Handle (or scale)'.

The Official Price Guide Collector Knives by C.Houston Price (Tenth Edition) has a similar diagram, but just uses the term 'Handle'.
 
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