"Made in Sheffield" 1830-1930, A golden age ?

[black mamba]

Maybe to have room for the stamp. The little blade is too thin otherwise.

 

[DennisStrickland]

you captured the black polish on that ibberson pretty well . thanks.

 

[wellington]

That's a very delicate fine quill knife Joe :thumbup:.

Thanks for the comment on the Ibberson Dennis, many of the later fine pocket knives seem to have crocus polish on the mark side of the blades only, glazed on the other.

Here's a very fine quality ASPREY & SONS( NEW BOND ST rev ) gents utility knife, C1880s-90s ?, measures 5 1/8" closed, the locking spearpoint masterblade measures 4 1/8", corkscrew, gator hook and penblade, inserts under the ivory scales.

London retailed, almost certainly Sheffield made, this knife has seen a little use, but is in really first class condition.

Thanks for looking..Mick

 

[ken erickson]

Love the "coined" or "milled liners on the gent's knife! Does any one know what process was used by the Sheffield cutlers achieve this?

Mick,

Thanks again for sharing these knives!

 

[wellington]

Love the "coined" or "milled liners on the gent's knife! Does any one know what process was used by the Sheffield cutlers achieve this?

Hi Ken,

I'm no expert, but I believe milled liners are a sign of quality. Milling the liners involves considerably more work for the cutler, the semi finished knife has to be dismantled, then the milling around the liners edges done by hand using a small milling wheel. The knife is then finally assembled.

If you have a look through this British Blades thread you will see several milling tools on the bottom picture, first page.

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?90966-the-traditional-tools-used-for-knife-handles

Mick

 

[Yaro5]

Great knife Mick,
It has some really nice refinements and I love the understated quality.

Joe

 

[ken erickson]

Mick,

Thanks for the link! An ahhaaa moment! :thumbup:

Ken

 

[zerogee]

Although this same sort of edge milling was seen on some fine antique American knives, they also used a different sort of milling that was more manufacturing friendly (don't think I've seen this on a Sheffield knife). If you see one with fine zigzag liner milling patterns (normally only seen on the liners on the back of the knife), this was apparently done by running the edge of the liners thru a pair of "gears" (I would expect a simple hand cranked device) to impress the pattern into the sides. If you take one of these knives apart, you'll see that the impressions extend about 1/8" deep or so from the edge of the liners -- this meant that they could then assemble and finish the knife more or less normally without worrying about grinding off the decoration.

-- Dwight

 

[rprocter]

This thread has stimulated me to seek out Sheffield knives from the glory years.
here are my first 2. both Rodgers/Cutlers/To Her/Majesty; 3 1/8" Quill and 3 1/8" Button Hook.

roland

 

[smiling-knife]

That's beautiful mop on your knives Roland. Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

[wellington]

Hi Roland,

I particularly like that exquisite Rodgers carved pearl quill knife :thumbup:.

The knife and button hook are the sort of thing that Rodgers included in thier sewing sets.

Thanks for showing.

Mick

 

[Mike Robuck]

Here’s an old warhorse and it’s my first Sheffield knife. This Virginian jack knife is 4 3/4s closed with the IXL “Celebrated” stamp that Levine’s guide says is circa 1860s-1890s.

Rat-tail bolsters with the pins inside of the rat-tails, very strong spring on the main blade and some hairline cracks at the outside pins but otherwise in pretty good shape. The blades are flush in all three positions and it has an extended back spring on the pen blade side of the trough.

Previous owner's pics before today's lemon oil bath:

 

[Tony Bose]

I saw that knife in Louisville, great old knife.

 

[wagglebee]

Mike that is spectacular!

 

[knowtracks]

Mike that is spectacular!

:thumbup: :thumbup:

 

[JB in SC]

Great knife Mike, do you think the pen blade is full?

 

[zerogee]

Great knife Mike, do you think the pen blade is full?

From the choil and tang shape, I'd say yes it's either full or very close to it. They often put a *true* quill pen blade in the really old jacks - also seen a lot in really old congress patterns.

Sweet jack to begin your Sheffield collecting with, Mike! Beauty stag too!

-- Dwight

 

[Mike Robuck]

Thanks everyone.

The guy who sold it to me said pretty much the same thing as Dwight in regards to the pen blade, which was the pen blades were smaller on earlier jacks. The pen blade looks like it hasn't been used very much with a few scratches on one side.

 

[duckman1]

Thats a great looking knife Mike.

 

[JB in SC]

Thanks everyone.

The guy who sold it to me said pretty much the same thing as Dwight in regards to the pen blade, which was the pen blades were smaller on earlier jacks. The pen blade looks like it hasn't been used very much with a few scratches on one side.

Great information, I'm not very knowledgeable on these fine old knives.