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

Bruce, your pistol knives may well be the finest ever made. I think it is now time you recreate some of the "Golden Era" Sheffield folders. Mick has shown many outstanding examples to choose from and i know you can match these if you feel called to.
roland
 
Thanks for posting the picture of the Port Royal..Bruce, quite astonished :eek:. Nice to see old and new more or less side by side..

Delighted you've enjoyed the thread Ken, so have I. I too would like to thank all who have posted comments and pictures along the way, very much appreciated

Mick
 
Okay guys, I have gone through this entire thread and I have a set of knives I was wondering about. You all may laugh at me but thats okay.

I can't tell if this is something from an infomercial in the 70's or actually a vintage knife set. The box looks old, but the paper, knives and foil price tag don't.

SU1HLTIwMTIwMjIzLTAwODQzLmpwZw.jpg


Does anyone know when these are from? If they are way off from this thread please let me know and I will take them out so they don't trash up the thread.

Thanks.
 
Well, they are stainless so that means no earlier than 1920 and more likely much more recent than that. Hopefully someone will be able to give an actual date range.
roland
 
richstag said:
Thanks Roland. Sounds like I may be editing this one out then.
Click to expand...

Kevin, your knife set does look fairly modern, perhaps made in the 1960s-70s ?. Just looked in Tweedale's Directory, 'E Parker and Sons' is not listed..I have a few 50-60s Ironmonger directorys somewhere but can't find them ?..sorry I can't be of more help. Please no need to edit anything out.

Mick
 
Thanks Mick. It was my grandfather's set. I just wanted to find out the era. I appreciatte it :)
 
Although this knife is really no match for most of the beauties posted in this thread I think it is old enough to meet the age criteria.
HUMPHREY GRAHAM & CO. SHEFFIELD Sleeveboard LOBSTER ca. 1900
The knife measures 3". The pearl scales are beautiful. Shield and pins are nickel silver with milled brass liners. Check out the stove pipe kick on the blades! Charles

View attachment 260876View attachment 260877
 
^^ That's a nice tidy multi bladed knife there Charles..typical of the sort of stuff being produced in the first part of the 20th century. A great many of these finer knives with flush jointed small blades seem to have square kicks (apparently square kicks were often used as they were easier for the cutler to get at and adjust prior to setting up the knife).

Can't find any mention of the maker in my ref ?..wonder if there's a connection with WR Humphreys & Co (Humphreys had a nephew called Graham who became the MD) ?.

Thanks for showing...

Mick
 
I didn't find a specific reference for the stamp either, but my sources indicated that Graham (his nephew) joined the firm and became managing director until 1 year before his death, so I assumed the connection.

I've heard these kicks described as stove pipe, are they more commonly known a square kicks? Charles
 
chuko said:
I didn't find a specific reference for the stamp either, but my sources indicated that Graham (his nephew) joined the firm and became managing director until 1 year before his death, so I assumed the connection.

I've heard these kicks described as stove pipe, are they more commonly known a square kicks? Charles
Click to expand...

Not sure Charles, I would call them square..but I could be wrong..?

Mick
 
Oh Lordy!!....just what I have been doing in the last few days baffles me...HOW DID I MISS THOSE PISTOL KNIVES!!!!
Mick and Bruce, thank you so very much for giving us these wonderful pieces to look at, absolutely fantastic!
 
I missed them too. Wow! :eek::eek::eek:

This is one of my favorite threads. Thank you to all those that contributed photos. :thumbup:

wellington said:
Here's a very decent recent find, a later (1850s) percussion pistol/knife made by Unwin & Rodgers (tang stamp 'JAMES RODGERS & Co, SHEFFIELD). The horn scales are in perfect nick, as is the folding trigger/hammer mechanism..the single folding blade is 'mint' unused with 'Self Protector' etch...the handle butt has a brass hinged plate, inside the butt are balls, caps and a spiky thing ?. The bullet mould insert is missing unfortunately..

Later, 1860s onwards, U & R pistol/knives were rimfire.

003-23-1.jpg


002-26-1.jpg


005-22-1.jpg


004-26.jpg


Mick
Click to expand...

Bruce Bump said:
Pistol/knife combinations always get me attention. I've gotten to play with several of the Unwin and Rodgers models at the Oregon Show. My first cut n shoot was based on this gunknife. They were very useful apparently based on the ones I saw with allot of wear and tear. I'd love to see one that was still pristine condition.
I'm still making guns and knife combinations and just won "Best of Show" in Little Rock Arkansas with the Port Royal. brag brag
DSC_0026.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Thank you, Charles. Those are wire cutters. It's a private purchase military knife. The WWII era SOE/OSS "escape knife" was based on the pattern.
 
Jake, so yours is earlier than the "Escape Knife" ? What's the purpose of the double bail (bail attached to a bail) ?
roland
 
Hi Roland. The knife predates the "escape knife". The design was registered in 1900 (RD 354051). According to BRL this particular knife was made after 1910 (it is marked G(crown)R) on the blade. Here's a photo of the wire cutter handle secured by bail #1.

joseph_rogers-2.jpg


On some of the knives, the latch and bail were both attached to the same pivot. Here's an example shown in a scan of a 1912 catalog that BRL shared with me.

rodgers-1912-military02.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top