r8shell
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2010
- Messages
- 25,584
As most of you know, one of my favorite parts of this hobby is finding an old knife by an obscure maker, and trying to find any information I can about it. In this vein, I'm excited to share what I've discovered through exhaustive research about my latest find.
Founded in the mid 19th century, by master cutler Derrick Streich, Der Schabernack Knafwerks was a small, but innovative, manufacturer of cutlery. Mostly razors and pocketknives, but at times made specialty tools for clockmakers. Streich's knives featured design concepts far ahead of his time, and while underappreciated then and almost unknown today, these knives are fascinating pieces of cutlery history.
One of the more unusual features, which I'm very excited to have an example of, is the "slotted liner". This concept sought to solve the problem of secondary pen blades that have a tendency to sit too low in the blade well for easy access to the nail nick. While many cutlers will put a small 'nail relief' in the frame to allow the user to reach the nick, Streich felt that this hurt the aesthetics of the knife. Instead, the pen blade was krinked, and a slit was cut in the liner, securely holding the blade higher in the well.
I mentioned that Schabernack was a manufacturer of watchmaking tools, as well as knives. I believe that this unusually shaped blade may have been designed to function as a cookoo clock count wheel adjustment tool.
A common feature of modern blades today is "jimping" for a slip-free grip. While some European knives had decorative filework on backsprings and blades, Schabernack was the first company to feature textured blade spines. I don't have definitive information on the methods used, whether chemical or mechanical, but you can see the highly textured surface in the steel. In typical attention to detail, this treatment was also given to the inside of the long pull of the main blade/tool.
Unfortunately, Schabernack's years of production were short lived, as few knife buyers at the time were accepting of such exciting new features.
I hope that, through my thorough research, I've added to the wealth of knowledge about cutlery that is increasingly available on the internet.
Founded in the mid 19th century, by master cutler Derrick Streich, Der Schabernack Knafwerks was a small, but innovative, manufacturer of cutlery. Mostly razors and pocketknives, but at times made specialty tools for clockmakers. Streich's knives featured design concepts far ahead of his time, and while underappreciated then and almost unknown today, these knives are fascinating pieces of cutlery history.
One of the more unusual features, which I'm very excited to have an example of, is the "slotted liner". This concept sought to solve the problem of secondary pen blades that have a tendency to sit too low in the blade well for easy access to the nail nick. While many cutlers will put a small 'nail relief' in the frame to allow the user to reach the nick, Streich felt that this hurt the aesthetics of the knife. Instead, the pen blade was krinked, and a slit was cut in the liner, securely holding the blade higher in the well.
I mentioned that Schabernack was a manufacturer of watchmaking tools, as well as knives. I believe that this unusually shaped blade may have been designed to function as a cookoo clock count wheel adjustment tool.
A common feature of modern blades today is "jimping" for a slip-free grip. While some European knives had decorative filework on backsprings and blades, Schabernack was the first company to feature textured blade spines. I don't have definitive information on the methods used, whether chemical or mechanical, but you can see the highly textured surface in the steel. In typical attention to detail, this treatment was also given to the inside of the long pull of the main blade/tool.
Unfortunately, Schabernack's years of production were short lived, as few knife buyers at the time were accepting of such exciting new features.
I hope that, through my thorough research, I've added to the wealth of knowledge about cutlery that is increasingly available on the internet.
The tang stamp is probably my favorite fact; perfect!
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