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pa knives

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:) The idea is to answer the previous post question and then post a different question yourself. Of course it should be pocket knive related but it can be others if need be. I would like to start this out. ;)

Question? When did knife collecting really become important to you and what particular knife said "Hey I am something that is a thing of beauty and you need to cherish me forever" Basically when and why knife collecting.

Have fun with this and lets see how far it will go. I think it will generate a lot of knife talk, "something I never get enough of"

Remember to leave a question for the next poster. !!!!!!!!1 :)
 
pa knives said:
Question? When did knife collecting really become important to you and what particular knife said "Hey I am something that is a thing of beauty and you need to cherish me forever" Basically when and why knife collecting.
)
Click to expand...

It hit me when I lost "that" knife. My best friend from high school gave me a UH197 our 2nd year of college over Christmas. I simple enough knife that I primarily kept with me because of the friend associated with it, but it always got looks from others anytime I had it out. I lost it about 5 years ago. The day I realized I didn't know where it was and spent hours going through everything and gathering up the ones I've picked up over the years is the day it hit me: I collect knives. None of them are spectacular collectors items, but each one says "pick ME".

I've sold the Rambo knock-off a few years after I bought it, and lost one of the two cheap Made in Spain knives, and maybe one more over the years, but all the rest get pulled out, some get polished (few are "mint") if it seems appropriate.

The why is varied: Some are the people associated with them. Some are just the design. And some are just a little louder saying "PICK ME!"

Question 2: What is the Odd Ball of your collection? What's the one that doesn't seem to fit in, but at the same time you can't bring yourself to trade it off or give it away (etc.)
 
:confused: I am surprised that this post isn't generating more discussion. I would like to see it continue so I will be the next poster. Come on folks, just answer the question and leave one, not that hard and it can be fun to learn about others knive habits. ;)

To answer the previous question, I focus entirely on Pennsylvania related pocket knives. My collection is mostly bone handled and old. I don't mind a used knife. I just look for the PA stamp or some tie to this Commonwealth. Tidioute, Kane, Warren, Allentown, Phila and etc. I take a lot of pride in my collection. But if you look in the cabinet where I store them you will see a Gerber Magnum Hunter fixed blade with a metal handle. This knife feels so good in the hand and the blade is very sharp and balanced. Not exactly a pretty knife but any means but beautiful to me. It dosen't fit in my collection but I won't part with it. I JUST LIKE IT. :D

Now my new questions???

Where was the most unusal place that you found a knife that you bought, traded for, found or were give?
 
For me its was 1973 when my Granfather died and my Grandmother gave me his old 2 blade jack knife right after the funeral. I whittled for three days on my grandmothers porch before loosing it. To say the least I was heart broken. I lost something that was important to me and I really enjoyed using it.

My love of knives began. After that I whittled and pursued every knife I could. The one, aside from trying to find Grandpa's knife (which I never did) that I always wanted. Was one that my dad had bought me before, in 1983. We never really got along well (he abused me), but the one time that we really seemd to get along was when he took me too a flea market and bought me a schrade heritage green bone whittler, splitback, serpentine.

I sold that knife in the early 90's to help pay bills (that my first wife was running up). I thought I would never see another one, but I was able to find one on the net and traded a case stilleto for it. Unfortunately the knife came with a rust spot on the backsprings (that I was not told about until after I had mailed the knife to the person, and they mailed it to me).

-The one I cant get rid of is the schrade heritage whittler repalcement. I cannot stand the factt that is has a blemish from where the rust sopt was on the backsprings. Almost all knives are in mint conditon, and this one with that spot tends to annoy me (some). I looked for it too long to just get rid of it.

How long have you been collecting knives?

For me its been 31 years.
 
How long have you been collecting knives?

I've said it before here, I mostly accumulate, and I've been doing that for about 25+ years.

Now collecting, is new to me, actually I didn't start collecting till I tried to catagorize my accumulations.

4 Trappers, 6 Pens, 3 Stockmans, a few Congress, a Barlow or 2, hey I have the makings of a Traditional folder collection, some celluloid, some pearl, some bone, a stag or 2, even some advertising pieces.

Hell I have collections within collections and I haven't even gotten around to the Spydercos, the SAKs, the Benchmade, or the customs, oh and let's not forget the production miniatures, keychain knives, jewelry knives, neckers, autos, holy crap it never ends, I guess in answer to your original question Rev, I'm still an accumulator, but I think this upcoming year I'm gonna focus more on traditional patterns, specifically Trappers, Stockmans, and Pens.

So my final answer is I start collecting knive 1/1/2005. :D

I was lookinig at my 2 recently acquired Stockmans, a Queen D2 Burnt Stag scaled, and a Buck Swirled Ice Celluloid scaled one.

The Queen has 2 backsprings with 3 blades 2 on one backspring, one blade on the other.

The Buck has 3 backsprings, each blade has it's own spring, they're both as wide as each other but the scales on the Buck are thinner because the three springs take up more room.

My question is("Finally", everyone say's, "we thought you'd never get to the point", which configuration would typically allow the springs to retain thelr strength the longest? Or if you don't want to answer that question try this one.

What is your favorite natural handle material? For me it's Pearl, so silky smooth. :D
 
This is a great idea for a thread.


Interesting first question T.E. I am inclined to say that given 2 well made knives of those configurations that it really should not make too much of a difference. I base that on seeing a lot of old (and I mean real old) split backspring whittlers that have seen a good honest use and still have blades that walk and talk with authority.

My favorite material for a folder is pearl also (with Black Lip at the very top of my favorites). Then stag and bone in that order.

For fixed blades stag or linen micarta for use or stag/fosilized ivory for more artsy stuff. Wood is also a favorite depending upon grain and color for either category.

It has been great to see increased availability of Black Lip slabs over the last year or so. For the previous 2 or three years, about all I could find were pieces for small inlays.

Next Question: Have you been lucky enough to make close friends due to knife collecting as a common interest?
 
Yep, several dealers whom I have seen at multiple shows, then run into on KF and here. :D

Next up: What is the first pocketknife you remember seeing?
 
Being my home town is Warren Pennsylvania, I was exposed to Case knives from a very early age. I would like to say that my dad was a knife nut, but unfortunately he was not. He would sharpen his knife on a grinding wheel, "I can hear the moans already" I wish I had some of those knives as they were from the 60's. The first I remember though was one he had given me for my 12 th birthday. A rite of passage in PA due the age for permission to hunt. We lived in the Alleghany National Forest and hunting was plenlty. This Case Barlow was bone handled and I thought that was really something when I took it to school. You all know what happens now if you do that! It was my favorite for three years, Until the day I found the display at the local sporting good shop of queen knives and then I went crazy. Several hundred knives later I still get that feeling when I hold beautiful knife in my hand. I think that only this bunch of knife nuts could appreciate that feeling.

My question: If you could have any knife you wanted, no matter the price, what would it be? ;)
 
An engraved Price Bradford style dagger from the likes (chose one) of Buster Warensky, Steven Rapp or Ron Newton.

If you have kids, when they are ready for their first knife (or if that time has past) in this day and age how what will/did you say to them to keep them out of getting into trouble with it?
 
The same things I tell her about guns, a knife is a tool that can be used to save a live or take a life and that the decision to use one should be carefully considered before putting one into use.

It's hard to get into trouble when you are made to be responsible and accountable for your actions.

Teach her how to take care of a quality knife, and if it kills me teach her to sharpen freehand.

Also teach her that a knife is usually a weapon of opportunity, if properly trained she'll have a better choice for a weapon if one is needed.


Let's try an ethical question, your walking outside of Cabellas or some other major sporting goods store when you stumble across a money clip,(probably an old Ronson clip) with $328 on an empty street with no I D in it, with me so far, what knife do ya buy at the sporting goods shop, assuming they have a decent selction of customs and productions for sale.

Or do ya make an effort to find the owner?

Another twist is that you find a custom knife like a Dozier, or a Bud Nealy, all other criteria are the same.
 
I would definitely make an effort to find the owner, Hey I once found a watch at the Disneyland Hotel and stood around a good while and finally turned it in at the front desk, I also once found a watch when in college and posted a note, that night someone looked me up and described it perfectly so I gave it to him.

Now if there was no way to return the money, I don´t think I would buy a fancy custom knife, but a bunch of good old Slipjoints.

If I found a fine custom I would hold on to it and keep it well in case the owner showed up or was found some day.

Question:

What modifications or tunning do you commonly do to your knives ?, like I often reprofile the edge, force a patina on high carbon, sometimes file the kicks to get blades to go a bit further inside the handle, and I like to make custom handles.

Luis
 
It all depends on the knife but on most of my EDC knives I have modified the handles (love my dremel) and reprofiled the edges to fit my freehand style of sharpening.

Question, What knife do you most regret trading or selling. Mine is a 1968 Gerber Mark II that I carried in Viet Nam. It had the 15 degree offset blade and I sold it for $25. DUMB DUMB DUMB.
 
I had to jump in on this one. As I am sure most of you know by now, I am crazy about knives related to Pennsylvania. One that was very hard to find 15 years ago before the internet was the main stream was Brown Brothers Tidioute PA. Being from this area I wanted one even more. I finely found one and loved it for 5 years. Well, like most Americans I had a steak of bad financial luck and that knife was valuable enough for me to decide to part with it. I still miss that knife to this day and regret having sold it. :( It now lives in Canada. I paid $50 for it and sold it for $75. I know that it would bring three times that now. OH WELL??

My question? Which type of blade do you fined to be totally useless. I mean it says "why would anyone want a knife with one of these or those on it??????

Let me know and thanks to those that are keeping this thread going
 
pa knives said:
My question? Which type of blade do you fined to be totally useless. I mean it says "why would anyone want a knife with one of these or those on it??????
Click to expand...
Useless to me would be double edged, although I know their purpose I consider them to be useless because even if you are planning to carry a knife for self defense I feel it should have some utility purpose. Another would be a hoof pick because I don't have a horse. Finally, a toungue depressor/pill crusher on a doctors knife since I don't make it a habit of depressing tongue's or crushing pills :)

My question would be: Why do production companies (and some makers) use brass liners still in their slip joints? The price can't be that much more for stainless or NS and it looks sooo much better.

The exception would be of course to a knife with brass bolsters.
 
:eek: To me personally the cost factor between the brass and stainless are not important. I just prefer the old look of the steel liners. My heart races when I find one because it indicates that it is probably an older knife in most cases. The problem may be in availablity of materials. I am no expert in this field at all and would appreciate comments from those that may be.

New Question? I really like the old celluliod handle materials but have been disappointed to find several started the process of decomposition and could have ruined other knives besides. Is it really worth the extra dollars when purchasing and old knife when it is made of this materail and could very easily be a rusted junker in a short period or even the long run?
 
I guess it depends on what you are buying the knife for. If it is strictly for collector value, then it is a gamble, cheap or expensive. For my part, I like all knives strictly from an admiring point of view. I am trying to preserve a piece of craftsmanship that is all too uncommon these days. And when these old knives are gone, they are gone. There are modern makers who are excellent at producing older patterns, but it isn't the same IMHO.

Question: Similar to the other one one about selling or trading, What knife would you kill to have back? Maybe you lost it, or it was stolen or something.
 
The 197UH that I mentioned above. The last gift from my best friend from high school. Our paths divereged that Christmas and have yet to cross, though I still hear about him from time to time. I'm still hopeful I'll find it in a box of "office stuff" someday. I just won an auction on ebay for one until it finds its way back to sort of fill the void.

Question: As many limited editions are readily available on ebay, does anybody, (you or someone you know) use a "collector piece" as an EDC, what is "it" and why "it" over a common edition?
 
For the shake of discussion I am going to assume that your question relates to an older knife verses lets say a limited edition of some sorts. I know of several people who use a limited for EDC. One uses a Case Dale Earnhart to cut rubber forms with. I personally wouldn't but that's me. As for the older knives. I carry a Queen City for everyday and love it. It is a small trapper and it just feels good in the hand. Stays sharp and I must admit I like using it to open conversations about old knifes when I bring it out around someone else. Good way to start a friendship. This is the only one I use for that out of the hundred or so that I have. Some will never leave the knife roll but this one is just a great user that some would probably keep in the roll too. :p

Question? What is the very best bargin you ever got when purchasing a knife.

I have to answer this one as well. I bought what I thought was a Union Cutlery Tidioute online, Turned out to be Union Naguatuk and very rare. I told the seller once I got it. They were OK with the sale so I kept it. It is worth about five times what I paid for it. Tell me about your greastest buy.
 
A coupla months ago I bought a Randall#4 , 50's era
piece, sight unseen. I'm sure the seller thought he was getting over as I forked over the $300. I could see it in his eyes.:-)

question: who is going to Titusville this summe rfor the Queen cutlery show??? bruce
 
Nice to hear from my wifes hometown area. When will the show be? I would love to attend. Didn't know that they did this type of thing???

Question: Do you buy a knife on a wim or do you study things over prior to any purchase.
I am guilty of buying something just because but then pride myself on being very knowlegable about my specialty "pennsylvania pocket knives" ;)
 
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