Old and Tired. Not much left in the tank.

5K Qs said:
Fantastic handles on that one, Jack, and the Real Lambsfoot has turned into what appears to be a reasonable facsimile of a serviceable drop point!! I think I'd carry it EVERY day! :cool::thumbsup::D
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Thanks Jer, it's a knife I always enjoy carrying for sure :D :) :thumbsup:

Here's another worn Lambsfoot, by Wigfall :thumbsup:

 


Some years ago, an old antique dealer in a small North Yorkshire market town, told me he had a couple of penknives I might be interested in. I made several long treks to the shop before he eventually presented me with two absolutely filthy knives. This IXL was one of them, blades worn to nubs :rolleyes: I paid his asking price of £5 because I felt sorry for him. My girlfriend reckoned I was conned, think she might have been right! :rolleyes: :D

Since then, I've lost count of the times some market trader has shown me something which barely resembles a knife anymore, and tells me it "just" needs a bit of fixing up, even when the springs are broken, and the blades are gone. "It just needs a new blade." I even saw one feller trying to sell the remains of a small jack, which had no springs, no blades, and with one of the covers missing. It sat on his stall for five years at least! :rolleyes:
 
My dad's knife. Seen hundreds of thousands of miles on the Rock Island railroad where he worked as a brakeman / conductor, it's the only knife I can remember him ever using. He broke the back cover using it as a hammer. Case wouldn't fix it free and correctly termed it "abuse". Wrote his name on it and used epoxy for the replacement cover. It's the most valuable knife I own.

dadknifeback.jpg

dadknife.jpg
 
Chief said:
My dad's knife. Seen hundreds of thousands of miles on the Rock Island railroad where he worked as a brakeman / conductor, it's the only knife I can remember him ever using. He broke the back cover using it as a hammer. Case wouldn't fix it free and correctly termed it "abuse". Wrote his name on it and used epoxy for the replacement cover. It's the most valuable knife I own.

dadknifeback.jpg

dadknife.jpg
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Fantastic John :) :thumbsup:
 
An antique store find that I gladly cleaned up. It now gets used to open an occasional letter or ride along in my pocket just to have. The blades have been well used while the cover is in very good condition. I imagine it as someone's long time cherished companion and a survivor worth being rescued.

Pal Knife Co. c1941
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Chief said:
My dad's knife. Seen hundreds of thousands of miles on the Rock Island railroad where he worked as a brakeman / conductor, it's the only knife I can remember him ever using. He broke the back cover using it as a hammer. Case wouldn't fix it free and correctly termed it "abuse". Wrote his name on it and used epoxy for the replacement cover. It's the most valuable knife I own.

dadknifeback.jpg

dadknife.jpg
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That's a wonderful old knife, John. My dad's old Boker holds a similar sentiment for me. I wish I had ended up with my Maternal Grandfather's old railroad approved watch. He was a conductor on the Pennsylvania RR. Those are quite the keepsake also.
 
This unusual French Horseman's Knife has badly nibbled horn covers, and one of the accessories (a spike) is broken, but I still thought it a very interesting knife, and actually paid quite a bit for it. It has everything from a glass-cutter to a spring balance! :)



















 
Jack Black said:
Originally a Lambsfoot, this old knife by Thomas Turner, came sharp, despite the heavily worn blade.

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Can you still open it using what's left of that nail nick? If so, sharpen it up, it's got years of life left. :p:thumbsup:
 
I can certainly identify with the title :D but still far to go..:eek::(

The advert picture of 'Old John' fascinated me, 28 years of 'hard use alright' some heavy handed freehand sharpening too maybe? I suspect modern sharpening devices are much more precise and thus are kinder to the steel, that and steel possibly being softer then. Well, it's alsoa good illustration of the need to carry a lot more than one knife to share out the wear:eek: If you just had one pair of shoes they wouldn't hold up long:eek:

Also an argument for multi-blades:cool: If 'Old John' had been a single blade...he wouldn't have seen 28 perhaps not even 7:D
 
I like the pocket worn scales on some of the knives pictured. Just think of the miles in the pocket it takes to do that. When now smooth bone was once jigged bone.
 
Some neat oldies. :thumbsup:

Jack Black said:
Yes indeed! :D I rarely pass up an old knife, but in this case a friend of mine, who runs a flea-market tool stall, found it in the bottom of a box of old tools, and absolutely insisted I take it away with me, despite my protestations! :D

Here's one I picked up recently for about $3 from the same market, an old Baxter. A shame about the broken blade, but I'll certainly be pocketing it :thumbsup:

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Thank you, Jack.
 
Old worn knives fascinate me. It's not so much the knife as it is the life they represent. Someone spent a large portion of their life carrying them around.
 
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The muskrat is a Schrade, and belonged to my dad. He used to carry it when he was a kid, and used it to skin animals that he/we trapped. The red one is a Robeson, the small one is a Western, neither of which have stories that I know of. But, they belonged to my grandfather that I never met.
 
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