"Old Knives"

[1fartsmella]

Here's an Easy Open Harness Jack pattern from circa turn of the 19th - 20th century. Although not in the most terrific condition and obviously some complete idiot attempted his best effort of mechanical genius in sharpening her with a grinder, she is still a decent example of what:

MARSHALL {over} WELLS {over} HDW. Co. produced more than 100 years ago..

Anthony

Anthony, That's a Harrison Patent Punch Pat# 701,878. Patented by New York Knife Co. June 10, 1902. NYK made many Marshal Wells Knives. Here's my NYK Junior Cattle Knife with the same patent punch. This one is an unusual 3 1/8" closed. Barry

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[1fartsmella]

Vince, You should be very proud of this thread you started....over 100,000 hits and going strong. Thank you. Fantastic stuff, Barry

 

[thawk]

Way to bring the Hammer down Barry. That's a dandy knife.

 

[VCM3]

Vince, You should be very proud of this thread you started....over 100,000 hits and going strong. Thank you. Fantastic stuff, Barry

Thank You Barry

George Wostenholm

"4 blade equal end, 3 5/8 " closed.1890 - 1920, stag, all 4 with half stops and real tight springs. Carried, sharpened , and well used but still in nice shape. These 4 bladers are pretty hard to find too"

 

[sunnyd]

Anthony, That's a Harrison Patent Punch Pat# 701,878. Patented by New York Knife Co. June 10, 1902. NYK made many Marshal Wells Knives. Here's my NYK Junior Cattle Knife with the same patent punch. This one is an unusual 3 1/8" closed. Barry

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This thread would not be the same without fine members like you, Barry! You are a great source of information like so many others in here as well! Thank You my friend and Merry Christmas and a Very Safe & Happy Holidays my Blade Brother!


Anthony

 

[VCM3]

Christopher Johnson Western Works

2"closed with integral eye forged on center spring for chain, 3 blade, 3 wide ( thick), tortoise hafted, fully sunk joints, milled brass liners, extended outer springs, 1836 - 1890. Flag Brand trademark. Along with trade label and counter advertisement. Difficult knife to build, and fairly scarce as well.

 

[zerogee]

Vince, here's another of those 5 blade Joseph Rodgers ivory swellcenter equal ends -- looks like they're dead common. Seriously though - that is the only other real one I've ever seen except for mine. Again 3 7/8" long closed, only 1/2" thick. Same pattern as before, with some variations. Mine is not in quite as splendid condition as the one you show -- mine is also a His Majesty (England), thus a few years younger. The main blade is a bit more leaf shaped on mine (very little use apparently), and I have a punch/awl (which has been well used - as much as 1/4" short I'd figure). The manicure/file blade has been purpose modified - the file teeth have been rather carefully ground away and the tip is a special shaped blade (I think to choke up to the tiny curved blade - fits well held that way anyway) - really sharp, sacrificed a little blood to it when I first got it.

-- Dwight

 

[Robert.B]

Thank You Barry

George Wostenholm

"4 blade equal end, 3 5/8 " closed.1890 - 1920, stag, all 4 with half stops and real tight springs. Carried, sharpened , and well used but still in nice shape. These 4 bladers are pretty hard to find too"

Now that is a fine looking knife! for a carried and sharpened knife it looks like it was hardly used!

 

[zerogee]

I've ssen some nice pieces here

made me seek, saw a few good ones ones on ebay but still have to buy one (knife or money issues)
what steel are the robesons? I'm "focusing" on those for now as I've seen many and they seem to be quality pieces

I'm palnning in buying 1 or some, are they good users? normal edc i mean, how different is the quality from actual gec's? want to learn!

is a 20-50usd price on a like new condition knife or little used one fair? just to orient
Maxx

A lot of the Robesons you're seeing on the bay are actually modern ones made by Queen -- a totally different sort of animal than the original Robesons in the thread above. All those I've added so far are from pre-1940 and most of those Charlie has added are too. There are a few originals on the bay from time to time that have the black jigged "hard rubber" scales that were made during WWII or the next couple of years after -- these can be a very good deal if in good shape - great solid knives, top quality carbon steel. Warning though - it can be very tricky to get really solid old knives from the bay - lots of weasel words like "great shape for its age" and other phrases that mean the knife's held together with old gum and optimism. And usually a number of outright horrendous fakes.

I don't have any of the Queen made ones, but IIRC a few of those have even had ATS34 steel. Most though have been 420HC or similar. In general, a Queen Robeson has nothing in common with any original Robeson pattern - just the trademarks. Doesn't mean they're not nice knives though. They were premium Queen production - you could compare them to the Queen S&M line.

 

[wellington]

Great to see those two five bladed JR's Vince & Dwight, I too have seen that very pattern illustrated in the firm's catalogues, nice to see pics of the real things. I think five blade "whittlers" were considered a premium pattern and are usually of the highest quality.

The CJ chatelaine knife looks excellent :thumbup:

Here are a couple of pictures of a two inch chatelaine knife marked W GREAVES & SONS, SHEAF WORKS, unused all the blades are full and have original polish, the backsprings are worked and gilded. The firm of W Greaves & Sons was dissolved in 1850.

Mick

 

[zerogee]

With the doctors knife threads going, I thought I'd show this unique doctors pattern. Sadly, it's not mine - it floated across the bay in ancient times. A rare knife by Excelsior Knife Co - rare because they were only in business from 1880-1884. Goins goes into some depth about the history of this little company - started by several Northfield employees; its equipment and materials were bought up by Northfield after Excelsior folded. Excelsior often used ivory for its knives -- they got a good deal on it as scraps from a musical instrument factory next door.

Anyway, here it is - Excelsior Knife Co. - 3 3/8" closed with a unique design for a doctors pattern -- coming down to a mostly oval seal cap. Nice nail ease notch. Oddly, it has a sunk blade rather than a sunk joint. Perhaps some makers here will get some inspiration from it.

-- Dwight

 

[VCM3]

Dwight,
Thanks for all your contributions here
Are you having a bad camera day ? I get that sometimes
Merry Christmas ,
-Vince

 

[zerogee]

Dwight,
Thanks for all your contributions here
Are you having a bad camera day ? I get that sometimes
Merry Christmas ,
-Vince

Thanks Vince! No, I'm not having a bad camera day -- not my shots - someone else was. My camera work probably wouldn't be much better though -- sometimes I seem to have a really bad scanner day. Don't quite know how I can do that with a scanner.

Sadly, this is as good as I've got for this neat little knife.

-- Dwight

 

[KnifeHead]

Nice old Rx knife, Dwight...very cool!

 

[VCM3]

Thanks Vince! No, I'm not having a bad camera day -- not my shots - someone else was. My camera work probably wouldn't be much better though -- sometimes I seem to have a really bad scanner day. Don't quite know how I can do that with a scanner.

Sadly, this is as good as I've got for this neat little knife.

-- Dwight

You definitely can have scanner situations Trust me on that
-Vince

 

[waynorth]

Vince, Dwight and Mick, thanks for showing us these especially nice, rare pieces!!
Good way to start the day!!

 

[CNoyes]

Boy, those wide margins really confuse my computer.

Some really nice older knives from the Golden Age of Cutlery Manufacture showing up
here the past few days.

Keep 'em comin' Men.

 

[CNoyes]

Robeson made an equal-end, bone handled five blade senator with a bar
shield and grooved bolsters.

I bought this knife years ago from an ad in KnifeWorld magazine. It
was advertised for one hundred fifty dollars. I called the seller just moments
after reading the ad. The man told me that the knife had sold two days
before. Apparently, everybody does not get their KnifeWorld at the
same time.

However, he had just gotten off the phone with the purchaser who had
changed his mind and the knife was again available.

I've never regretted this particular purchase.

The knife is 3 1/2" long.

Pattern number is 652361.

Knife is in excellent condition.

I know the knife is not from the same era nor is it even remotely in the same
league as those fabulous Sheffield beauties posted above.

I've only seen three of these in all the years of looking for Robeson knives.
This is the best of the three.

 

[VCM3]

That's a really great one Charlie :thumbup:
-Vince

 

[waynorth]

A beauty, Charlie. Worth way more than you paid, IMO.