"Old Knives"

Gevonovich said:
Augie
Fairmount was a Camillus house brand, which there were many, such as Camco, Stainless Curlery Co., Streamline ( a fav ), Syracuse, to name a few.

I have a few of these house brands and they are very well made knives and talk about getting sharp!

The dates range for your wonderful Valley Forge is 1892-1950. I do have one example which I adore but yours sure is a dandy!!

What is the closed length on the VF?
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As a point of interest, Fairmount is a town just east of Camillus, NY, where the factory was located. Nice knives, Augie.
 
Peregrin said:
As a point of interest, Fairmount is a town just east of Camillus, NY, where the factory was located. Nice knives, Augie.
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Gary, it seems they had a lot of house brands named after places in that fine place you live! Here are a few more:Catskill, Clover, Corning, Cornwall, , Farragut,and Federal
 
Thanks for the input everyone , Gevonovich you sure are right on the Fairmount as far as sharp,it was sharp as found and a couple strokes on a fine stone and it is scary sharp. I read that the covers were a first attempt at simulated stag,don't know if that is correct or not.
The Valley Forge is 3 3/4" closed, it appears to be a very well made knife that has held up pretty well over the years with a lot of use, the main blade has some side to side play when opened and is well worn but the springs are still very strong with firm pulls and a strong walk and talk.
 
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Augie said:
Thanks for the input everyone , Gevonovich you sure are right on the Fairmount as far as sharp,it was sharp as found and a couple strokes on a fine stone and it is scary sharp. I read that the covers were a first attempt at simulated stag,don't know if that is correct or not.
The Valley Forge is 3 3/4" closed, it appears to be a very well made knife that has held up pretty well over the years with a lot of use, the main blade has some side to side play when opened and is well worn but the springs are still very strong with firm pulls and a strong walk and talk.
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I suspected the ole Valley Forge was a Big un' . Just a sweet old knife and one to carry often;)

I think the covers on the Fairmont are a type of composite and certainly made to look like stag. Simulated stag or pressed stag is a whole nother can of worms
 
Continues to be a good week for old knives, this one showed up yesterday, pretty nice Schrade Walden 136 wire skinning hawkbill. I think it is fairly early as there are no dots in USA and the 136 is stamped on the pile side. Has one hell of a strong spring on it,with no 1/2 stop you need to be careful closing or you will end up missing a finger.
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Augie said:
Continues to be a good week for old knives, this one showed up yesterday, pretty nice Schrade Walden 136 wire skinning hawkbill. I think it is fairly early as there are no dots in USA and the 136 is stamped on the pile side. Has one hell of a strong spring on it,with no 1/2 stop you need to be careful closing or you will end up missing a finger.
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Boy Augie does that bring back memories. I had one JUST like it and actually used it doing electrical for five years. Got wicked sharp---then I started thinking of preservation and took it out of my rotation. Eventually traded towards other vintage knives. Schrade Walden as many many other knife companies knew their knives were meant for work and built them for such;)

Thanks for showing it:thumbup:
 
Nice Hawkbill Augie :thumbup: I came across a Victoria Hawkbill today, lazy spring unfortunately, and the proprietor of the shop was such an idiot, I was glad to get out! :mad:

I found this John Milner & Co Sleeveboard elsewhere :)







 
Wow Jack - I wonder how old that knife is....hold on I will go have a looksee......... Goins say John Milner 1900 to 1920, do the blades say "Hand Forged on the back of the blades Jack? ( Goins has it listed as "Intrinsic John Milner" ).
Yet G Tweedale has a wee bit more, pg 230 EDITION#1...John Milner, Established 1848, seems to have stopped trading in the 1960's.

Cool wee old knife Jack - again my friend
 
Wow that Schrade is absolutely lovely Duncan, that Mr Hilborn is a very generous feller :thumbup:

Thanks for the kind words on the Milner fellers, it's certainly seen a fair bit of use.

In the early 19th century, Sheffield seems to have had a number of John Milner's, all cutlers and living in the same area. The John Milner who founded this firm though, was born around 1789 (Tweedale), and was apprenticed as a spring-knife cutler at the age of nine or ten. He died in 1863 in Fitzwilliam Street (which you have walked up Duncan). An ingenious man, he claimed to have invented the lock-knife, and was also the "inventor or improver" of the fly-open knife, a design in which he specialised. He was regarded as the best spring-knife cutler in Sheffield.

John Milner Jnr continued at Trafalgar Works, employing two men and an apprentice by the time of the 1871 census. The corporate mark - INTRINSIC - had been granted in 1848. After his death in 1890, Walter Asquith, who had been Milner's partner in the 1880's, became owner, moving to Orient Works on Matilda Street by 1905.

Before WW1 Charles Thornhill took over the business, and after his death in 1929, the business continued under the Thornhill's, being located in Arundel Street by 1940. Milner's became a limited company in 1946, and continued to trade until the end of the 1960's.
 
Couple of nice old knives this morning Jack. Duncan, that Schrade Walden is a beauty.
John
 
More lovely stuff appearing here.
Augie ... Great hawkbill in great condition. The words on the blade leave no excuses for misuse !

Jack ... Two nice sleeveboards. Thanks for the info on John Milner, most interesting. The John Petty has a good long main blade.

Campbellclanman ... A very high WOW factor for the Schrade Walden. Stellar. You must polish it every week !

Here is another piece of jewelry, this time from LOCKWOOD BROTHERS, SHEFFIELD. Ivory scales. Again it handles like new.

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Thanks ADEE, that Lockwood Brothers is beautiful, one of your best finds I think :)
 
Some very nice old knives up the page here from Augie, Jack, ADEE, and Duncan - two thumbs up from me to you ! :thumbup::thumbup::D
 
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