"Old Knives"

[matfox]

thanks nifebrite. It is the same company. According to Sellens the Simmons Hornet brand knives were made in Germany from 1883 to 1917, do not know by whom. During this time period the other Simmons brands (Keen Kutter being the most prominent) were made by Walden.
Dan

Thanks for sharing, Dan!
So, these great knives have gone through 100 years of history, on different continents... quite impressive!
mat

 

[Rostovsky]

 

[supratentorial]

Interesting knife, Rostovsky. Is it made in Russia? How old is it? Is the hook shaped blade for removing the foil on wine?

Nice knives on the previous page as well :thumbup:

 

[fishinfs]

That's a marvelous knife! I often wonder where you gents find these beauties. Looks like Camillus build, 40's or early 50's, maybe?

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Some older than others...

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Another group shot, a little more intimate.

 

[Jack Black]

Some great knives there Ted I had to zoom in to see who was on your Novelty knife. Nice to see Betty Boop :thumbup:

 

[mike Berkovitch]

Wow Ted , nice collection

Mike

 

[Rostovsky]

The knife is made in the USSR in the 60-ies. Curved blade - this is the opener of cans.
Characteristically, In the USSR and later in Russia very rarely did pads on handles of horn or bone. Often the wood or celluloid, plastic.
About the old American knives in Russia almost nothing is known, and the knives rarely come across. In my childhood I read that Tom Sawyer was a Barlow knife

 

[matfox]

Some older than others...

Great pictures of a stunning collection!
Mr. Peanut and a bottle of Coke for 5 Cent, nice way for a commercial advice!
One question about the Ring opener knives: How are they used?

 

[T. Erdelyi]

You grab the ring between your thumb and forefinger and twist, most don't have nail nicks IIRC one does. Kinda like a fail safe or maybe a redundant back up .

 

[T. Erdelyi]

The tie-dye lookin' one (End of Day scales) on the right is also a German Coke knife actually at the time I took the pic, the dirty lookin' one was a Colonial from the 70s, the ultra white lookin' one is from China but it's pretty well made. These are what I consider to be pen knives .

 

[r8shell]

I just came upon a Robt Klaas Solingen penknife. Anyone have a resource for guessing the age on it?
3 inches long, single spring, nice dark brown wood.

 

[matfox]

That's a nice mechanism for a pocket knife, T. Erdelyi, thanks for the explanation!:thumbup:

r8shell: I just checked the history site of Robert Klaas (http://www.robert-klaas.de/historie.html).
Seems this company put its focus on pocket knives in the year of 1850. Since 1869 they sell inside Germany but also to other countries like the USA.
In 1893 the "Stork" Brand was registered...

 

[Dr-Mabuse]

Not mine but too interesting to not share. Here's an equal ended pen knife from Canterbury. Made sometime between 850-950.

 

[r8shell]

That's a nice mechanism for a pocket knife, T. Erdelyi, thanks for the explanation!:thumbup:

r8shell: I just checked the history site of Robert Klaas (http://www.robert-klaas.de/historie.html).
Seems this company put its focus on pocket knives in the year of 1850. Since 1869 they sell inside Germany but also to other countries like the USA.
In 1893 the "Stork" Brand was registered...

Thanks. I'll have some reading to do this weekend. Sometimes it's hard to find a nice tang stamp chart on these older cutlers. (I've been trying to collect and save them to my phone for easy reference)

Dr-Mabuse Now that's an old one! Do you know what the handle is made of? It looks like stone to me.

 

[TsarBomba]

I just came upon a Robt Klaas Solingen penknife. Anyone have a resource for guessing the age on it?
3 inches long, single spring, nice dark brown wood.

I'd seen a chart of tang stamp drawings for Klaas knives but I am having no luck finding them. Unless I'm misremembering, the wide font on the stamp of the primary blade indicates it's older than some of the taller lettering on the 60s and 70s knives. I can tell you that my newer Klaas knives in the Kissing Crane line ('77 and newer) all have cranes that are much smaller and closer together than the stamp on your knife's secondary. It seems to have a spun pivot pin. Is the wood cocobolo? Awfully hard to date it accurately without some of the reference material I once had on hand (and now cannot find online at all :grumpy but I think it's a safe bet that your knife is from the first half of the 20th century.

 

[r8shell]

I'd seen a chart of tang stamp drawings for Klaas knives but I am having no luck finding them. Unless I'm misremembering, the wide font on the stamp of the primary blade indicates it's older than some of the taller lettering on the 60s and 70s knives. I can tell you that my newer Klaas knives in the Kissing Crane line ('77 and newer) all have cranes that are much smaller and closer together than the stamp on your knife's secondary. It seems to have a spun pivot pin. Is the wood cocobolo? Awfully hard to date it accurately without some of the reference material I once had on hand (and now cannot find online at all :grumpy but I think it's a safe bet that your knife is from the first half of the 20th century.

Thanks, that's helpful. I don't know what the wood is, since it's probably darkened with age. I tried taking a picture of it in bright sunlight to show the flecks of lighter grain:



I have a feeling it's as old as you say. Something about the thinness of the blades and the elegant fit:



As usual, when I find an old gem, I post pictures here before sharpening and carrying it, just in case someone says: "Wait, that's a priceless antique! It's worth millions, but only if you don't cut anything with it!" Seriously, the blades appear to be full so I am hesitating before doing anything with it.

 

[Campbellclanman]

Hi R8shell
When I first saw your R.Klaas Knife, I thought it was in the era when they still made good knives - the much later ones are out worked and dont seem to be of the quality your knife is, kinda cool knife !

 

[TsarBomba]

Thanks, that's helpful. I don't know what the wood is, since it's probably darkened with age. I tried taking a picture of it in bright sunlight to show the flecks of lighter grain:
I have a feeling it's as old as you say. Something about the thinness of the blades and the elegant fit:
As usual, when I find an old gem, I post pictures here before sharpening and carrying it, just in case someone says: "Wait, that's a priceless antique! It's worth millions, but only if you don't cut anything with it!" Seriously, the blades appear to be full so I am hesitating before doing anything with it.

That's probably a good idea with something like that Klaas. Likely the same subconscious impetus that drove me to post my Dixon XTRA Barlow in like 4 different threads before ever carrying it. Paging back a few I'm surprised that I never posted it here... Time for some 'old knife' content. My ~90 year old bonus-sized XTRA Barlow (with Mystery Russell):

When I first saw your R.Klaas Knife, I thought it was in the era when they still made good knives - the much later ones are out worked and dont seem to be of the quality your knife is, kinda cool knife !

Judging from the mid-70s to early-80s represented by the various NKCA knives I've collected, they range from higher-end factory F&F to "OK, which of you idiots let this go out the door on a serialized knife?!" The grind on one of the stag gunboats is almost amateurish, and that's supposed to be a prized collector's knife. But they do the job of cutting in excellent fashion once tamed with a good honing, they're mostly all snappy for ~35-40 year old knives and frankly the beauty of the handles on most outweigh the problems on some. I can think of at least one that has become well-entrenched in my week to week carry rotation.

I have absolutely no doubt that the Klaas knives of old(er) are superior in general, however. I imagine once again the shell-rater has knocked it out of the park on an acquisition. Some gals (!) have all the luck (so go pound sand, Rod Stewart).