Something Unique: Grafting Knife

@waynorth , I think you've figured it out perfectly.

@Nature Boy , the blades are not chisel ground - even bevels on both blades. Another little detail is that both blades have a nail nick facing their respective sides on the knife (left blade has a nick on the pile side, right blade has a nick on the show side). Clearly a lot of thought was put into this knife.

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oldmanwilly said:
Good evening,

I've been quarantined at my ranch for a few days and started digging around to pass the time. I came across this nifty little oddity I forgot I received from my Opa. See if you can guess what it is (it's on the left, the 8OT is for scale):

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A quick Google search tells me it's a pecan budding/grafting knife.


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I recall Opa telling me (years ago) that these were used on pecan trees by cutting out square patches of bark and grafting on sapling branches from more desirable trees. I'm not sure exactly why he had this knife as he never worked in a pecan orchard; they are common in the Texas hill country but usually a little further north of where Opa lived. I have a vague memory of him saying he used it to cut even straps of leather to make belts. I think it's likely he saw it in a hardware store, purchased it out of curiosity and found a use for it (Opa liked to accumulate knives for work and play alike and is directly responsible for my membership here).

I am particularly fascinated by the tang stamp which appears to say "MAHER & GROSH TOLEDO." Both blades have the same stamp.

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To my knowledge, this is the only M&G knife I have ever seen in person. It is not much but I find it a neat bit of regional and family history I thought y'all might not have seen before. I wonder if these turn up near orchards elsewhere around the country.

Thanks for looking.
Click to expand...
Do you have any idea what a knife like the one in the picture would be worth? It was in my dad's tool box. Thanks Ed
 
@ejbednar I don't believe you're allowed to ask for values here without at least having a Gold membership.

That said, I have no clue how much it would be worth. I imagine they periodically pop up on auction sites.
 
Watch for it on eBay....it will start "High" to get a feel for the interest. In my opinion it is in better shape than the one you have ----per your pictures.
Thanks,
Ed
 
Watch for it on eBay....it will start "High" to get a feel for the interest. In my opinion it is in better shape than the one you have ----per your pictures.
Thanks,
Ed
 
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