The Inspiration of an Old Knife

RDaneel

RDaneel

Joined
Apr 23, 2000
Messages
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I've been collecting slipjoints for years, but have never gotten a really old one. All my reading, books and especially here (jackknife's stories in particular), have made me want an old knife from before WW II at least.

At the Western Reserve Cutlery Association knife show in Dover, OH this weekend I picked up this Ulster Dwight Devine Official Scout Knife reportedly made sometime in the 1927 - 1941 period. I really like the workmanship of this knife. Not shown in the pictures below is the center spacer of brass that is fileworked. The bail is nickel silver, the shield is pinned on, everything walks and talks. It shows its age, it's not Mint or Near Mint, but it is in great shape A lot of love went into this knife.

I'm inspired by this level of craftsmanship. Now I think I've got an even worse case of slipjoint fever; you know, the old kind. :)

What do you think? Did I do good?

Dean

UlsterScout1.jpg

UlsterScout2.jpg
 
Well you did good getting the fever, RD;-) The knife is a bonus!! Nice!!
 
Wow!

Thats my first thought on seeing a beautifull scout knife. I think you did just great to have that old boy in your pocket. I know others may think it sacrilegious, but I'd be tempted to carry it once in a while, and use it gently. Kind of another chance of life. And if it was pre WW2, it would be interesting to hear what tales it could tell.
 
Got the same one in my collection, except mine's marked simply Ulster Knife Co. It has a bad spring, which has oddly worn a groove into the master blade. When I asked Bernard Levine about it, he opined it was a weakly tempered blade. Mistakes happen, I guess.

My old Remington of the same era, though... that's a knife!
 
jackknife said:
I know others may think it sacrilegious, but I'd be tempted to carry it once in a while, and use it gently. Kind of another chance of life.
Click to expand...

I agree 100 % I have a hard time just letting my knives lay around. They were made to be used or at least carried and shown to folks. This one, in particular, just feels so right in the hand. It is a real connection to an America that once was. You can imagine the pride of the young man when he got this knife, the fires he whittled around, the tall tales he told and listened to with the other scouts. Sigh.

Dean
 
You did very well indeed, Dean!
That's a fine knife that surely has been carried with pride.
Glad to hear that you'll carry and use it yourself. At the end of the day, that's what it was made for, and I'm sure the knife maker as well as the previous owner(-s) would want it to be used.
Give this grand old knife a few more stories to tell...

/ Karl
 
A couple days down the road and I'm really enjoying this knife. If anyone knows where I could get an old advertisement for one of these, I'd appreciate it. :) I'm looking at some old Boy Scout Handbooks on ebay. Maybe one of them will have an ad in it.

Dean
 
Just watch out, you have started down a slippery slope. Hang around ebay and look for examples of quality old knives in good condition - Ulster, New York Knife Co, Southington, Remington, Miller Bros, H&B, Empire, Waterville, etc, etc. You will be sinking a lot of money into them before you know it. When you get one in really good condition, you will realize what level of quality was common then. Labor was cheap.
 
Sorry to go a bit off topic, but I was hoping that someone could answer something regarding these old scout knives for me. How does the can opener like the one on the pictured knife work. I've only seen pictures of that style and I usually have to monkey around with something to understand how it works.
 
pocketwocket said:
Sorry to go a bit off topic, but I was hoping that someone could answer something regarding these old scout knives for me. How does the can opener like the one on the pictured knife work. I've only seen pictures of that style and I usually have to monkey around with something to understand how it works.
Click to expand...

The little dingus sticking out of the upper blunt strait part of the opener rides on the rim of the can you're trying to open. The curved pointy part is stabbed strait down into the can so it is under the lid to be cut. Then you lift the handle of the knife so the curved part is brought up under the lid edge to be cut on the up swing, while the dingus on the edge of the can is the pivot point of the cutting action. It was a real pain in the butt way to open a can, which is why by WW2 they had gone to the hooked can opener that anchored on the outside of the can lid like the all steel scout knives from military contracts WW2 and after, and even the Swiss Army knives.
 
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