-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
What Model of Randall?
- Thread starter Smith Fan
- Start date
It's Saturday night so I guess it's just me, an old guy here.
The back of the sheath has lettering. That is important what it says. The type snaps on the sheath, [buttons] are important. Brown is worth more. A Heiser sheath is worth more too. The size of the spacers near the hilt on the handle indicate the age, ie the color, the width and the number of spacers. My eyes are too bad to read the detail. The shape of the blade looks like an old # 3.
I can't go into more detail, but the shop in Orlando can tell you alot if you send it to them. Call them and they will tell you how to ship it. Pete Hamilton makes appraisels too. He is a good guy who used to be the shop foreman.
My guess is between 1k and 2k.
Good luck, Sam
The back of the sheath has lettering. That is important what it says. The type snaps on the sheath, [buttons] are important. Brown is worth more. A Heiser sheath is worth more too. The size of the spacers near the hilt on the handle indicate the age, ie the color, the width and the number of spacers. My eyes are too bad to read the detail. The shape of the blade looks like an old # 3.
I can't go into more detail, but the shop in Orlando can tell you alot if you send it to them. Call them and they will tell you how to ship it. Pete Hamilton makes appraisels too. He is a good guy who used to be the shop foreman.
My guess is between 1k and 2k.
Good luck, Sam
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2001
- Messages
- 18,959
Great score! I'm no expert, not by any stretch, but referencing the RMK 'Timeline' that my wife and I put together, I believe the following holds true
H.H. Heiser started making sheaths for RMK around 1943, and your RMK model #3 was introduced in 1943 as well. (The '6' on the reverse of the sheath is the blade length.)
Riveted sheath mouths were originally used on these knives from 1942 through roughly 1949, with the smaller rivet's like yours used in the early 40's.
The left-handed sheaths like yours were only (originally) used until around 1946 IIRC
The 'old brass' hilt, and medium thick spacers, especially the blue center one like yours has predates 1950 or so, as does the radius of the choil, yours being more elongated than those of the early 1950's
Your blade grind is a very, very early version, and with the black painted steel snaps (by United-Carr) only being used from 1942 thru 1946, I'd say that you can probably date your knife with some degree of certainty as to having been made between 1943 and 1948.
The sharpening stone if present could help narrow this down a bit but I'm thinking these dates are pretty close. The thing of it is, those years in the late 40's were really slow times for RMK, with old blade blanks being dusted off as orders trickled in, and sheaths could languish in the sheath bins for years at times
As to prices, we don't 'do' that part it's what the market will bear on any given day. Nonetheless, good score!
Hope that helps you out a bit. For more info please reference our RMK Timeline as linked through my Sig line below
Mel
p.s. sams, good to see ya posting here again!
H.H. Heiser started making sheaths for RMK around 1943, and your RMK model #3 was introduced in 1943 as well. (The '6' on the reverse of the sheath is the blade length.)
Riveted sheath mouths were originally used on these knives from 1942 through roughly 1949, with the smaller rivet's like yours used in the early 40's.
The left-handed sheaths like yours were only (originally) used until around 1946 IIRC
The 'old brass' hilt, and medium thick spacers, especially the blue center one like yours has predates 1950 or so, as does the radius of the choil, yours being more elongated than those of the early 1950's
Your blade grind is a very, very early version, and with the black painted steel snaps (by United-Carr) only being used from 1942 thru 1946, I'd say that you can probably date your knife with some degree of certainty as to having been made between 1943 and 1948.
The sharpening stone if present could help narrow this down a bit but I'm thinking these dates are pretty close. The thing of it is, those years in the late 40's were really slow times for RMK, with old blade blanks being dusted off as orders trickled in, and sheaths could languish in the sheath bins for years at times
As to prices, we don't 'do' that part it's what the market will bear on any given day. Nonetheless, good score!
Hope that helps you out a bit. For more info please reference our RMK Timeline as linked through my Sig line below
Mel
p.s. sams, good to see ya posting here again!
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2003
- Messages
- 379
Smith Fan,
I have one very similar. I tried to post some photos, but was not able to. If anyone's interested and someone can post them for me I will send them by e-mail. My Dad picked it up right after he returned home from the War in late '45. The only seeming difference between yours and mine is the spacer set and your's being in better condition. I've done a fair amount of research on it and I will happy to share this relative to some small differences in Mel's great analysis:
1. Although the model 3 was first introduced in '43, Bo redesigned the blade in the 2nd half of '45. The major changes were (1) The back of the blade took on a small "wave" just after starting out from the hilt (2) A forefinger "choil cutout" introduced and (3) the size of the hilt was reduced. Mr. Robert Gaddis details these changes in his wonderful book. As well, there are photos of the two different blade grinds as seen on the '44 price list and the '45 catalog. Your knife is post redesign.
2. The larger sheath rivets on Heiser sheaths predated the smaller ones, so your sheath probably wasn't made any earlier than '45.
3. From other knives I've seen, my best guess is that Randall "standardized" on your knife's hilt spacer set for leather handled knives by around '47 (Note that my set has "double thin reds denoting a little earlier period of manufacture). I use the term "standardize" loosely as there were still many exceptions.
Net-net my best amateur guess as to dating is '46-47. The post war years were the leanest for Bo. As an example, he only shipped 15 knives in the month of June '47! You have a rare and wonderful knife there, sir! Enjoy.
Best,
Ron
I have one very similar. I tried to post some photos, but was not able to. If anyone's interested and someone can post them for me I will send them by e-mail. My Dad picked it up right after he returned home from the War in late '45. The only seeming difference between yours and mine is the spacer set and your's being in better condition. I've done a fair amount of research on it and I will happy to share this relative to some small differences in Mel's great analysis:
1. Although the model 3 was first introduced in '43, Bo redesigned the blade in the 2nd half of '45. The major changes were (1) The back of the blade took on a small "wave" just after starting out from the hilt (2) A forefinger "choil cutout" introduced and (3) the size of the hilt was reduced. Mr. Robert Gaddis details these changes in his wonderful book. As well, there are photos of the two different blade grinds as seen on the '44 price list and the '45 catalog. Your knife is post redesign.
2. The larger sheath rivets on Heiser sheaths predated the smaller ones, so your sheath probably wasn't made any earlier than '45.
3. From other knives I've seen, my best guess is that Randall "standardized" on your knife's hilt spacer set for leather handled knives by around '47 (Note that my set has "double thin reds denoting a little earlier period of manufacture). I use the term "standardize" loosely as there were still many exceptions.
Net-net my best amateur guess as to dating is '46-47. The post war years were the leanest for Bo. As an example, he only shipped 15 knives in the month of June '47! You have a rare and wonderful knife there, sir! Enjoy.
Best,
Ron
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2003
- Messages
- 379
Just one PS: The ogiginal stone that came with my Dad's knife was a "Norton Abrasives Soft Arkansas Oilstone"
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2003
- Messages
- 379
It's identical. I didn't really want to get into this, but at the same time since you don't know much about the value of old Randall knives, I'd like to see you get something approximating fair market value if you intend to sell it. I can only speak for myself, but I'd pay $3KK for a knife like this without batting an eye. This is not a solicitation, just an amateur appraisal.
Ron
Ron
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2003
- Messages
- 379
One last PS, Mark: If you are going to sell it, Sam's suggestion of sending it to Pete for an appraisal is what I would recommend as well.
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2001
- Messages
- 18,959
Thanks for stepping in!
It hit me this morning when I woke up that the end cap was of the thicker variety, pushing the earliest date up to around 1945 or so...
So, in addition to agreeing with your observations above, and the inclusion of the stone photos, I'd say you're pretty much spot on there Ron...somewhere in the '46-'47 timeframe...
Good job guys, and again, a great score!
Mel
p.s. The wide stone pocket should have been the give-away eh?
It hit me this morning when I woke up that the end cap was of the thicker variety, pushing the earliest date up to around 1945 or so...
So, in addition to agreeing with your observations above, and the inclusion of the stone photos, I'd say you're pretty much spot on there Ron...somewhere in the '46-'47 timeframe...
Good job guys, and again, a great score!
Mel
p.s. The wide stone pocket should have been the give-away eh?