AG Russell ID

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cody6268
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AG Russell ID

Post by cody6268 »

I bought this AG Russell Japan knife for just under $20. It is 2" closed from reading the seller's description.

What is it? I'm thinking "Ultimate Pen Knife", but the Phillips screws don't make sense--every one I've seen was Torx. Did I just buy a fake by mistake?


s-l1600.jpgAGRPK.jpg
AGR PK2.jpg
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XX Case XX
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by XX Case XX »

I'd send those photos directly to AG Russell and ask them. They would be the ones who would know for certain. Heck, they may even ask you to mail it to them so they can inspect it.

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Sharpnshinyknives
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

cody6268 wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:52 am I bought this AG Russell Japan knife for just under $20. It is 2" closed from reading the seller's description.

What is it? I'm thinking "Ultimate Pen Knife", but the Phillips screws don't make sense--every one I've seen was Torx. Did I just buy a fake by mistake?



s-l1600.jpgAGRPK.jpg

AGR PK2.jpg
Cody, I have serious doubts about the stamps on that knife. They don’t look authentic to me at all. If it is an authentic knife, then it was probably made in the 1980’s or 90’s. I don’t recognize this one at all, but A.G. had a lot of knives made in Japan during that time period. I have a lot of them and I haven’t seen this model.
How is the run up on this? That’s the place where the blade and backspring meet when you open the knife. Is it tight or is there a gap? If it isn’t tight and well fitted, I would doubt that it’s made in Japan.
Mike gave you some good advice, email photo’s of this to A.G. Russell and ask them.
I hope you didn’t pay too much for this.
SSk Mark “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” Ronald Reagan
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cody6268
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by cody6268 »

Sharpnshinyknives wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 7:04 pm
cody6268 wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:52 am I bought this AG Russell Japan knife for just under $20. It is 2" closed from reading the seller's description.

What is it? I'm thinking "Ultimate Pen Knife", but the Phillips screws don't make sense--every one I've seen was Torx. Did I just buy a fake by mistake?



s-l1600.jpgAGRPK.jpg

AGR PK2.jpg
Cody, I have serious doubts about the stamps on that knife. They don’t look authentic to me at all. If it is an authentic knife, then it was probably made in the 1980’s or 90’s. I don’t recognize this one at all, but A.G. had a lot of knives made in Japan during that time period. I have a lot of them and I haven’t seen this model.
How is the run up on this? That’s the place where the blade and backspring meet when you open the knife. Is it tight or is there a gap? If it isn’t tight and well fitted, I would doubt that it’s made in Japan.
Mike gave you some good advice, email photo’s of this to A.G. Russell and ask them.
I hope you didn’t pay too much for this.
I haven't gotten it yet, and those were the seller's photos. I gave a little more than $15 for it. I will take my own, detailed photos of it and email them to AG Russell. I myself am very suspect, and for the same reasons you mention. The "stamps" on the blade are as sloppy as bargain bin specials. The Phillips screws don't make sense. If this is a predecessor of the "Ultimate Pen", none of those have the hasp on the keyring attachment.

I think one mistake I did make was the seller, who does, occasionally misrepresent stuff. And I kinda knew it before hand. If the knife is proven to be fake--it's going back.

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Sharpnshinyknives
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

cody6268 wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 7:24 pm
Sharpnshinyknives wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 7:04 pm
cody6268 wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:52 am I bought this AG Russell Japan knife for just under $20. It is 2" closed from reading the seller's description.

What is it? I'm thinking "Ultimate Pen Knife", but the Phillips screws don't make sense--every one I've seen was Torx. Did I just buy a fake by mistake?



s-l1600.jpgAGRPK.jpg

AGR PK2.jpg
Cody, I have serious doubts about the stamps on that knife. They don’t look authentic to me at all. If it is an authentic knife, then it was probably made in the 1980’s or 90’s. I don’t recognize this one at all, but A.G. had a lot of knives made in Japan during that time period. I have a lot of them and I haven’t seen this model.
How is the run up on this? That’s the place where the blade and backspring meet when you open the knife. Is it tight or is there a gap? If it isn’t tight and well fitted, I would doubt that it’s made in Japan.
Mike gave you some good advice, email photo’s of this to A.G. Russell and ask them.
I hope you didn’t pay too much for this.
I haven't gotten it yet, and those were the seller's photos. I gave a little more than $15 for it. I will take my own, detailed photos of it and email them to AG Russell. I myself am very suspect, and for the same reasons you mention. The "stamps" on the blade are as sloppy as bargain bin specials. The Phillips screws don't make sense. If this is a predecessor of the "Ultimate Pen", none of those have the hasp on the keyring attachment.

I think one mistake I did make was the seller, who does, occasionally misrepresent stuff. And I kinda knew it before hand. If the knife is proven to be fake--it's going back.

search.php?keywords=++doodlefroodle+&te ... mit=Search
Another one sold not too long ago on Ebay that looks just like this one except, the stamp looked right, it was a lockback and it had VG-10 stamped on it. It also had screws on the back side. VG-10 or AUS-8 or AUS-6 is seen on most knives from that era. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to fake a knife in this price range, unless they were hoping to get a lot more for it in auction. Maybe A.G. had two versions made of this, one that used better materials and one that was really inexpensive. Hard to say.
And I am not sure what label to put on this for a name or pattern. It’s pretty much just a basic knife.
SSk Mark “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” Ronald Reagan
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by Railsplitter »

Please let us know what the folks at A.G. Russell have to say. Here's a picture from an original listing of the Ultimate Pen Knife. This one appears to have the hasp but it doesn't show the screw heads.
Attachments
Ultimate.jpg
Ultimate.jpg (9.82 KiB) Viewed 4073 times
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Madmarco
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by Madmarco »

This is the only thread relating to A.G. Russell Japanese made knives I could find, so I posted this model here! It's a 6 3/4" oal AGR "Cartridge" lockback with a SS drop-point blade with n/n, all NS hardware/bolsters liners shield and pins no brass on this baby, and burgundy micarta covers although they appear black in my pictures. It has a handful of weight coming in at about 4 oz.'s, and arrived to me well sharpened. Comfortably opens with a pull of around 4 and equally pleasant closing detent. Fit and finish is excellent. Nice little gentleman's knife! 8)
WIN_20230206_13_11_20_Pro.jpg
WIN_20230206_13_10_57_Pro.jpg
8)
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cudgee
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by cudgee »

Madmarco wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:27 am This is the only thread relating to A.G. Russell Japanese made knives I could find, so I posted this model here! It's a 6 3/4" oal AGR "Cartridge" lockback with a SS drop-point blade with n/n, all NS hardware/bolsters liners shield and pins no brass on this baby, and burgundy micarta covers although they appear black in my pictures. It has a handful of weight coming in at about 4 oz.'s, and arrived to me well sharpened. Comfortably opens with a pull of around 4 and equally pleasant closing detent. Fit and finish is excellent. Nice little gentleman's knife! 8)WIN_20230206_13_11_20_Pro.jpgWIN_20230206_13_10_57_Pro.jpg
That looks like a really sturdy work knife. Good pick-up. ::tu::
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by Madmarco »

Thanks cudgee, it feels like it too! 8)
8)
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by Sharpnshinyknives »

Madmarco wrote: Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:27 am This is the only thread relating to A.G. Russell Japanese made knives I could find, so I posted this model here! It's a 6 3/4" oal AGR "Cartridge" lockback with a SS drop-point blade with n/n, all NS hardware/bolsters liners shield and pins no brass on this baby, and burgundy micarta covers although they appear black in my pictures. It has a handful of weight coming in at about 4 oz.'s, and arrived to me well sharpened. Comfortably opens with a pull of around 4 and equally pleasant closing detent. Fit and finish is excellent. Nice little gentleman's knife! 8)WIN_20230206_13_11_20_Pro.jpgWIN_20230206_13_10_57_Pro.jpg
Hey Mark, you could post this one in the Other Seki Made thread, it would belong there. I like that thread for keeping a history of other Seki made knives and AGR had the most other Seki made knives that I know.
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by Madmarco »

Thanks Mark. After I'd posted it here I had another look at the listing from your store, and it stated it was made in Seki, and I wished I'd read that before the post, as then I'd have put it in the correct thread. I don't have the slightest idea of how to send this post to the Seki thread other than to do the whole thing over again, could one of the mods possibly transfer it for me? Thanks, Mark! 8)
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Re: AG Russell ID

Post by GSPTOPDOG »

Railsplitter wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:14 pm Please let us know what the folks at A.G. Russell have to say. Here's a picture from an original listing of the Ultimate Pen Knife. This one appears to have the hasp but it doesn't show the screw heads.
I had saved years and years of AGR catalogs and a while back I said "too much stuff in the house, something has got to go"... and they went :oops: ... now I wanted to look through them again and ::doh:: I got nada! :x .... ::handshake:: Thanks for the post, I was looking for something on their Seki folders/slip joints.
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