Miller Brothers Whittler

[knifeaholic]

This one is almost too good to be true, recently ended on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Minty-Vintage- ... 7675.l2557

I have seen very few original etched Miller Brothers knives, so just wondering what people think. Even though I am posting in the "Counterfeit" forum, I am not saying this knife is a counterfeit, it may well be the real thing.

[doglegg]

Don't know if the knife is authentic Mr K. but are those scales ivory? I think I see ridges.

[olderdogs1]

Handles look celluloid to me. I think the whole knife looks very suspect but the pictures are poor as you might expect.
JMO of course but I wouldn’t buy it.

Tom

[kootenay joe]

I agree, ivory celluloid. Does not give me the 'feeling' of a vintage knife. No old 'vibes' !
kj

[peanut740]

The etch is the same as an old M.B.etch,but is too big for that blade.I believe an original would have used a smaller etch.

[msteele6]

Know nothing about Miller Bros., but notice the scratch in the handle just at the shield and the scratches through the etch. the knife seems to have signs of aging, albeit gently. The thing that bothers me is the look of the backsprings, the uneven look.

JMO

[glennbad]

The knife has age, but appears to have been cleaned a lot on the covers/bolsters, but strange that the springs/liners are so rough. The brass liners at the small end look to have been shaped or reworked, they are not smoothly transitioning. Does the wharncliffe blade look short? I would normally expect it reach further toward the other bolster.

Just odd looking all around.

[peanut740]

The knife has age, but appears to have been cleaned a lot on the covers/bolsters, but strange that the springs/liners are so rough. The brass liners at the small end look to have been shaped or reworked, they are not smoothly transitioning. Does the wharncliffe blade look short? I would normally expect it reach further toward the other bolster.

Just odd looking all around.

I agree,if you look at the sellers other photos, the master blade looks too short for the frame.

[kootenay joe]

The traditional Wharncliffe blade is a short stout blade. The spine does not taper much at the tip. Wharncliffe whittlers, vintage & custom have a master blade that could have been longer; i.e. there is more length available than the closed blade occupies.
I once bought a Ryu Wharncliffe Whittler, new from dealer and then returned it because the master Wharncliffe blade could have been about 5 mm longer and still have some space at tip. Dealer was annoyed because he saw the knife as being as it should be. It was after this that i began to pay attention to master blade length in this pattern.
The length of master in O.P. knife looks correct to me.
kj

[LongBlade]

I think the cleaning doesn't help this knife but think it is suspect - it is easy to fix a cobbled blade and scratch it up abit to help it looked aged... my gut says it is not right - etch does look large on master but not sure of the length of master blade - something just doesn't seem right - the rear pivot pin is suspect to me but I am abit gun shy when I see the pins not exactly flush but do know it happens with use ... on the other hand if you are faking a Miller Bros why use french ivory celluloid ... also I have seen that shield I do believe on other Miller Bros knives.. I wouldn't bid on it for sure...

Below is the Millers Bros etch on one of my sleeveboards - my knife is 3 1/4" to give you relative size of etch compared to OP knife... Tang Stamp is the same as OP knife also as comparison so if it is a fake they looked at all details of an old one which may have sported this etch... I know doubt know my knife is the real deal...

[btrwtr]

Looks believable to me.

[LongBlade]

I was on the fence on this one - when I said I wouldn’t bid it was based on cleaning, suspicious aspects but importantly the current bid price for this celluloid handled knife is way high imo - even if a wharncliffe whittler with etch ... my bone handled MB wharncliffe though a 2 blade pen was 1/3 current price and is in excellent condition ...

[Miller Bro's]

The OP knife is real, I have seen this handle material start to offgass and shrink.
Maybe that was what happened and the seller buffed it up nice and shiney, just the way fleabay bidders like them!

Both knives are believable what is unbelievable is the $297 the knife sold for Between this knife and the one currently on that is up to $575 for a FAKE, it might be a good time for me to unload my collection