Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

This forum is dedicated to the discussion and display of old knives. The rich history of all the many companies that made them through the early years will be found here as well as many fine examples of the cutlers art. Share pictures of your old knives and your knowledge here!
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LongBlade
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

Thanks Joe and Bill ::tu:: ::tu:: ...

Here's another - Rodgers only marked "Cutlers other Majesty" on mark side with maltese cross and star on pile side (no Sheffield nor England) - 4" Ivory
Mark Side DSCN7155.JPG
Pile Side DSCN7164.JPG
Blade Open DSCN7259.JPG
Tang Stamp - Mark DSCN7292.JPG
Tang Stamp - Pile DSCN7304.JPG
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Lee
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FRJ
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by FRJ »

Another beauty, Lee. ::tu::
Very nice crisp tang and blade. ::tu::
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LongBlade
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

Thanks Joe ::tu:: ::tu:: ...
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by FRJ »

I found this in my pile.
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Joe
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

Nice Joe ::tu:: ::tu:: ... the paternal twin of mine :wink: ...
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

Another Hawkbill for this thread … a “lucky” good find for my horticultural knife subcollection and one which I have been looking for quite awhile :D – Knife has that old colorful gnarly stag, particularly as seen on those older Sheffield knives. This Rodgers Hawkbill below is very reminiscent of the IXL that I posted on page 32 - Here’s the link to page 32 viewtopic.php?f=35&t=19895&start=465

The two knives make a nice pair with similar handles of old Sheffield quality makers .. though I find Rodgers harder to find than IXL Wostenholms... only my guess but maybe because many Rodgers knives sit in collections which we don't often see ::shrug:: ...

Joseph Rodgers & Sons – 4 & 3/4” closed – Integral liners and rat tail bolster with iron hammered pins in stag… Given the integral build and as usually noted this would make this early – likely pre-1860 – Hefty build and the stag covers are thick slabs of stag of my favorite kind in color etc NOD… I tried to give an idea of the thickness in the photo which shows the rear of the knife (see photo)… each slab was slightly more than 3/8” and the knife over an inch in width at the backside which includes the liner and backsprings - a nice handful of knife ;-) – Blade lightly sharpened retaining most of ithe shape and given a Hawkbill in relatively good shape… Knife was no doubt used as one could see some “use” scratches reflected in the patina in some photos etc…

I was thinking my Rodgers and IXL budding grafting knives I posted just above will make a nice pair with these hawkbills 8)

Thanks all for looking! I’ll post a few different angles of photos to show more of the all around look of this knife (double click for enlarged photos)….
Mark Side V2 DSCN8544.JPG
Mark Side DSCN8521.JPG
Pile Side DSCN8530.JPG
Blade Open DSCN8562.JPG
Integral Liners Bolsters DSCN8551.JPG
Deep Blade Stamp & Tang Stamp DSCN8569.JPG
Tang Stamp Pile Star - Maltese Cross DSCN8596.JPG
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Lee
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FRJ
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by FRJ »

That is a real beauty, Lee.
It sure pairs well with the IXL that you posted earlier. ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by gsmith7158 »

Wow!!! What a knife Lee. ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by Duffer »

Terrific knife Lee!! Love that gnarly stag—just a very impressive vintage horticultural folder ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by JohnR »

That one's a stunner Lee, those old stag English pruners are knock out gorgeous knives.
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by djknife13 »

Lee. I've found about 10 IXL's to each Rogers and hawkbills are what I've looked for more than any other style knife, at least up here. Also the Joseph Rogers I have found are made finer and have a richer look to them and less massive than my IXL's tend to be. The one you just posted is quite a bit more massive than my biggest Rogers and on par to my bigger IXL's. Beautiful old knife. ____Dave
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

Thanks Joe, Greg, Lloyd, John and Dave ::tu:: ::tu:: .. Much appreciated ::handshake:: ..

Dave - I agree 200% on finding Rodgers vs IXLs as it is the same here - IXLs are relatively easy to find.... I don’t really know if that was a result of Wostenholm’s business marketing as Wostenholm was enamoured with America back in the day (also George was quite an entrepreneur :) ).. As you note Rodgers tends to be “finer” quality - that extra touch which is seen in some IXLs but not across the board like old Rodgers :D

I have another Hawkbill to show and will try and get photos today - a jigged bone beauty of another maker ::nod:: ..
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by djknife13 »

If I get some time tomorrow I'll dig out my fattest IXL Stag and one of my fat wood ones and I have a Rogers that is one of my favorites for pictures. ____Dave
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LongBlade
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

Sounds good Dave - look forward to them ::tu:: ... I have a few more photos of others to finish and will get them up in the near future :) ...
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by JohnR »

Finally added a budding grafting knife to the collection, a minty Wostenholm.
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LongBlade
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

JohnR wrote:Finally added a budding grafting knife to the collection, a minty Wostenholm.
Nice John ::tu:: ::tu:: .. got to have a few budding grafting knives for the Hawkbills :D ... I think your Wostenholm is mid 1900s if I’m not mistaken - I saw lots of them at a knife show and that is what I was told from a few collectors...
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by JohnR »

LongBlade wrote:
JohnR wrote:Finally added a budding grafting knife to the collection, a minty Wostenholm.
Nice John ::tu:: ::td:: .. got to have a few budding grafting knives for the Hawkbills :D ... I think your Wostenholm is mid 1900s if I’m not mistaken - I saw lots of them at a knife show and that is what I was told from a few collectors...
Thanks Lee, I would agree with you as far as age, thinking 1950's or so.
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by djknife13 »

Picture 1 is J.Rogers. The 3rd one down has scales that are 1 inch wide including the spring and liners. somewhere I believe I have a nicer Rogers but can't remember where I stored it away. Picture 2 are all IXL's. The 4th down with the large stag scales measure 1and 5/16th thick X 1 3/8th inch high. The bottom left scales are pressed horn. The two wood IXL's are also massive in the hand. ____Dave
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hawkbills IXL Rogers and others 003.JPG
hawkbills IXL Rogers and others 005.JPG
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by djknife13 »

Here's a better picture of the fat IXL scales. The second picture contains (top to bottom) Winchester with secondary saw blade, a Thomas Turner with smooth horn scales, a Harrison Bros. and Howson also stamped Cutler to her majesty, This one reminds me of a Rogers hawkbill and they were neighbors at No.45 Norfolk St. and Rogers were at No.6 Norfolk St. The bottom is a Northfield. I've probably posted some of these before. ____Dave
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stag IXL 001.JPG
hawkbills IXL Rogers and others 006.JPG
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by BWT »

LongBlade wrote:Another Hawkbill for this thread … a “lucky” good find for my horticultural knife subcollection and one which I have been looking for quite awhile :D – Knife has that old colorful gnarly stag, particularly as seen on those older Sheffield knives. This Rodgers Hawkbill below is very reminiscent of the IXL that I posted on page 32 - Here’s the link to page 32 viewtopic.php?f=35&t=19895&start=465

The two knives make a nice pair with similar handles of old Sheffield quality makers .. though I find Rodgers harder to find than IXL Wostenholms... only my guess but maybe because many Rodgers knives sit in collections which we don't often see ::shrug:: ...

Joseph Rodgers & Sons – 4 & 3/4” closed – Integral liners and rat tail bolster with iron hammered pins in stag… Given the integral build and as usually noted this would make this early – likely pre-1860 – Hefty build and the stag covers are thick slabs of stag of my favorite kind in color etc NOD… I tried to give an idea of the thickness in the photo which shows the rear of the knife (see photo)… each slab was slightly more than 3/8” and the knife over an inch in width at the backside which includes the liner and backsprings - a nice handful of knife ;-) – Blade lightly sharpened retaining most of ithe shape and given a Hawkbill in relatively good shape… Knife was no doubt used as one could see some “use” scratches reflected in the patina in some photos etc…

I was thinking my Rodgers and IXL budding grafting knives I posted just above will make a nice pair with these hawkbills 8)

Thanks all for looking! I’ll post a few different angles of photos to show more of the all around look of this knife (double click for enlarged photos)….

Mark Side V2 DSCN8544.JPG

Mark Side DSCN8521.JPG

Pile Side DSCN8530.JPG

Blade Open DSCN8562.JPG

Integral Liners Bolsters DSCN8551.JPG

Deep Blade Stamp & Tang Stamp DSCN8569.JPG

Tang Stamp Pile Star - Maltese Cross DSCN8596.JPG
Better late than never Lee, just saw your Joesph Rodgers, that is a good looking ole knife. You just can't beat that old stag, thanks for sharing.
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by BWT »

Dave what a collection, those are some beautiful knives. Nothing not to like about those, very impressive for me!!!
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by BWT »

Good find John, very very nice ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

djknife13 wrote:Picture 1 is J.Rogers. The 3rd one down has scales that are 1 inch wide including the spring and liners. somewhere I believe I have a nicer Rogers but can't remember where I stored it away. Picture 2 are all IXL's. The 4th down with the large stag scales measure 1and 5/16th thick X 1 3/8th inch high. The bottom left scales are pressed horn. The two wood IXL's are also massive in the hand. ____Dave
Those are beauties Dave ::tu:: ::tu:: ... in fact the hefty stag IXL in the photo I think is the same IXL I have and posted on page 32 - looks like the same size, stag, end cap and the font of the deep IXL stamp on the blade (which is unusual for IXL deep stamps using fancy font) looks to be exactly the same 8) ...
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by doglegg »

DJ that is an awesome collection. Wow, I bet they were all used there in Minnesota. ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: Old Pruning and Horticultural Knives

Post by LongBlade »

BWT wrote: Better late than never Lee, just saw your Joesph Rodgers, that is a good looking ole knife. You just can't beat that old stag, thanks for sharing.
Thanks Bill ::tu:: ::handshake:: ..
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