Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

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Beechtree
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Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by Beechtree »

Well here is an interesting little one. Looks to be a repair job from Gustav Knauth of New York City and Spring Valley. Goins writes, "Gustav Knauth was widely known as one of New York's old-time cutlers. He was born in 1845 in Germany, where he learned the cutler's trade. He came to the United States, and settle in New York." In 1900 he opened a factory in Spring Valley. Goins also writes, "His specialty was fine pocket cutlery, including combination knives. In connection with his store and factory, he did a large amount of cutlery repaire work both for the public and the cutlery trade. Gustav Knauth passed away July 24, 1911." His son continued the business until 1941 when a fire destroyed the factory.

-The master blade is a glazed polished Humason & Beckley of New Britain, CT. This was the original frame for the master.
-The secondary blade is stamped GUSTAV KNAUTH NEW YORK N.Y. and is full crocus polished and hand forged.
-The file blade is crocus polished, although not as nicely. It also appears to be hand forged.
-The knife does not look like it has been apart in many years. You can see a slight bulge at the pin of the secondary blades which were replaced, but the bolster looks very nice.

Ayone have a G. Knauth knife to add?
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danno50
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by danno50 »

Very nice knife and a very interesting bit of history about it.
I was wondering how you can tell the pen blade was hand forged? I can't see anything in the photos that would clue me in?

Dan
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Beechtree
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by Beechtree »

Dan, I say this because of the unevenness of the tang (looking down the spine from the joint to the tip) and in addition, the slightly irregular spacing of the teeth of the file. Sorry I did not take pictures of this.
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FRJ
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by FRJ »

That's a real treasure, Beechtree.

Congratulations on that one.
Joe
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Beechtree
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by Beechtree »

Thank you Joe, I am glad you like it. Neat bits of knife history always gets the blood flowing. ::ds::
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by knife7knut »

Nice catch! I have a similar knife that has two blades stamped Henckels and one stamped I*XL with the back stamped C.Langbein New York. Charles Langbein was a New York wholesaler and also repaired knives for customers.The only evidence of repair is some slight damage to one of the bolsters.
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IXL Henckels Langbein 002.jpg
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IXL Henckels Langbein 005.jpg
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Mumbleypeg
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Nice! Some great pieces of American cutlery history.

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Beechtree
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by Beechtree »

Nice K7K, that is great to see. A very fine job they did, and a nice old pocket knife.
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danno50
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by danno50 »

Beechtree wrote:Dan, I say this because of the unevenness of the tang (looking down the spine from the joint to the tip) and in addition, the slightly irregular spacing of the teeth of the file. Sorry I did not take pictures of this.
Thanks Beechtree, that makes sense. I am going to take a closer look at some of my older knives, which should have forged blades.

Dan
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Beechtree
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by Beechtree »

Good to do Danno, I think you will quite readily see what I am referring to.
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by timdog44 »

I attached a few pics of a little fob nail care knife I found. I believe it to be sterling silver. The only marking I can see is on the tang of the nail file. But maybe you all can see more than I can. I think it a little gem.
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Reverand
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by Reverand »

Pretty! I love the shape of that Main blade. Do you plan on reprofiling it, or leave it as is?
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galvanic1882
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by galvanic1882 »

Great knives guys love the first one!!!
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Re: Gustav Knauth New York, NY 1876-1941 Cutlery Repair

Post by Papa Bones »

Some very nice looking knives posted. ::tu:: ::tu::
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