America's "Little Sheffield"

[peanut740]

Thanks Harold.

[espn77]

Great knife Roger

[Duffer]

Roger, wonderful knife

[peanut740]

Thanks Keith and Lloyd.

[ObsidianEdge]

Incredible knife, Roger!

[KAW]

Very Sweeeeet... Roger... a thumbs up for each blade.....
altho I have to admit... if I owned such a knife... I'd spend more trying to decide which blade to use than actually using it...

On a different note... I just received this 2⅜” Walden Knife Co. pen knife / cigar cutter on a fob chain... all gold tone (not sure if it is gold filled).
On the pile side it is marked but partial obscured... what is readable is SHEF / STE... so I'm assuming it is SHEFFIELD / STEEL. Could this possibly date this item? It appears to be only light used... if at all... I cleaned up the blade a bit... but due to a lack of a camera at the moment, I'm using the seller's photos...

Now I'm considering changing my name in order to match the monogram in order to carry it...

[peanut740]

Phoenix Knife Co.I bought a few days ago from Steve(Knifeaholic).Skimming down through his Ebay store I noticed what I thought was a Miller Brothers WWI rope knife because I didn't read the description. I looked at a couple photos and said to myself "it had pins instead of screws".I then read the headline and then the tang and said wow!.I had never seen a Phoenix marked one before. I have owned many Miller Brothers.

[doglegg]

Knice knife Ken, or is it James Victor Davidson.
Roger, you picked up a sweet one there.

[Doc B]

Not near as nice, of an Ulster, as your last one posted, Roger...but didn't see an Ulster like this posted. It is 3 5/16" closed. The bone on it is beautiful; but, sadly, it was chipped in two places, on the front. Additionally, it was missing a scale pin, on the back. I replaced the missing pin and did an Acraglas repair.
What constitutes a "lobster" knife? I've seen 3 and more blades, where one comes out the back, referred to as a lobster. Would this gentlemen's knife be considered a "lobster", with the nail file coming out the back, and only having 2 blades?

[KAW]

Rodger... Very knice looking rope knife! Really great lookin' bone handles on that one!
...but I am unfamiliar with Phoenix Knife Co. & of course today I don't have access to my newly acquired Goins. Was it a brand made by one of the Hudson Valley manufactures?

Doc B Like Rodger's 5 blade Ulster he recently posted here... your lobster is another unusual pattern for Ulster Knife.
You have done a great job on repairing the handle!

What constitutes a "lobster" knife? I've seen 3 and more blades, where one comes out the back, referred to as a lobster. Would this gentlemen's knife be considered a "lobster", with the nail file coming out the back, and only having 2 blades?

From the "Lobsters & Orange Blossoms" thread:

An excerpt from Levine's guide 4: James Crawshaw, a cutler & merchant who worked in Sheffield from about 1817 to 1850, invented a new style of pen knife in the 1820's. An 1831 history described it as "the lobster-knife, by which four blades open upon one spring...which instead of forming the back, as in the old method, is placed along the middle of the handle and between the scales or side of the handle, so that it works on each side, hence admits of blades at each end & even any number of them. The mode of slitting the spring gave rise to the many-bladed knives in all their varieties. Mr. Crawsha took out no patent, but is a wholesale manufacturer." (extract courtesy Geoffrey Tweedale)

So my interpretation is... its not the number of blade that defines the pattern but the placement of the spring that allows blades placed on both sides of the handle.

[Doc B]

Rodger... Very knice looking rope knife! Really great lookin' bone handles on that one!
...but I am unfamiliar with Phoenix Knife Co. & of course today I don't have access to my newly acquired Goins. Was it a brand made by one of the Hudson Valley manufactures?

Doc B Like Rodger's 5 blade Ulster he recently posted here... your lobster is another unusual pattern for Ulster Knife.
You have done a great job on repairing the handle!

What constitutes a "lobster" knife? I've seen 3 and more blades, where one comes out the back, referred to as a lobster. Would this gentlemen's knife be considered a "lobster", with the nail file coming out the back, and only having 2 blades?

From the "Lobsters & Orange Blossoms" thread:

An excerpt from Levine's guide 4: James Crawshaw, a cutler & merchant who worked in Sheffield from about 1817 to 1850, invented a new style of pen knife in the 1820's. An 1831 history described it as "the lobster-knife, by which four blades open upon one spring...which instead of forming the back, as in the old method, is placed along the middle of the handle and between the scales or side of the handle, so that it works on each side, hence admits of blades at each end & even any number of them. The mode of slitting the spring gave rise to the many-bladed knives in all their varieties. Mr. Crawsha took out no patent, but is a wholesale manufacturer." (extract courtesy Geoffrey Tweedale)

So my interpretation is... its not the number of blade that defines the pattern but the placement of the spring that allows blades placed on both sides of the handle.

Ken, thanks for the info on what makes it a lobster!

[peanut740]

Ken,they were located in Phoenix NY.They were owned by John Chattlion and Sons.The factory burned down in 1917 and not rebuilt.They did a large amount of contract work.I have about 10 different toenail brands all made by Phoenix.You will find few Phoenix stamped knives.

[JAMESC41001]

Had some knives out today. Took some pics. WW1, WW2 and post WW2 electricians knives. The last two are unused. Dried oil is from factory on the last one. If anyone finds an unused arched stamp let me know lol.

[Doc B]

Nice ones!!!

[peanut740]

Early Walden Knife Co.N.Y.3 3/8" pearl salesman sample. Clearly inked 3263 California.

[LongBlade]

Sweet knife Roger !!!!

[peanut740]

Thanks Lee.

[ObsidianEdge]

I agree with Lee but I’m giving it three

[peanut740]

Thanks Mike.

[KAW]

Shameless bumping back to the first page...
Here's a couple of Ulsters that are suppose to be the same knife... Despite both knives being stamped "1010" on the pile side, they are obviously not the same knife. The more recent acquisition is larger with the blade sitting much prouder. The pins & their arrangement is different. Even the shape of the handles are different. There is so much of a difference between the two that now I'm wondering how could they both be identified an the 1010 pattern?



P.S. My apologies for the blurriness of the last image

Also picked up this nice little gentleman's pen... also an Ulster Knife Co.

Sorry for the flash photography, but the lighting was really poor & I wanted to capture the details of the bone handles.

[Ivoryman]

Here are some that I think will fit into the history of this thread. First is a NYKC Tree scribe. Second is an Electric Cut Co with the Walden stamp. Third is a US made knife contracted for Wester Bros.New York that I feel certain was made by NYKC. And finally a whittler that I believe was made in Germany for Friedman and Lauterjung who were the originators of the Electric brand which later became Electric Cut Co. Newark, NJ. in1890 and and later bought NYKC.

Ha ha, surfing through ancient posts and saw yours on page 3 of this thread. Still have the third one down? Incredible bone and condition on the Wester Bros. What would that age be? Fabulous whatever it is, pics a little blurry on my end. Thanks and if you ever want to dump that one let me know. Wow.

[KAW]

Came across this 1950's equal end jack with a Kingston tang stamp in an antique shop while on vacation in Virginia last week.
Was only a $12 price tag on it before the dealer told me there was a the 50% discount on it!!!

[doglegg]

Congrats KAW, that is a wonderful pick up.

[danno50]

Nice find for a nice price, Ken!

[FRJ]

Here are a couple from "Little Sheffield". Love this thread.

A Waldon Knife Co. lobster. 2 3/4"
A New York Knife Co., Walden. 3 3/8"