Ulster Collecting

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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upnorth
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Ulster Collecting

Post by upnorth »

She was only a stableman's daughter, but all the horsemen knew her!
Here's one that came in a small Ulster collection I managed to scare up;
a horseman's knife, all blades stamped except the hoof pick.
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upnorth
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Bringing in the sheaves. . . . . .

Post by upnorth »

Here's an end-capped Hawkbill with a bodacious rat-tail bolster, and the Ellenville stamp. Makes harvesting those grapes a pleasure!
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UlsterHawk.jpg
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upnorth
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Post by upnorth »

Some medium and smaller jacks from Ulster;
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upnorth
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Post by upnorth »

This model Ulster is apparently the one the Red Cross had made, and shipped to the troops. Time period anyone??
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upnorth
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Post by upnorth »

Here are some old Ulster OK Barlows. These have whittled a lot of sticks, with their owners proudly displaying the OKed bolsters!! One is fully hafted, the other has a low budget finishing job, the handle left square to produce a budget knife.
The "Barlow culture", with the fancy bolsters to show off, is something I missed as a kid. Maybe that's why I buy them!!??
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Ulster OK Barlows.jpg
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sunburst
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Post by sunburst »

Hello Upnorth,

That is quite the Ulster collection my friend... :) A nice assortment for me to drool over a while.. ::drool:: ::nod::

Thanks for sharing,

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Post by Sauconian »

KEEP THEM COMING !! ::tu::

Fran
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upnorth
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Post by upnorth »

Sauconian wrote:KEEP THEM COMING !! ::tu::

Fran
Thanks Sauconian and sunburst. I cannot refuse my friends!
Posted elsewhere, but belonging here, 3 stockman knives. The middle one is older, the other two are "USAs".
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upnorth
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Post by upnorth »

Goldilocks of the three Jacks!
Again, posted elsewhere, but belonging to the Ulster family; I should have named this thread the "Reunion".
Pretty special Jacks, the backspring shots tell the tale!
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UlsterThickThin.jpg
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Post by muskrat man »

beauties! especially that hawk and the 2 blade hobo!!
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Post by Sauconian »

Upnorth,

How is the handle on that brass one made, a thin casting, or stamped sheet metal ?

That second one is beautiful ! Looks like all original polish on the blades.
You better wipe that fingerprint off ! :lol:

I wouldn't want to get a finger in the way of any of those babies closing. :shock: ::doh::

Fran
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upnorth
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Brass handle

Post by upnorth »

The brass handles are solid castings Fran, making liners un-necessary. The weight of the knife, although thin, is about the same as a wood handled full profile knife. The full thickness brass handles make quite a hefty piece, as you know, so this one is more pocket-able on a daily basis.
While we are on the subject of variations, most utility/scout knives have 4 blades. Here are two different ones, a 3 blade, and a 5 blade.
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Ulster3bladeUtility.jpg
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Post by upnorth »

A more upscale 5-blade utility/scout;
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Post by upnorth »

I have been a busy boy these last two weeks. Having come into a little cash from an insurance settlement, I decided to spend a small portion on unnecessary pleasures. Since I am happily married, and drink little, knives was the obvious choice (that and a road trip with my wife through New Mexico until the 16th of November)!
Here's the results!
A Schrade Cut Co, an Ulster sleeveboard whittler that used to belong to Michael Mirando, two Schrade Waldens, a Primble congress, and two Keens.
I think these fit with the Ulster thread, because of the Mirando Whittler. I am told The bone is quite an old style. I'm sure it was polished up for display (darn) but the blades reach the ends of their recesses, so I am assuming little or no use. Nice knife in person.
See you guys from the road, or in a couple of weeks!!
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lt632ret
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Post by lt632ret »

I have been watching this thread and as you might guess have a lot of Ulsters however those displays are hard to get into ( it is hard to explain but they are stacked tiered ect. ). I do not like the way the pics come out through glass. However today I was moving some stuff actually I was bleeding the heating system and I had to move a case with old boxes and there represenative knives. So I thought I would post this in the hope someone might find it useful. This is a pre 1940 ( approx ) Dwight Devine box and three knives all tanged differently ( from different Ulster periods ) This group contains an Ellenville Knife CO in Tortise cell. A dwight Devine and son and an early Ulster with seriffs ( spelling? ) . The interesting thing about these last two is that they are the same pattern and model. This shows the change over of tangs before and after Baer bought the company. It also shows how they still made the same models and patterns. LT PS I was just putting these back in the display and this one was in front of them it is the more common Ulster marking ( from later on 60tys and later. ) However I thought I would add it for comparison to the other stamps. Now that I think about it I chose this one for this group not only for the later tang but also the Ulster shield it carries. This is not uncommon however I thought the knife fit in the group as represenative of a specific period.
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upnorth
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Post by upnorth »

Thanks for the tang comparisons, LT. Can you put them in order for us, with some likely dates?? I am on a trip, and don't have my references with me. New Maxico is beautiful this time of year!
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Post by lt632ret »

Curtesy of Mr John Goins. LT
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Post by upnorth »

It's a wonderful thing, that threads, with their acquired body of knowledge, can come back to life whenever we feel like it. It is like having a virtual library.
So back to Ulster collecting, here is a neat whittler, a compact, yet massive, sleeveboard whittler. It is heavy gauge, but only 3 5/8" long.
Lovely grinds on the main blade, which is very near full;
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UlsterSleeveboardTang1.jpg
UlsterSleeveboardAngled.jpg
UlsterSleeveboardOpen.jpg
UlsterSleeveboard.jpg
UlsterSleeveboardClosed.jpg
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Post by jonet143 »

charlie, that's a good lookin knife. and a great addition to our "library"!
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Post by orvet »

Here is an old Ulster that has seen some hard days.
I list it because of the tang stamp:
ULSTER
NKIFE CO
N.Y.

I asked LT about it some time back and he said it was a genuine tang stamp. I forgot exactly what his explanation for it was.

Dale
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ULSTER NKIFE tang.jpg
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ULSTER NKIFE.jpg
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Post by upnorth »

That's a variation you don't often see, Dale. Collecting tang stamps is important to the history of this crazy business we are in.
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Old Ulster

Post by thawk »

I've been trying to improve my photography skills and thought I'd put up my only old Ulster. It is a little tipped equal end, just 3" long. It still snaps nice, and has half stops. Neat little swedges on the pile sides.

Image

Image

I like the way they used to put stamps on all of the blades.
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Post by muskrat man »

really cool old ulsters guys. I have an ebony serpentine jack inbound, looks pretty full. we'll see I guess, those bad ebay auctions are always a surprise
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Post by knife7knut »

Great stuff! I have several Ulsters(maybe more)but nothing like these.I'll have to get some out to photograph.Meantime here is kind of an unusual one:a palette/pill sorter with knife in handle advertising Tums.
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upnorth
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Post by upnorth »

That's a super penknife, thawk. Photography's coming along too! ::tu::
Nice tool knife K7K!
Ulster must have had a large and lasting presence in the knife market. Their quality is A-one, and they produced quite a diversity.
I like the Ulster influence in the subsequent Schrades also!
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