Washington Cutlery

A place to ask or answer knife related questions.
Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

FRJ wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:09 am Welcome here, Leo.

That is a beautiful whittler in a very sophisticated pattern with Ivory covers.
It is a little dandy. How long is it? Oil the joints.
Nice! It’s 3” long closed. I’ll oil the insides after doing a little cleaning.
Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

Mumbleypeg wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:04 am That is a dandy old whittler. Appreciate you showing it here. Hope you don’t mind I worked on your picture a little - result is below. I think if you take a number 2 lead pencil and rub the tang stamp with the graphite (lead) it should clean up some of the tarnish and make the stamp more legible. The graphite won’t hurt the knife. ::tu::

Welcome to AAPK

Ken
Not at all, I tried to get the best image I could mange.
I appreciate the tip with the graphite.
Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

kootenay joe wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 4:57 am Be careful to not drop it onto a hard surface. The ivory might crack. The majority of knives of this age ( ~ 100+ years old) with ivory handles have a crack in the ivory or a piece missing. The handles on your knife are in good condition.
kj
It’s a shame I have no further background on it, why he kept it, how he got it. It was just in a box with a few other similar size and style pocket knives.
I have been finding myself using one, for one reason or another lately, so I remembered these and I’ll post pics later: Imperial, Robeson, a Cie Luetters jackknife, with the Lowen Messen engraving on the blade. It’s funny, that one I was more interested in, and it’s in good shape, but of course, that one I assumed was more “valuable”.
Not that I’d sell them, one day I intend to pass them to the grandkids with what I know, and they can do what they want with them after that.
I bought a basic Camp King recently, and I use it and the Luetters knife as a rule, the size is easier to keep track of.
I also have an AG Russell with bone handle (probably) that was missing the large blade so I sent that off to someone to add a replacement blade and that one is a size I’d likely use regularly too. I was told not to expect it back until July though.
Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

Mumbleypeg wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:17 pm
Ridgegrass wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:38 pm Levine lists Washington Cutlery as being in business in Watertown, Milw., Wisconsin, 1898-1940. with a "High" value rating. They also made Village Blacksmith butcher-type knives. That's a Beauty! J.O.
Thanks J.O. Here’s a link to another thread containing a lot of good info. viewtopic.php?f=35&t=50939. For knife history buffs (like me) there’s also more in some posts up there ^^ at the top of this thread.

Ken
I saw this and the couple other threads, and honestly, that’s why I posted here. I am excited I have a little piece of an uncommon knife history and wanted to share that.
kootenay joe
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by kootenay joe »

I would like to see pictures of the Lutters knife. Although it is a 'higher end' brand the value is less than most USA made knives because there are far fewer collectors of German cutlery. Value of a collectible is based strictly on supply vs. demand.
kj
Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

Happy to share. I like it, and the AG Russell Barlow the most of the collection. I’m eager to get the Russell back from the knife repair guy.
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Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

kootenay joe wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:25 am I would like to see pictures of the Lutters knife. Although it is a 'higher end' brand the value is less than most USA made knives because there are far fewer collectors of German cutlery. Value of a collectible is based strictly on supply vs. demand.
kj
If you don’t mind, is there a thread on this site you would point me to as to cleaning and sharpening knives?
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Mumbleypeg
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Mumbleypeg »

Leo, here’s a link to several threads about cleaning. viewtopic.php?f=37&t=54157 There is an entire sub-forum about sharpening. Just click on “Forum” in the header at the top of this page, then scroll down the topics until you get to “Sharpening Forum”.

Ken
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Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

Thank you!
kootenay joe
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by kootenay joe »

Thank you for posting the Lutters. I have a few Lutters of the same pattern. Just sent one to a fellow as a gift.
kj
Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

kootenay joe wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 4:35 am Thank you for posting the Lutters. I have a few Lutters of the same pattern. Just sent one to a fellow as a gift.
kj
I can’t see why the blade on mine isn’t closing. Is it possible this blade was longer, but was trimmed back at some time and that’s why the point doesn’t rest below the scales?
I can’t see any other debris in the knife that might be preventing the knife from closing further.
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kootenay joe
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by kootenay joe »

Yes the blade has been sharpened and become a little short so tip is exposed. You might be able to file down the tang 'kick', the point where the tang rests on the spring when blade is closed. If you try this file off only a very tiny amount of steel. File off too much and the blade will sit too deep and it will be hard to access the nick to get the blade open. Only 2 file strokes at a time and then check to see where tip lies when blade is closed.
kj
Leo H
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Re: Washington Cutlery

Post by Leo H »

kootenay joe wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 10:06 pm Yes the blade has been sharpened and become a little short so tip is exposed. You might be able to file down the tang 'kick', the point where the tang rests on the spring when blade is closed. If you try this file off only a very tiny amount of steel. File off too much and the blade will sit too deep and it will be hard to access the nick to get the blade open. Only 2 file strokes at a time and then check to see where tip lies when blade is closed.
kj
Understood. It hasn’t been a physical problem yet, more of an appearance concern, and a question to be answered.
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