Morseth Knives

[kootenay joe]

Harry Morseth is one of the 'Father's' of modern day custom made fixed blades in USA. He made his first knife to sell in 1934 and he retired from knife making in 1966 and died a year later in 1967.
Steve Morseth was his grandson who began making knives along with Harry in 1961 and he continued to make knives until his death in 1995.
There are also "Morseth" knives made for AGR since 1971 but these were not ever made by Harry or Steve.
Recently i watched an ebay auction for 1 Harry Morseth knife and 3 Steve Morseth knives. All were mint with original sheaths and of similar size.
I expected the Harry knife to sell rather high. But it did not. It sold for $356. All 3 of the Steve Morseth knives sold from $390 - $430.
Are Steve Morseth knives more sought after than those of Harry Morseth ?
Is there a Morseth collector here who could shed some light on this ? (not the AGR "Morseth" knives)
Any insight at all will be appreciated.
kj

[Quick Steel]

kj, May I venture a guess while waiting for someone with concrete knowledge? Given the years of his work from 61 to 95, perhaps Steve's work and name were simply better known to the more recent generations.

[Modern Slip Joints]

I am not a collector of them and only know the price of the Steve Morseth I bought new in a retail store inside a shopping mall in an affluent area in 1981, $150 + tax. It had a stag handle with double guards and 7" blade. The half dozen Randals on the shelf were $120 to $200.

Other than being made by a famous name custom maker with a stag handle my Steve Morseth had two selling points, a 3 layer laminate blade that was claimed would spring back to straight after being bent 90 degrees and inside its leather sheath a fiber glass liner with retention tabs that snapped over the hand guards. Did the Harry Morseth knife in the auction you watch have those features? There's also the question of condition and whether the old knife was restored by sanding the blade, etc.

[kootenay joe]

The Harry M. knife has the original sheath but the retention strap/snap might be a replacement. I was mistaken saying near mint. It has been used whereas the Steve M. knives were definitely never used. Likely the Harry M. being a used knife accounts for it's modest price. I had thought that a Harry Morseth knife even in well used condition would still have a higher value due to it's historic significance.
The top pictures are the Harry M. knife and lower ones one of the Steve M. knives.
kj

[Modern Slip Joints]

I do not see any indication that the Harry M. has my Steve M. knife's laminated blade or safety sheath. My Steve M. had no need for a snap strap. It took a strong tug to break the knife out of the fiberglass liner's spring like grip. The pictures are clear enough that I think the two different metal colors would show if the Harry Morseth blade was laminated. Did the ad description write if it was laminated? IMO a plain carbon steel blade would not excite as many bidders.

One auction for a few knives is not enough data. If you are considering buying I'd keep window shopping for awhile.

[kootenay joe]

The Harry M. is a Clinton WA. c. 1958 knife. Sheath is: "Original Safe-Lok Pat. Numbered sheath". There was no mention of steel type. I have read that Harry made/used a variety of blades, only some of which were the laminated Brusletto ones.
kj

[tongueriver]

The Harry M. is a Clinton WA. c. 1958 knife. Sheath is: "Original Safe-Lok Pat. Numbered sheath". There was no mention of steel type. I have read that Harry made/used a variety of blades, only some of which were the laminated Brusletto ones.
kj

There is some indication that the op knife was mfg 1961-1965 based on the guard, but this is a grey zone. There is a hardcover book on the Morseth knives, published in Italy and a little hard to come by. I have it and have studied it at length. I think Morseth has faded a bit into the past but if you can get a H. Morseth in fine shape for $300 or less you have done well. Without the aforementioned book one would have a hard time identifying these knives EXACTLY, or even closely. I have two of the original Harrys and they are superb knives. Roland is correct about various blade steels having been used. Buy the book if you are interested in Morseth. THE KEEN EDGE OF PERFECTION, J.R. Beall.

[kootenay joe]

Calvin, thank you. I did not know that you know about Morseth knives. Now i do so i might be asking you questions !
kj

[orvet]

I realize this is an older topic but it's the most recent topic I could find on Morseth knives.

I was visiting a small town in the eastern part of Oregon last weekend, near Pendleton Oregon. A guy showed me these two knives he had for sale, one marked S Morseth and the other marked Leach.

Of course I was aware of Harry Morseth, but not of his son Steve. I took pictures of both knives and I will post them here hoping that you, Cal or KJ can tell me more about one or both of them, because I know nothing of either one of them.

Pardon the cell phone pictures, but that's all I had with me.
Here is the S Morseth knife:

Here is the knife marked Leach:

I look forward to hearing from you guys or knowledgeable in either of these knives. If you can authenticate either of them I would appreciate it. If you can give me approximate current market values that would be a bonus!
Thank you in advance, I appreciate your expertise.

[kennedy knives]

The Harry M. is a Clinton WA. c. 1958 knife. Sheath is: "Original Safe-Lok Pat. Numbered sheath". There was no mention of steel type. I have read that Harry made/used a variety of blades, only some of which were the laminated Brusletto ones.
kj

KJ from what I have learned is that Harry had an order of the Brusletto Steel before world war 2 and they didn't fill his order due to the war.
He did finally receive the order after the war which is why he was using other steel .

[tongueriver]

Steve Morseth was Harry's grandson, not his son. Meanwhile, I believe the knife in question is a fake. I have a big hardbound book on the Morseth knives and there is nothing in there that is even remotely like that knife. The grind, the handle, the guard, the spacers and the stamp are nothing like either Morseth ever did. After Steve sold out to AG Russell, several great cutlers made "Morseth" knives for him, but nothing like that. The other knife in question is unfamiliar to me, but both knives appear to be made by the same person.

[kootenay joe]

Quote Calvin: " I believe the knife in question is a fake"
I think you are referring to the knives posted by Dale, not the 2 knives i posted higher up ?
kj

[tongueriver]

Quote Calvin: " I believe the knife in question is a fake"
I think you are referring to the knives posted by Dale, not the 2 knives i posted higher up ?
kj

Correct; sorry about the confusion.

[orvet]

Thank you Cal, you confirmed what I suspected. With the two knives lying side-by-side on the counter there was a noticeable similarity not only in the way the tang stamps were made but also in the grind lines on the blades themselves.

I knew Wayne Morseth was a custom knife maker, I was not aware that he also had a grandson who made them. So the S Morseth was unfamiliar and in fact made me slightly suspicious.

The Leach name did not mean anything to me but the fact that the grind was so similar to the Morseth knife I decided I would pass on them but on second thought decided to take some pictures. I would also say that the handle on the second knife was not well done the fit and finish was pretty poor in my opinion. The fact that the antique dealer who was selling them (they were on consignment from another dealer), presented them as being of equal value made me even more reticent regarding the deal.

Thanks again for sharing your information!