Cool old Fan Brand

[keithw]

Hi all,

I just saw this one on Ebay.
It has a 'Cast Steel' etch with a Fan stamped on one side of the tang and 'Carl Schlieper' over 'Solingen' over 'Alemania' on the other side.
I haven't seen this before.
It's a little steep for me, but if one of you guys buy it, I would love to see more pics.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-CARL-SCHL ... D&LH_BIN=1

Thanks!

[Paladin]

I believe that knife is the pattern which Schlieper called the Muleteer. Certainly one of the least common of the Schlieper knives. Not real sure about the price but I do remember paying a lot for mine and it was quite a few years back.
Good find Keith.

Ray

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

"Cast Steel" seems like an odd thing to stamp on a knife blade. They can't be cast, right?

[EyeBJoe]

The old catalogs list this knife and a few others with the stamping "Cast Steel" on the master blade. There is no additional information or explanation of what comprises Cast Steel. As info., I made what I thought was a good offer on the knife which was turned down. The Seller is holding fast to his number. It's an old and hard to find Schlieper.

Joe D.

[rea1eye]

So on the larger blade pictured, why is the blade shaped like that? What is its purpose?

Bob

[1967redrider]

It's shaped like a straight razor blade for shaving. The dished out tip is for opening the knife one-handedly by hooking the outside edge on the corner of your pants pocket or a table edge.

[kootenay joe]

Schlieper used the Fan Brand marking for knives exported to South America and possibly to Asia. Singapore had a major distributor for Schlieper knives and tools. The Dutch influence in the area around 1900 meant that Schlieper tools were highly regarded.
I think $250 is very high. There really are not that many collectors of vintage German knives in North America to support high prices.
Schlieper forged their blades so i don't know if "Cast Steel" is significant or just marketing because it looks 'neat'.
kj

[keithw]

So, I went back to the Ebay listing trying to justify paying anywhere close to the asking price for the knife and made a couple of observations:

1. I wonder if the time frame could be narrowed down by 'Alemania' stamped on the tang vs. 'Germany'. I googled around, but couldn't find any info relating as to when Alemania was discontinued as a knife marking (other than some newer Bokers).

2. I'm a little disappointed with the finish on this knife.
a. Both blades look like they either hit the liners on closing, or are very close. They are definitely not centered.
b. The butt plate is uneven.
c. There are some gaps in the backsprings.
d. There is a pretty big gap between the bone and the bolster on one side.
e. The bone in general does not look like an old Schlieper knife to me. I don't know the terminology to explain what I mean, but the bone kind of looks jagged to me. It just doesn't look as finished as the old Schliepers I've seen are.

Am I wrong on this, it might just be a coping mechanism because I can't justify buying it?

I offered $100 and was turned down immediately. Can't hurt to ask. I was reintroduced to knife collecting in 2007, and personally I've never paid $100 for a knife. I know lots of knives are worth many times that, but I've just drawn a line there, and so far I've been able to be pretty satisfied with my collection, working within those parameters. I know that sometime in the future, that will have to change, as prices seem to keep rising. But for now....

[EyeBJoe]

Keith, your observations on this knife are certainly accurate. As opinion only and from reviewing the old catalogs that I have on Schlieper cutlery, I believe this knife was representative of a lesser quality within the line of knives. Doesn’t mean they are not good knives, just not finished with the precision of their first quality knives. However, for us collectors of Schlieper cutlery the rarity of the knife creates the interest, again in my opinion. It is definitely one of the very oldest Schliepers. Over my 44 years of collecting Schlieper and Eye Brand knives, I have only seen three available knives within this sector of their offerings, and Paladin (Ray) owns the the best one of those three. I wouldn’t stress too much over this one. The Seller is obviously very proud of it (his prerogative) and maybe someone will unlock the purse to give him his price. Your eye for fit and finish will continue to serve you well as you add to your collection.

On another note, I admire your purchasing parameters and restraint in having an upper limit on your purchases. I know I have had buyer’s remorse more than once and wished I had had more discipline in not obsessing over a knife and stepping outside what I knew was above my pocket book. All in all I remain proud of my collection, questionable purchases and all, and now have the challenge of beginning to divide it among two sons and two grandsons. I hope you will have the same challenge someday.

Best wishes,

Joe D.

[kootenay joe]

As a former collector of Schlieper knives, i agree with EyeBJoe. There are many ebay sellers who list a vintage knife for many times the usual market value. I think it is important for us knife collectors to 'stick to our guns' and not cave in and pay these out of line prices no matter how much you want the knife. Yes sometimes we pay somewhat more than the usual value, but we should not be paying 2-3X the usual price. And oddly enough once we back off thinking about the way over priced knife, another example often shows up at a more reasonable price.
kj