G46-6 questions

In 1911, H. N. Platts, was able to draw on his extensive friendships and family connections in the cutlery world to start Western States Cutlery and Manufacturing of Boulder Colorado. At first only a jobbing business, by 1920 construction and machinery purchases were underway to begin manufacture of knives. Through name changes--to Western States Cutlery Co. in 1953, then Western Cutlery Co. in 1956--and moves first across town and later to Longmont Colorado, the company stayed under the leadership of the Platt family until 1984. In that year, the company was sold to Coleman, becoming Coleman-Western. Eventually purchased by Camillus in 1991, Western continued until Camillus expired in 2007.
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steve99f
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G46-6 questions

Post by steve99f »

Picked this up at a small local show yesterday. Shows a lot of surface crud but all there. Double steel guard, 6 inch blade, synthetic pommel with 2 pins. What I want to learn is: material for the pommel, about when it was made, and is the sheath original to the knife. Love the profile on this blade.
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Western G46-6 b.jpg
Western G46-6 pommel.jpg
Western G46-6 stamp.jpg
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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by Gunsil »

Hi Steve, pommel is bakelite, knife circa WW2, and sheath not original. Of course if I messed up here ZZZY will have more exact info. I see The Forks will be back in July.
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XX Case XX
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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by XX Case XX »

That's a real nice knife you have there Steve. Congratulations on a great find. ::nod::

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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by steve99f »

Thanks Gene and Mike, appreciate the info and kind remarks. The Allentown show is on as far as I know Gene. Fortunately for me, my son and DIL delivered their second son last Friday, 3-4 weeks early , clearing my July schedule big time. ::tu:: Both are doing well. :D
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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by zzyzzogeton »

Gene is pretty much right.... Replacement non-Western sheath, although the sheath is from the late 40s/early 50s era.

MOST flat Western Sheaths up until some time in the mid-1950s were double stitched. The 1950 catalog shows double stitching on flat sheaths and single stitching on tubular/taco fold sheaths. The 1958 catalog only shows 2 sheaths - 1 double stitched flat sheath and 1 single stitched folded/taco sheath.

By 1968, all but the L88 are shown as having single stitched sheaths. This is probably because they still had L88s for sale from the last run of them some time after 1955.

I suspect that the shift to single stitching across the board was due to the old double stitch sewing machines dieing and being replaced with newer single stitch machines.

So circa WW2, but I would put it AFTER WW2 was over and before civilian production ramped up.

So late 1945 to early 1946. Here's why.

The steel guard says WW2 production. The full guard say G46-6.

The brown swirl bakelite pommel on a Shark (G46-6) or Baby Shark (G46-5) say 1945, since that is when the plastic pommel or plastic pommel/guard knives SEEM to have come out based on an ebay sale of 6 Baby Sharks with plastic pommels and guards in a box with the government contract number from 1945 on the box.

The pommel say G46-5 since it doesn't have a lanyard hole in it. All contract versions of the G46-6 had lanyard holes. This tells me this is a "parts knife" in that Western put it together after the war was over using leftovers from the cancelled contracts. So it is a post-WW2 G46-6 with a G46-5 pommel.

The Shark and Baby Shark used the same size pommels, just one kind had a lanyard hole and the other didn't.

So your knife is kinda rare in one sense, but not super-duper valuable in a "rare" sense.

Would I buy it to go in my Western collection as representative of the "post-war parts knife" era? Yes, but I wouldn't pay a premium for it.
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steve99f
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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by steve99f »

Thank you ZZY, finally found a rare knife! ::ds:: I do appreciate the knowledge you share.
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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by Colonel26 »

Steve that’s a fantastic old Western. In my opinion the shark is one of the best feeling, most balanced knives in hand out there. Great catch!
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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by steve99f »

Thanks Colonel, can't argue with you about that. It's my second Western fixed blade, the other being a 66.
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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by XX Case XX »

steve99f wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:56 pm Picked this up at a small local show yesterday.
Steve:

Is this the same knife as the one you just picked-up? https://www.ebay.com/itm/294225307809?_ ... %7Ciid%3A1
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Re: G46-6 questions

Post by steve99f »

Hi Mike,

Same model but different guard, steel not brass, and the pommel is bakelite rather than aluminium and has a different profile. The leather washer handle is similar but mine has no white spacers, black and red only.. There is a copy of my knife, actually 2, on ebay now. I think my search term was "vintage Kabar sheath knives".
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