A Tickler

[FRJ]

Here's a nice old Robeson that has tickled a stone or two. Solid celluloid covers. 5 inches closed.

Thanks for looking.

[Gunsil]

Boy, I do love those old Robeson bolster/liner locks!!

[RobesonsRme.com]

Very nice.

We do not see very many Robeson bolster-lock Ticklers.

I've never seen one in celluloid and the first digit in the pattern number, "8" was used to denote Patterned Celluloid.

And I've seen that pattern material on other Robeson knives.

Charlie

[Doc B]

Very nice! I like the way you photographed it, too!

[Robo]

My first two Robeson's--Both covered with the their famous strawberry bone-- put me off to the Company because they were so poorly hafted. But redemption is only an E-bay find away. Here are two recent finds. Check out the awesomely odd chicklet bolsters and tiny end cap on the first.

Love the bolster lock! Hope to find one sooner than later.

[FRJ]

My first two Robeson's--Both covered with the their famous strawberry bone-- put me off to the Company because they were so poorly hafted. But redemption is only an E-bay find away. Here are two recent finds. Check out the awesomely odd chicklet bolsters and tiny end cap on the first.

Love the bolster lock! Hope to find one sooner than later.

I must admit that I don't recall anyone being unhappy with the end result of a manufactured Robeson knife.
I'm glad you found some acceptable knives.
The knife with the short cap is unusual to me. They are beautiful knives. Thanks for showing them.

Thank you very much Doc.
Thank you, Charlie, for your confirming and complimentary post.
Thanks, Gene, I love them too and I'm glad you do.
What a unique lock!

[Gunsil]

Sadly, in a fit of needing some cash I sold my Robeson bolster lock fish knife with bone scales and a spear point blade with scaler and bottle cap lifter on the top of the blade. At least it went to Brett and Kathy who really liked it. I haven't heard from them for a while or seen them around the shows. Last time I talked to Brett he was back into guns more than knives.

[Robo]

FRJ--

I have a theory that I'll probably never be able to prove: I think, like in the case of the two Strawberry Bone ticklers I purchased, that a sports store/harware store/pawn shop clerk somewhere fifty years ago set aside the occasional knife that somehow got past quality control but shouldn't have. Then for whatever reason they were never sent back to the factory, but were never sold either. At some point, the store shut down and sold off all it's stock and those brand new, unused but less than perfect knives ended up in the collectors market place and we buy them. So the imperfections of these knives ended up being the reason they come to us so well preserved!

I have a tendency to over-react to an entire company if I purchase a knife that is flawed in some way. It's not particularly mature. But like I said Robeson ticklers are back up on the top of the heap in my collection. I'll post pics of the others when I get off the road, I'm sure you'll like them too. Thanks again for sharing!

--Robo

PS: The square bolstered one is a "Demonstrator" I forgot to mention that.

[FRJ]

Gene, it's unfortunate when we find ourselves in those needy situations.
I certainly have been there myself and sold some guns a good while back. That stings.
You mentioned Brett and Kathy. They are really nice folks as anyone knows who remembers then here. I wish they would come back to the forum and show their wonderful knives and share their knife knowledge and experiences.
I hope another bolster lock comes your way.

[FRJ]

Robo, I think your theory is quite solid. That is something that could very easily happen.
I have a vintage knife that is unfinished from the factory that somehow got out the door.
It's kind of neat.
I would like to see pictures of your other knives.
Thanks.

[RobesonsRme.com]

I will be the first to tell you that Robeson's Strawberry Bone handled knives, made from 1948 to 1959 or 60, do not measure up to the quality of the older pre-WWII knives.

Emerson Case had been hired in about 1940 to manage a failing company on behalf of the new investor/owner, Saul Frankel. He was made president of the company in 1948.

They lowered the standards in order to compete with all the post-war import knives that were flooding the country.

They glued the "ROBESON" shields, instead of pinning them on some knives, but not all. That might be date related.

The blade grinds were not as complex as on the older knives.

They drastically decreased the number of patterns made and dropped completely complex multi-blade gentlemen's knives.

And they went to a strawberry colored Delrin in 1960, a decidedly unattractive material, IMHO.

However, I have never owned a Strawberry Bone handled knife that was so poorly constructed that I would divest myself of it.

And I have dozens of them.

Here is my Strawberry 612407 Tickler. It is just about a perfect knife. I got this one from Joe Seale many years ago. This one has a pinned shield.

As to the Tickler above with the short bolsters and that bow-tie "ShurEdge" shield. I can just about guarantee you it is stamped ROBESON / DEMONSTRATOR.

With a little effort, one could put together a very interesting and almost unique collection of Robeson Demonstrator knives, either as a stand-alone collection or as a subset of a larger Robeson collection.

And here is my Robeson bone handled bolster-lock Tickler and Fish Knife.

Charlie Noyes

[FRJ]

Thank you for that informative post, Charlie. I found it interesting.

The Strawberry Tickler is truly beautiful and your other knives are no less so.
It's always a pleasure to see pictures of your fine Robesons.
Thank you.

[Robo]

Charlie: You are correct, sir. Marked "Robeson Demonstrator". Did the rough black handle material give it away? Also did Robeson expand the term to also mean prototype? This one is odd enough looking that I thought maybe it was a prototype. I want to dig in to your post and ask more questions later. --Photo number two is stunning--really captures the slightly off-kilter beauty of the liner lock

FRJ: Thanks for your thoughts! Here's a group shot of my Robesons--take notice of the ultra rare golden shield on the faux strawberry bone...or maybe it's just brass...

Oh, and... a few of the Linerlock I just purchased from The Bay!!!

Yup! I'm finally on topic here!

Be well, Bros...

[FRJ]

Robo, that is a beautiful lineup of Ticklers.

Congratulations on your bolster lock. That's a great looking knife.

Thanks for the post.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Robo; Just about every Robeson Demonstrator marked knife I have seen had those pressure molded hard rubber handles and the ones that didn't, I'm pretty sure had been re-handled. (Hint: They all belonged to the same dealer)

And I have never seen that "ShurEdge" stamped bow tie shield on anything other than a Demonstrator.

Charlie

[Robo]

Robo; Just about every Robeson Demonstrator marked knife I have seen had those pressure molded hard rubber handles and... (Hint: They all belonged to the same dealer) Charlie

Charlie, could you expound on this a bit? Are you saying that a dealer like-- say-- L.L. Bean--ordered up a bunch of Robeson pocket knives and had them all made with that type of covers?

FRJ: Thank you! I got the bolster lock and love it. I'm totally into the narrow turkish-like clip blade on the tickler frame. Utica made them on their's as an option as it turns out in either a flat grind or saber grind, as well as the traditional clip. They sold them to lots of companies including HSB, Cutino, Henry Sears, WR Case & Sons. But you don't see this type of long thin blade much on other ticklers. So finding a similar one on this frame made my year.

One thing I wanted to run by you all: does it strike you that the design of this lock should have never gotten past the idea stage? I can't think of a stranger, cooler looking bolster--don't get me wrong--but as soon as I had the knife in my hands I became aware of the fact that while in the full open, locked position, the bone cover directly above the most engaged portion of the lock is totally exposed. It seems like even a moderate amount of thumb pressure on that spot would fairly quickly result in a handle breakage. I'm a lefty so that is where my thumb would be while using the knife. But even a righty it seems would have their index finger pressing on that spot. Can't wait to hear your thoughts! Here are a couple photos:

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Robo, I agree with you on this not getting past the idea stage. I have never seen a bolster lock yet that made sense to me. This one is better than the bolster lock where the entire bolster has to be moved to unlock the knife. It takes too much pressure and it’s too close to that sharp cutting edge to be safe. I’ve had a few in the past and sold them all. Never felt like I could safely open to the fully locked position knowing how dangerous it would be to my thumb if I slipped trying to move that bolster to close it.
SSk

[FRJ]

does it strike you that the design of this lock should have never gotten past the idea stage?

It certainly makes you wonder about all the challenges that faced Robeson with the design of this bolster.
But they did it and they did so many other outside the box machinations as well. And they did them well.
One of the reasons I admire the company so much.
But, yes, I think this design is right out there on the edge.
And I have been alarmed thinking I was pressing on the bone there. I'm very careful with that.

Robo, the pictures of your Robeson ShurEdge are really nice. The background and the text and the knife come together very well.
Love that blade.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Robeson used that pressure-molded black rubber handle material on multiple patterns of knives. I have no explanation for its use. It was unattractive, it will shrink, over time, but it must have been cheap.

I've seen it on Barlows, jacks, utility knives, etc, and it was on most DEMONSTRATOR marked knives. I say most, because I have a small pearl-handled DEMONSTRATOR.

I used to see a dealer at knife shows that always had a nice selection of Robesons. Problem was, he cleaned them all and buffed the blades to a bright shiny finish. At one time, he had three large frame coke bottle folding hunters and all three were DEMONSTRATOR marked and had red colored bone handles. Not strawberry bone, but close. I always thought he had re-handled them, though he claimed they were original. Those three were the only bone handled Robeson DEMONSTRATORS I've ever seen.

I have stated here multiple times about the unsupported bone overlying that bolster lock. It's an interesting design and created a subset of very collectible knives, but I would never EDC one.

And I don't let potential buyers at knife shows open and close the knives themselves.

That is, indeed, a nice Robeson bolster-lock tickler you've posted above.

Charlie

[Robo]

Thanks Charlie!--I'll have to go back through some posts and glean some more knowledge. Is this the first post with pictures of frame locks? Also, I forgot to mention one big positive about mine--awesome opening snap--although it's more like a loud click--love it!

Also, could you expound on the whole "Demonstrator" term. Is that a knife provided to a store for cutomers to handle? or is it like a salesman's sample? or a term they used for prototype? Thanks.

[Robo]

FRJ: Excellant point! I love it when a company--in an understandably conservative industry-- puts even a little twist on a pattern that makes it stand out from the pack. Like I've mentioned, I'm a pattern head so I study the tickler pattern very closely. Each company's version tends to be slightly different in most cases, it seems, but then you get companies that push the envelope in a new and interesting direction like the Robeson frame lock, or the square top tickler, or a Western States tickler with the ever so subtly tweeked bolster shape or the Cattaraugus 11 series (which you could argue are a crossover pattern) or Kabar's Pirate Switch or Camillus's Fluted bolstered beauty. discovering these Is a big part of what this collecting thing is all about to me.

[Robo]

SSK, Yeah, man, and with this one you have to keep in mind the exposed bone factor when you're closing it as well as the safety factor. And the biggest shame is that the snap or click on this one I just got is awesome. I wanna just sit there and open and close it but I can't--too risky! Ha Ha! But every collection has to have its queens you admire from afar and it's beaters you don't have to treat so preciously--am I right?

[FRJ]

Is this the first post with pictures of frame locks?

Here are a couple I have from another thread in this forum.

[Robo]

Killer Bone! Thanks for sharing, FRJ.

[FRJ]

Two Robesons.