All About Pocket Knives

Found this today in Salisbury,MD. Pawn shop special. Pattern is slightly readable at 423480 (?), a bit proud of 3'-1/4". French ivory, sunken joints, slant bolsters, a little worn, but snappy. Wondering if I've got the pattern number correct. Thanks for any info. J.O'.

I don't know what pattern that is but I love the slanted bolsters
and the handles.

Bob

Yeah, me too. The name is great, the sunk joints are really comfortable in the hand and pocket. Thanks. J.O'.

I like it! Wish more manufacturers made sunk joints. This may help confirm or decipher the pattern number on your knife. https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/co ... ng-system/

Ken

Thanks Ken. The first 4 are good. Its the last 2 that are sketchy but I'm relatively satisfied its 480. . Wonder if anybody knows the '480" pattern. Houston Price has a fairly complete list of pattern explanations but doesn't include anything close. Maybe somebody has an old catalog. J.O'.

Hey Ridgegrass,
There is a 423480 pattern listed in the 5th Edition of the Standard Knife Collector's Guide. It is for a serpentine jack but that's about all the information it gives. The knife pictured in their guide doesn't give a good representation of the pattern. But I'd say for certain you are correct on the pattern number.
Ricky

Thanks Ricky J.O'.

Without looking at pics of knives or the knives themselves, I am almost certain that is the correct pattern number.

Robeson made very similar, if not identical, knives that had a different number.

About to leave for church. I will try to post some photos this afternoon.

Thanks RR. I was waiting for your expertise. J.O'.

Cool find, J.O'.

Here are a few other 480 pattern two blade serpentine, slant bolstered jacks and a couple of 657 pattern jacks that share the same frame. The 657's are a separate line of knives, MASTERCRAFT, that had bronze bearings on the ends of the tangs to facilitate easy and smooth opening and closing. I no longer own the MasterCraft knives, they belong to someone else on AAPK. I hope they will forgive me posting their knives.

One of the Strawberry Bone handled knives has Robeson's patented FLAME EDGE Tungsten Carbide coating, applied by a complex process and at an extremely high temperature. No other manufacturer ever used that process.

I use kitchen knives almost every day that have that Tungsten Carbide coating.

Such knives were intended to be honed on the non-coated side only, leaving a microscopic saw-tooth like serrated cutting edge.They work very well.

Here are some three blade stockman knives that have the same frame as the 480 and 657 patterns and have the pattern number 728.

I no longer own that brown bone handled PocketEze, either. It, too, belongs to someone here.

Nice thread, J.O'.

You're showing some beautiful knives, Charlie.
The "Flame-Edge" is new to me. Thank you.

Here's my one and only humble MASTERCRAFT.(823646) Coined liners and bearing tang. Some of you Robeson guys remember Dino Bakeris.(R.I.P.) He did his best to pry it away from me. We used to trade Catt's for Robeson's but I liked this one and wouldn't trade. . J.O'.

Very nice.

I also have a 646 pattern.

Interestingly, it has a PocketEze shield and has sunken joints, yet, it is a MasterCraft knife with the bronze bearings.

Bernard Levine published an article years ago in KnifeWorld Magazine re' the Flame Edge process.

It had been explained earlier in Dewey Ferguson's Romance Of Collecting... book that included the Robeson brand.

Simply put, Tungsten Carbide was "detonated" onto the knife's surface at a very high temperature and velocity.

They also sold Kinfolks hunting knives with the Flame Edge feature and I think they also made them for another maker, but I cannot recall who, at the moment.

The process was developed after Emerson Case went to Robeson from Kinfolks and they all are circa 1948 to 1960 or so, as they all have either Strawberry Bone or the later Strawberry Delrin handles.

Here is my favorite Flame Edge knife, 633295 square bolstered serpentine junior stockman. This is quite a rare knife.

Those are some very nice Robesons Charlie. I appreciate your showing them. Ricky

Thanks, Bamarick.

Dino was a great friend. We traded and bought and sold with each other for years.

We met on Ebay and eventually arranged to meet at the NKCA show in Louisville and again in Eugene, Oregon at the April OKCA Show.

He sold me most of his Terrier knives. He might have been ill when that occurred, as it was he that approached me, but he never mentioned that he was not well.

He had some beautiful knives over the years.

Most of these knives will be with me in Lexington at the Central Kentucky Knife Collectors show this coming Friday and Saturday.

Come see them. It’s a great show.