Is this Western legit?

[OLDE CUTLER]

I picked up this Western whittler recently in the POS exchange. My donor sent along a note that he thought this one was a fantasy knife. The only thought I have is whether the 2 smaller blades are original to this knife or have one or both been replaced with something non Western?

[Thomasg]

It could be legit but it does not show up in any of my catalogue pages from the knife maker who went west .perhaps it could have been offered in a catalogue I have not viewed .lThe frame looks to be the same the as the Mechanics carpenter knife. No.461. The covers are similar to the western pearl type offered on other western knifes the E~Bay seller does not have a great resume .attachment=1]IMG_3890.jpeg[/attachment]

[OLDE CUTLER]

It could be legit but it does not show up in any of my catalogue pages from the knife maker who went west .perhaps it could have been offered in a catalogue I have not viewed .lThe frame looks to be the same the as the Mechanics carpenter knife. No.461. The covers are similar to the western pearl type offered on other western knifes the E~Bay seller does not have a great resume .attachment=1]IMG_3890.jpeg[/attachment]IMG_3894.jpegIMG_3891.png

I found this old AAPK thread that shows at the top of the page what appears to be an identical Western whittler. Has the same handle material and the blade layout also appears the same. The knife pictured in the old thread appears to be outgassing, and that is what is being discussed there..
viewtopic.php?p=249562&hilit=Whittler#p249562

[Thomasg]

It could be legit but it does not show up in any of my catalogue pages from the knife maker who went west .perhaps it could have been offered in a catalogue I have not viewed .lThe frame looks to be the same the as the Mechanics carpenter knife. No.461. The covers are similar to the western pearl type offered on other western knifes the E~Bay seller does not have a great resume .attachment=1]IMG_3890.jpeg[/attachment]IMG_3894.jpegIMG_3891.png

I found this old AAPK thread that shows at the top of the page what appears to be an identical Western whittler. Has the same handle material and the blade layout also appears the same. The knife pictured in the old thread appears to be outgassing, and that is what is being discussed there..
viewtopic.php?p=249562&hilit=Whittler#p249562

The western boulder knifes have what I believe is better carbon steel blades than any case I have ever owned It should be great for every day carry or put up in your collection . Some of them do gas’s out but I have several WS that are from 1931-1950 that only show a bit of shrinkage .the only one I had hunting gassing I sent to Reverend and had red oak covers put on .I do think now that indeed it is as it left the factory and original .In do hope you enjoy being the knifes new care taker .

[zzyzzogeton]

I've been looking through all my non-TKMWWW documentation as well as through TKMWWW since Olde Cutler asked me about it in a PM and have been unable to find an EXACT match to his knife.

It appears to be a 2346 from the 1950 catalog with the the small blades replaced. The 461 brought up by Thomasg from the 1959-1960 catalog pages has the same blade configuration. Basically, the same knife re-model-numbered.

Most Western 3 blade knives have 2 blades on the main blade end, so this eliminates the large number of 3xx models.

The main blade stamp of simply WESTERN over BOULDER COLO would imply a post-WW2 offering, which matches my 1950s suspicion. MOST, but not all, pre-WW2 folders had WESTERN STATES or WESTACO or WEST-CUT stamps. I have seen very few (almost none) pre-WW2 folders that had the simple WESTERN stamp. Fixed blades out the yazoo though.

The lack of a model number would also peg it as pre-1955 as model numbers started appearing that year.

[OLDE CUTLER]

I've been looking through all my non-TKMWWW documentation as well as through TKMWWW since Olde Cutler asked me about it in a PM and have been unable to find an EXACT match to his knife.

It appears to be a 2346 from the 1950 catalog with the the small blades replaced. The 461 brought up by Thomasg from the 1959-1960 catalog pages has the same blade configuration. Basically, the same knife re-model-numbered.

Most Western 3 blade knives have 2 blades on the main blade end, so this eliminates the large number of 3xx models.

The main blade stamp of simply WESTERN over BOULDER COLO would imply a post-WW2 offering, which matches my 1950s suspicion. MOST, but not all, pre-WW2 folders had WESTERN STATES or WESTACO or WEST-CUT stamps. I have seen very few (almost none) pre-WW2 folders that had the simple WESTERN stamp. Fixed blades out the yazoo though.

The lack of a model number would also peg it as pre-1955 as model numbers started appearing that year.

Thanks zz, I knew you would have some info on this. I can say one thing, there are at least 2 of these, the one pictured in the link I provided to the 2011 AAPK post is exactly like mine. The scales on mine have some shrinkage, so I will have to keep an eye out for outgassing.

[zzyzzogeton]

I've been looking through all my non-TKMWWW documentation as well as through TKMWWW since Olde Cutler asked me about it in a PM and have been unable to find an EXACT match to his knife.

It appears to be a 2346 from the 1950 catalog with the the small blades replaced. The 461 brought up by Thomasg from the 1959-1960 catalog pages has the same blade configuration. Basically, the same knife re-model-numbered.

Most Western 3 blade knives have 2 blades on the main blade end, so this eliminates the large number of 3xx models.

The main blade stamp of simply WESTERN over BOULDER COLO would imply a post-WW2 offering, which matches my 1950s suspicion. MOST, but not all, pre-WW2 folders had WESTERN STATES or WESTACO or WEST-CUT stamps. I have seen very few (almost none) pre-WW2 folders that had the simple WESTERN stamp. Fixed blades out the yazoo though.

The lack of a model number would also peg it as pre-1955 as model numbers started appearing that year.

Thanks zz, I knew you would have some info on this. I can say one thing, there are at least 2 of these, the one pictured in the link I provided to the 2011 AAPK post is exactly like mine. The scales on mine have some shrinkage, so I will have to keep an eye out for outgassing.

Well, if there ARE 2 or more of them, it is possible that they were part of a very obscure 23XX pattern that wasn't included in the catalogs.

OR the one in the 2011 AAPK post and this one are the same knife, somehow. 13 years could account for some more scale shrinkage.

[Thomasg]

I've been looking through all my non-TKMWWW documentation as well as through TKMWWW since Olde Cutler asked me about it in a PM and have been unable to find an EXACT match to his knife.

It appears to be a 2346 from the 1950 catalog with the the small blades replaced. The 461 brought up by Thomasg from the 1959-1960 catalog pages has the same blade configuration. Basically, the same knife re-model-numbered.

Most Western 3 blade knives have 2 blades on the main blade end, so this eliminates the large number of 3xx models.

The main blade stamp of simply WESTERN over BOULDER COLO would imply a post-WW2 offering, which matches my 1950s suspicion. MOST, but not all, pre-WW2 folders had WESTERN STATES or WESTACO or WEST-CUT stamps. I have seen very few (almost none) pre-WW2 folders that had the simple WESTERN stamp. Fixed blades out the yazoo though.

The lack of a model number would also peg it as pre-1955 as model numbers started appearing that year.

That’s some great information ZZ . I found this ballon whittler with similar blade configuration as The O.P knife while fishing around E- bay today .I have always been under the impression that whittler knifes all had one coping blade but I see now that some westerns were offered with a pen blade .

[OLDE CUTLER]

I've been looking through all my non-TKMWWW documentation as well as through TKMWWW since Olde Cutler asked me about it in a PM and have been unable to find an EXACT match to his knife.

It appears to be a 2346 from the 1950 catalog with the the small blades replaced. The 461 brought up by Thomasg from the 1959-1960 catalog pages has the same blade configuration. Basically, the same knife re-model-numbered.

Most Western 3 blade knives have 2 blades on the main blade end, so this eliminates the large number of 3xx models.

The main blade stamp of simply WESTERN over BOULDER COLO would imply a post-WW2 offering, which matches my 1950s suspicion. MOST, but not all, pre-WW2 folders had WESTERN STATES or WESTACO or WEST-CUT stamps. I have seen very few (almost none) pre-WW2 folders that had the simple WESTERN stamp. Fixed blades out the yazoo though.

The lack of a model number would also peg it as pre-1955 as model numbers started appearing that year.

Thanks zz, I knew you would have some info on this. I can say one thing, there are at least 2 of these, the one pictured in the link I provided to the 2011 AAPK post is exactly like mine. The scales on mine have some shrinkage, so I will have to keep an eye out for outgassing.

Well, if there ARE 2 or more of them, it is possible that they were part of a very obscure 23XX pattern that wasn't included in the catalogs.

OR the one in the 2011 AAPK post and this one are the same knife, somehow. 13 years could account for some more scale shrinkage.

I had briefly considered that they could be one and the same, but after enlarging the link photos and comparing, the swirl pattern in the handle material does not match mine. Thanks for your help guys.

[Thomasg]

Thanks zz, I knew you would have some info on this. I can say one thing, there are at least 2 of these, the one pictured in the link I provided to the 2011 AAPK post is exactly like mine. The scales on mine have some shrinkage, so I will have to keep an eye out for outgassing.

Well, if there ARE 2 or more of them, it is possible that they were part of a very obscure 23XX pattern that wasn't included in the catalogs.

OR the one in the 2011 AAPK post and this one are the same knife, somehow. 13 years could account for some more scale shrinkage.

I had briefly considered that they could be one and the same, but after enlarging the link photos and comparing, the swirl pattern in the handle material does not match mine. Thanks for your help guys.

I believe this knife in the AAPK .store offered by grasshopper is the same knife but with correct blade configuration.