Any help ID ing this old pocket knife with built in quill cutter would be greatly appreciated

[JSCNC]

Hi, I have been unable to find any information on this pocket knife with built-in metal Quill Cutter. I have spent hours looking on the internet. Any help with getting information on this knife would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Cheers!

[just bob]

I would contact these folks they have a lot of antique pencil sharpeners and I'll bet could help you. There is a contact us link on the page. Send them your pics and let us know what you found out.

http://branfordhouseantiques.com/cgi-bi ... s&pc=13541

[Mumbleypeg]

Very interesting and unusual knife. I've never seen anything like it. But Ray (knife7knut) probably has a dozen of them!

Ken

[espn77]

Very interesting and unusual knife. I've never seen anything like it. But Ray (knife7knut) probably has a dozen of them!

Ken

Funny you said that. I thought the exact same thing.

[supratentorial]

It is for cutting a quill, not sharpening a pencil. Nice find!

[supratentorial]

Here's an example (not mine) from Joseph Rodgers with a quill cutter...

I don't know the make on your knife. In your photo with the magnifier, I can't make out what it says on the stamp.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Correct. It's a quill cutter, i.e., to cut a quill into the end of a goose feather or any feather of like size.

I have one made from a solid block of ebony with quill machine at one end and two pen blades at the other.

Charlie

[bestgear]

You learn something new almost every day at AAPK.....very cool.

[zzyzzogeton]

So these are "real" pen knives.

[garddogg56]

I'm glad it's a quil cutter cause all my knives are pencil sharpeners

[FRJ]

I'm glad it's a quil cutter cause all my knives are pencil sharpeners

That is exactly what I thought too, Dogg.

[stagman]

Ken,,,when I read that Ray would have a dozen of em..it just
cracked me plum up...one, cause its a rare knife I would think...and two,,
you are dead on right, I bet he does
Ray only lives about 10 miles from my summer home in Michigan...
I still give him a hard time and don't let him forget, he was going thru a neighborhood
garage sale and saw this Stag Case XX Knife-Axe combo gleaming in the am sunlite
and seen a sign, it was $20.00 bucks, sheath and all
There was no where to stop and cars behind him in the street so he had to pull around corner
to park, ran over there as some other guy was walking out the driveway with it
Some collection Ol Ray has, thats for sure

Will
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/stagman

[Mumbleypeg]

JSCNC, welcome to AAPK! And thanks for posting your knife here so we could see it, and have some fun.

Since you haven't been here long (unless you've been "lurking" without joining), you may not know about Ray (AAPK forum member "knife7knut). He's been an AAPK forum member a long time, and has the most extensive collection of knives you'll probably ever see. The "inside joke" you have sparked is that it seems like whenever someone posts an unusual knife like the one you posted, Ray posts pictures of several similar or identical knives from his collection.

Hope you will stick around and post some more knives.

Ken

[gsmith7158]

Ray probably does have several but that's the first one I have ever seen. Very cool knife.

[JSCNC]

Wow! Thanks so much to all of you for your help! I am brand new to this forum as of yesterday. In fact, I know nothing about collectible knives. I've carried a buck folding pocket knife every day of my life since I was around 11, except for when I wear a suit and carry a Camillus penknife. That is pretty much my folding knives experience.

I really should have been able to figure out that this is a quill cutter and not a pencil sharpener, given that I found it in a box with half a dozen quills! This was one of several boxes of old things that I found at an estate sale a while back.

I started gently cleaning around the letters stamped on the tang with a No. 2 pencil. The first letter looks like an "N" the last two letters are either an "O" or a "Q" and a "W" which is pretty clear.

While I have probably gotten the collecting folding knives bug from this experience, I would prefer to get this knife in the hands of a collector that will fully appreciate it's uniqueness. If any of you guys are interested, I would be glad to let it go for less than market value. I live in Asheville, NC and wouldn't mind driving an hour or two to meet up with an interested collector. We also have a vacation home in Blowing Rock that I will be at in the next week or so. I am always looking for an excuse to go for a drive in my car.

Thanks again for all of your replies!

** Also, just posted better photos in my gallery.

[JSCNC]

Yikes! I have become obsessed with figuring out the letters stamped on the tang and who made this knife. Here is a photo after more cleaning and with a real camera and macro lens. Anyone know what the letters are.... S N O W, S N Q W, etc? Thanks!!

[Mumbleypeg]

Goins' Encyclopedia of Cutlery Markings has listings for:

J.P. Snow & Co. Chicago Ill. c 1861 This firm also had offices in Hartford, Connecticut.

Levi T. Snow c 1897-1909 Located in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1909 L.F.&C. took over the "Universal" trademark from them.

Otis Snow Rockville Conn. Germany. (No additional information given.)

So take your pick.

Ken

[knife7knut]

Contrary to popular speculation I DO NOT have a dozen of these. An interesting piece to be sure.
I would agree that the mark is that of SNOW and that the lettering style and the blade shape would indicate(to me anyway)of a manufacturing date around the mid-1800's.Wish there were some clearer pics of the operating mechanism.
I have one that I thought was a quill maker/ink eraser with a patent date of 1865 on it but Dimitri thought it was a letter opener. I still think it is a quill maker.
The handle of this one is very unusual. It looks like a couple pieces of ivory riveted together and one piece has some very unusual coloring.Not sure whether it is natural or age has created the coloring. Whatever the case it is a very nice piece!

[knife7knut]

Here are some pictures of the knife I was referencing.The patent date is 1869 rather than 1865 as I had stated before. Chalk that one up to a severe case of CRS.
Anyway the way I believe it works is the grooves cut in the top and bottom of the handles serve as a guide to the quill.The eraser blade has two points that sit within the groove and by pushing the quill along the groove will contact the point and split the quill point.
On the side there is a sharpened edge coming back from the points that can be used to cut into the quill and shape the point. On the rear of the knife is a rubber eraser(now hardened by age).

[JSCNC]

Thank you Ray and Ken! I'll get some better photos of the mechanism and the handle and post soon. Thanks again! Jay

[JSCNC]

Just finished getting good photos with detail. Here is a link to the hi-res images on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/gp/jaycoble/09H2cZ

I'll post some of these images here soon.

Thanks! Jay

[JSCNC]

Hi Ray, it seems like yours might indeed be a letter opener: https://www.google.com/patents/US96845

[JSCNC]

Here are a couple of better photos of the Quill Cutter Quill Knife:

More high resolution photos here: https://www.flickr.com/gp/jaycoble/626394