Vintage Whittler Knives

[Twhite]

I just got another IXL Whittler. My oldest to date. Pre 1890 with horn handles. Great walk and talk. Half stops on both secondary blades. The blades took a very keen edge.

Tom

[1fartsmella]

An old Ulster.

[Twhite]

That is one clean Ulster you have there.
Very nice.

[RalphAlsip]

Barry, beautiful tip bolster Ulster whittler.

[FRJ]

Very nice knives, Tom and Barry.

[peanut740]

Sweet Ulster Barry.

[Twhite]

Here is my Cattaraugus I just rescaled back to how it was originally made. MOP with a warncliffe blade.

[FRJ]

That's really beautiful.
Nice work, Twhite.

[Duffer]

Barry, gorgeous Ulster! Nice rehandle job Twhite

[wlf]

Nice old whittlers fellas.

Barry do you think your knives handles were made by the Walden Handle Co. ?

[1fartsmella]

Lyle, Looks like "Bone Shop" jigging to me.

[WVbladetrade]

Terrier and Robeson's numbering system is different. The following Terrier split back spring whittler has the number 125 stamp. Is this a production
number or can it be related to handle material, liners, # of blades Etc.. Is there reference material on Terrier numbers. Thanks Tom

[Duffer]

Tom, that is a gorgeous Terrier in very high grade condition! Our resident expert Charlie Noyes will probably be along shortly and can tell you a lot more about it. That number on the sheepfoot blade is probably some kind of pattern number. What kind of camera are you using? Or is it a cell phone camera? Your tang photos are a little blurry. Even with less than stellar photos it is easy to see this Whittler is a beauty

[galvanic1882]

She sure is a beauty!

[wlf]

Fine knife Tom, as said C Noyes is the Terrior guy.

[FRJ]

That is fine little knife there. Terrier knives - 1910-1916

Is there a number under the 125 stamp?

I think Charlie taught us that Terrier stamps were reverse of Robeson stamps.
That is the first three numbers were reverse of the last three.

Oh, I hate muddying good water.

[peanut740]

Fine knife Tom You might post it in the Robeson thread.

[jerryd6818]

This one came from galvanic1882 in the 2019 POS Roundtable. At first I just saw it as a piece of crap like the others he had sent. But the more I looked at it and coon fingered it, the less it looked like crap and the more it looked like a gem in the rough. This old gal is a real sweetheart.

The handles are smooth bone and I can't find any flaws in them. All three blades have "Waltham Cutlery Co" stamped on them, a Swedge (both sides on the main) and they snap like gators. The two secondary blades both have half-stops, the main does not. There are two back springs separated by a brass wedge shaped liner. There are a couple of fairly major "bites" out of the edge on the main blade and a few other bug bites. The more I handle this little 3-7/16" beauty, the more I like it. For something that came in the POS Roundtable, it's great.

[WVbladetrade]

Lloyd, Galvanic, Lyle, FRJ and Roger... I thank you ... Lloyd not to good on these pics built me a photo box still trying to fine tune that operation...
using my phone for pics,,, can't help to think that I should get better as time goes on.
Tom

[FRJ]

Jerry, I think that's a beauty.

[LongBlade]

Stunning Terrier Knife Tom ... and welcome to AAPK ...

Jerry - I’m with Joe - that old Waltham is a cool old whittler ..

[carrmillus]

This one came from galvanic1882 in the 2019 POS Roundtable. At first I just saw it as a piece of crap like the others he had sent. But the more I looked at it and coon fingered it, the less it looked like crap and the more it looked like a gem in the rough. This old gal is a real sweetheart.

The handles are smooth bone and I can't find any flaws in them. All three blades have "Waltham Cutlery Co" stamped on them, a Swedge (both sides on the main) and they snap like gators. The two secondary blades both have half-stops, the main does not. There are two back springs separated by a brass wedge shaped liner. There are a couple of fairly major "bites" out of the edge on the main blade and a few other bug bites. The more I handle this little 3-7/16" beauty, the more I like it. For something that came in the POS Roundtable, it's great.

.....great old whittler, jerry!!!..................... ...............

[RobesonsRme.com]

That's a beautiful Terrier.

Not all Terrier knives had pattern numbers, not all Robesons, either, for that matter.

Generally speaking, a Robeson pattern number consists of two groups of three digits:

First Number = Handle Material
Second Number = Number of Blades
Third Number + Bolster/Liner Composition
Second Group of Three Digits = The Handle-Die Shape Number

A Terrier knife, however, will have those two groups of digits reversed.

i.e.:

First Three Numbers = Handle-Die Shape Number
Fourth Number _ Handle Material
Fifth Number + Number of Blades
Sixth Number = Bolster/Liner Composition

I do not have a Robeson like that Terrier, so this will require a bit of educated guesswork.

There may be another set of three numbers below the 125.

If that is the case, then the Handle-Die Shape Number for that pattern of knife is 125.

Your Terrier looks to have nickel-silver bolsters and liners. If that is the case, the six digit pattern number for it would might be 125 / 633 or 125 / 636. They used both a 3 and a 6 to denote nickel-silver bolsters and liners. I do not know why.

Tom Kalcevic said that the "6" denoted iron bolsters and liners, but I can prove that incorrect with dozens of examples.

However, if there are no other numbers below the 125 and I realize they might be there, but completely obscured by the bolster, then we have another situation.

Robeson utilized a series of pattern number suffixes to designate a departure from the usual pattern configuration. That might be a different blade option or the addition of a bail not usually used or any other number of things.

These suffix numbers included some fractions, 1/4 or 1/2, sometimes stamped as 1-4 or 1-2 and a number of three digit suffixes, 100, 125, 150, 200 or 250.

I have no idea what all of those mean. I do know, from observation, that 1/2 or 1-2 means a different than usual master blade, i.e. a clip instead of the usual spear. I think Case used a similar system, but I believe Robeson's was exactly opposite from that of Case.

Actually, 125 is the suffix I have seen most often on Robeson knives. I do not think I've ever seen a pattern number suffix on a Terrier. Doesn't mean they didn't do it. No reason why they shouldn'thave, that I know of.

But, if that 125 is the only actual number on the knife, it might just be there to denote a departure from the usual pattern and/or blade configuration, etc.

Fascinating knife in great condition and I am envious.

PM sent, BTW.

Charlie Noyes

[RobesonsRme.com]

The Terrier appears to be 3 1/2” long.

These two Robeson swell-center jacks are both 37/16” long. I measured them both just now. That’s an odd length, so maybe they both lost a 16th inch in final polishing. Who knows?

The spear bladed knife is a 284 pattern and the clip a 285.

I have seen some two blade pens and identically shaped three blade Whittlers that have the same handle-die shape numbers, i.e. 623319 and 633319 and 622225 and 632225.

We don’t really know, yet, what the handle-die shape number is for the Terrier, but if Robeson had been totally consistent, which they were not, it should have been 285, I suspect.

Charlie

[gsmith7158]

I've had a whittler hankering of late. Here are a couple of recent pick ups.