Little Fruit Knife 4/26/1881

[Ridgegrass]

Ever seen one of these? 2-5/8" closed. Chrome-plated, channeled brass, no tang stamp, body stamped " LITTLE FRUIT KNIFE, PAT. APR. 26, '81. internal spring.
Kinda like a Geo. Schrade idea. Assuming the "'81" means 1881. I had seen some info on it somewhere but I can't remember where. Duh! Anybody know anything about it? Thanks. J.O'.

[knifegnome]

I had the exact same knife,I sold it through my aapk store and the post office promptly lost it.

[Ridgegrass]

Knifegnome: Did you know who made it? Thanks, J.O'.

[knifegnome]

No ,there was no makers mark on the tang, I still have a photo in my knife store under the sold knives.Look under Knifegnomes store.

[FRJ]

Here are six that I have. I don't know why! Pearl, I guess.
They don't offer much in terms of real knife walk and talk.

Pictured clock wise from top.
Bottom photo, arranged by length.

[Ridgegrass]

FRJ, I have, one, a Hobson from England. Those hallmarks are all on line. All the ones I've seen don't have much snap, like you said. I see them for outrageous prices at antique shows but I paid $11 for mine in a local resale store. They can be very beautiful. That's a great group you have.J.O'.

[FRJ]

Thank you, J.O., I don't remember when I bought my last one, some time ago.
I did not pay much for any of these.

[knife7knut]

Ever seen one of these? 2-5/8" closed. Chrome-plated, channeled brass, no tang stamp, body stamped " LITTLE FRUIT KNIFE, PAT. APR. 26, '81. internal spring.
Kinda like a Geo. Schrade idea. Assuming the "'81" means 1881. I had seen some info on it somewhere but I can't remember where. Duh! Anybody know anything about it? Thanks. J.O'.

I think that the plating on there is silver rather than chrome or nickel.Chrome plating didn't generally come into use until the 1930's.It is also quite hard and will flake off(if improperly applied)rather than wear off like the surface on the knife seems to be doing.
An easy way to tell chrome plating from say nickel or silver is the color;or rather the color it reflects.Chrome plating is very shiny and when looked at in the light has a bluish look to it.It will also leave no resiue on a rag if it is polished.
Nickel plating is not quite as shiny as chrome and looks yellowish in bright light.It is also considerably softer than chrome and will scratch and tarnish over time.It will sometimes leave a slightly black residue when polished.
Silver will give the appearance of chrome when it is first polished but will leave a heavy residue on a polish rag and dull fairly quick and turn black over time.
One of the reasons that chrome will flake off a surface is:poor surface preparation i.e.:contaminants on the surface prior to plating.Another reason is the failure to triple plate an item. To do it properly the item is first polished to remove all scratches(the actual plating is very thin).After a thorough cleaning;it is copper plated and again polished.After another cleaning it is nickel plated and polished. The final chrome plating is very thin and requires no polishing other than a final wash. This is what is commonly referred to as,"triple chrome plating".
During the days of the Korean Conflict(war)you would see some cars(mainly Chevrolets but other cars also)with grilles that the plating was peeling off.This was due in part to eliminating the nickel plating step which prevented the chrome from bonding to the metal.If the metal was steel it could be stripped and re-plated but if it was pot metal(which many trim pieces were then)you were out of luck.If you put pot metal into a stripper tank it will dissolve very quickly.
Sorry for the long rant. Nice knife by the way.

[Ridgegrass]

Thanks KNIFE7knut: I don't know what the plating is. For the sake of conversation, I've never polished the knife but it hasn't tarnished. It's definitely not nickel, too bright . If you blow up the pics you can see the brass coming through, probably just from pocket/finger wear, not flaking.
Another consideration could be, as you probably know, there can be a great difference between patent date and date of manufacture. The blade also shows no tarnish at all but does not appear to be plated.
If I had to guess I'd go with chrome on the body. How about vanadium? Heck, I'm out of my pay grade already! I'm sure somebody's going to know. J.O'.

[Ridgegrass]

Thanks KNIFE7knut: I don't know what the plating is. For the sake of conversation, I've never polished the knife but it hasn't tarnished. It's definitely not nickel, too bright . If you blow up the pics you can see the brass coming through, probably just from pocket/finger wear, not flaking.
Another consideration could be, as you probably know, there can be a great difference between patent date and date of manufacture. The blade also shows no tarnish at all but does not appear to be plated.
If I had to guess I'd go with chrome on the body. How about vanadium? Heck, I'm out of my pay grade already! I'm sure somebody's going to know. J.O'.

[galvanic1882]

Here is info on your little metal handles fruit knife from Goins. Cool knife

[Ridgegrass]

That's great! Thanks. I knew I had found something about it a good while back and your post reminded me it was Miller. Mystery solved.
I will say I'm surprised it's nickel plate. It's very bright. I would have guessed chrome but there it is. Thanks again. J.O'.

KNIFE7: You were right. Good call.

[doglegg]

Just picked up this little sterling silver fruit knife with seed pick (or nut pick). I especially like the milling on the back of the liners. Thanks for looking.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Just.....

Floyd, that's a VERY nice looking fruit knife.
I too get a kick out of milled liners and springs.

[doglegg]

Thank you sir.

[Waukonda]

Just picked up this little sterling silver fruit knife with seed pick (or nut pick). I especially like the milling on the back of the liners. Thanks for looking. DSCN6759.JPGDSCN6760.JPGDSCN6761.JPGDSCN6762.JPGDSCN6763.JPG

I think the perfect word for that one is exquisite , thanks for showing it, very nice!

[doglegg]

Thanks Ike.

[woodwalker]

Just picked up this little sterling silver fruit knife with seed pick (or nut pick). I especially like the milling on the back of the liners. Thanks for looking. DSCN6759.JPGDSCN6760.JPGDSCN6761.JPGDSCN6762.JPGDSCN6763.JPG

Cool little knife Floyd! Awesome find!

[doglegg]

Thanks ww.