Help dating this old Henckels

[Sharpnshinyknives]

I read something the other day about when a knife says Henckels Solingen compared to Henckels Germany but I can’t find it now, I guess I’m getting old. Any help with dating this knife would be appreciated, thanks.

[kootenay joe]

Mark, can you take a picture with blades closed looking down onto blade spines.
Henckels used thicker blade stock than other knife manufacturers.
I think this knife was made by Boker soon after Henckls began contracting out folding knives and the knives made were still the original Henckels patterns and often had the Henckels bone or stag for handles.
Some years later the 'Henckels' knives became the same patterns as the company doing the manufacturing.
If your top down picture shows a thick spine on the master then it is a Henckels made knife.
kj

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Mark, can you take a picture with blades closed looking down onto blade spines.
Henckels used thicker blade stock than other knife manufacturers.
I think this knife was made by Boker soon after Henckls began contracting out folding knives and the knives made were still the original Henckels patterns and often had the Henckels bone or stag for handles.
Some years later the 'Henckels' knives became the same patterns as the company doing the manufacturing.
If your top down picture shows a thick spine on the master then it is a Henckels made knife.
kj

KJ, the spine near the tang is wide enough to contact both backsprings, then it’s ground down and tapers from there. I hope this picture shows it.
I read last week, somewhere, that if it has J.A. Henckels Solingen it was made by Henckels and if it says J.A. Henckels Germany it was made by Boker. But I can’t find that information now, I think I found it on Blade Forums.
Thanks for the help.

[geocash]

Mark, I'm on a similar quest. Here's a picture of a catalog illustration in the new Henckels book by Neal Punchard. Perhaps yours is the #1780. Also, I had accepted that Henckels ceased folder production in 1960 because I read that everywhere, almost. However, this illustration is dated 1968 & Punchard makes the case that Henckels continued folder production until about 1975. I have a #1761 & a #190 that appear to me to be like the ones in the illustration. Like KJ says, the blade stock is thick, especially on the #190. But I can't find any information regarding the "Solingen" vs. "Germany" stamp & I've been searching since I got the #190 recently. It's stamped "Germany" without "Solingen" & that's made me a little uneasy. Apparently you have a similar concern which makes two of us who would like to know.

[kootenay joe]

The sad part about selling off one's knives is that i no longer have the 50 or so Henckel's made knives that i could use to show what a 'real' Henckels looks like.
Other than the metal handle Henckels, of which i still have many, the only stag or bone Henckels i still have is this one 3 1/2" stag serpentine whittler.
This is a Henckels made knife. Note the thick stock used for the master blade (shown next to a GEC #29 Stockyard "Whittler"); all tangs are marked and all have "Germany" not "Solingen". There are no pattern numbers on these knives.
I believe the Henckels marked with "Solingen" are older knives made before they began to export their knives to USA.
Regarding the 1960 vs. 1975 date for when Henckels stopped making their own folding knives, i think that knives being shown in a Henckels catalog does not necessarily indicate that they were made by Henckels.
kj

[kootenay joe]

Here is what i observed when i did have my Henckels collection.
I would have 2 knives of the same pattern. Both had Henckels bone for handles. It is quite distinctive. One of them had slightly thinner stock for the master blade. Still thicker than other brands but not quite as thick as the known Henckels made knives. And the knives with slightly thinner stock always have a pattern number on them that corresponds to the pattern number shown in old Henckels catalogs.
Are the knives with slightly thinner stock and pattern numbers early contract knives ? Maybe Henckels sent the company making them (Boker) the stag or bone for the handles ? Or maybe the partially made knives were returned to Henckels for hafting ?
Or, possibly all were made by Henckels and at some point they decided to use thinner stock and start putting on the pattern number ?
Note: all of this are my own ideas. I have not read this in a book or online. So it is conjecture, not fact.
I hope that Neal P. will post his thoughts on this.
kj

[kootenay joe]

I have 2 old binders full of 'xerox' ? copies of pages from old Henckels catalogs. Together they are over 6 inches thick and show every kind of cutting tool imaginable.
If someone wants to buy these let me know. They are heavy so shipping might cost $40 or more.
kj

[geocash]

That's quite a collection of Henckels catalog copies, KJ. I wish I could have seen your knives.
Here are a few images of the #190 I mentioned that show the thickness of the blades & both sides of the tang on the master blade. Pictures should tell much more & more accurately than my words. Anyone should feel free to comment. I like the knife but know very little about it.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Mark, I'm on a similar quest. Here's a picture of a catalog illustration in the new Henckels book by Neal Punchard. Perhaps yours is the #1780. Also, I had accepted that Henckels ceased folder production in 1960 because I read that everywhere, almost. However, this illustration is dated 1968 & Punchard makes the case that Henckels continued folder production until about 1975. I have a #1761 & a #190 that appear to me to be like the ones in the illustration. Like KJ says, the blade stock is thick, especially on the #190. But I can't find any information regarding the "Solingen" vs. "Germany" stamp & I've been searching since I got the #190 recently. It's stamped "Germany" without "Solingen" & that's made me a little uneasy. Apparently you have a similar concern which makes two of us who would like to know.

This knife is stamped 1780 on the secondary blade, so that matches up with what is in that catalog, and it looks like the illustration from the catalog.
So I am not off in thinking this knife is 55 to 60 years old.
Thank you for posting that, it is very helpful.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

I have heard from Neal on this knife and he confirmed that it was made by Henckels and not Boker. This model was introduced prior to WWII and they made this into the 60’s. He also said that Henckels did make knives up until 1975 when they contracted production to Boker.

[geocash]

I have heard from Neal on this knife and he confirmed that it was made by Henckels and not Boker. This model was introduced prior to WWII and they made this into the 60’s. He also said that Henckels did make knives up until 1975 when they contracted production to Boker.

Interesting. Thank you Mark, & KJ. Like a lot of things in life, there's always something more to know about knives.

[kootenay joe]

I am hoping that Neal will post in this thread and comment on my thought that the Henckels knives with pattern numbers are contract knives. Yes they are Henckels patterns, but Henckels could have given the pattern dies to Boker.
kj

[Mason]

That particular knife was only made by Henckels and was first offered prior to WWII.
I will start a new thread to better explain Henckels-made knives versus Boker-made contract knives for Henckels.