New York Knife Co. Hammer Brand

[btrwtr]

Here is a NYK Co. knife that looks pretty strange to me.

Knowing what is normal for a manufacturer is very important when buying knives. Seeing something out of the norm can be good in that if the knife is legitimate, you may have a knife that can be more collectible and valuable because it is different. On the other hand, it can be an indication that the knife is a fake.

I can't say that I have ever specialized in collecting any one brand or pattern of knife but I have owned and seen a good number of old NYK Co., Hammer Brand knives. This knife has several things about it on first look that are quite unusual. This type of recognition would come from knowing the brand and what to look for but there are other things about the knife that can be seen without knowing the brand.

First, this knife has a bone jigging that I would say is very unusual for an old Hammer Brand knife or this size. Normal jigging is deeper and less random. The bone color is also very light for a NYK Co. knife.

Second, I don't recall ever seeing an old NYK with an arrow head type shield. NYK offered some very attractive shields but this is unusual.

Third, the tang stamp, although the pictures aren't that clear, does not look to be a NYK, Hammer Brand stamp that I recognize. I would also expect to see the back tang stamped with the New York Knife Co. logo in print on a larger folder of this type.

Another thing that I have discussed is that the knife should be in agreement with itself. By that I mean that wear should be relatively consistent over the knife. New blades in old warn frames is often a bad sign. Looking at this knife I see that there are a number of small chips in the bone at the liners. The metal in the locking bar appears to be well worn and rounded. This would indicate that the knife has had some considerable use and or cleaning. This does not agree with the very new and full condition of the blade.

I also note that the knife blade looks to sit unusually low in the frame.

I certainly don't have any idea that the seller is trying to sell a knife that he thinks is less than legitimate. Just posting this for comment and to note my perception of the knife. There are people here on this forum that know this brand better than I do so would be interested to see what Barry and others might have to say.

[1967redrider]

The shield and bone throw up red flags immediately for me.

[knifegnome]

Does not look like any NYK bone jigging that I have ever seen or the shield.I have never seen the arm&hammer design without the words Hammer Brand.
My opinion not an original NYK co knife.

[ea42]

Wayne I believe those hafts are from an Ulster lockback. They had one with the exact same style, same shield. The jigging also looks very Ulster-like. NYK had a similar knife but all the ones I've seen had a propeller shield and the usual NYK jigging. That blade looks like a disaster. NYK had a long pull but it was much shorter and thinner and had a cut swedge that started at the top right edge of the pull. This blade has a funky drawn swedge that looks like an afterthought. They hardly ever put a drawn swedge on a long pull blade, in fact the only one I can think of was their BB2 scout knife. Speaking of that knife this blade looks suspiciously like the blade from that knife with the exception of that bizarre tang stamp. The kick also looks quite suspect. If I was to guess I'd say that blade came out of some other NYK knife and was ground to fit Ulster handles. Mind you that really is just a guess, those pics are quite blurry so without seeing the actual knife in hand it's hard to say for sure.

Eric

[FRJ]

What are the differences from cut swedge and drawn swedge?
Thank you.

[ea42]

Joe, a cut swedge starts abruptly as it's cut into the blade, usually in front of or over the top of a long pull. A drawn swedge starts out as a long taper and is usually included on blades with a crescent nail mark. Sometimes the intial taper will be somewhat short and right at the crest of the clip on a clip blade with a crescent pull. Here are a couple of examples:

Eric

[Froe]

Thanks! I learned something today!
Froe

[FRJ]

Joe, Here are a couple of examples:
20220127_184914.jpg
20220127_184844.jpg
Eric

Eric, I appreciate that lesson so much. Thank you.