All About Pocket Knives

MB, Thanks. Your opinion re' handle materials is the final word as far as I'm concerned.

Genuine stag it is, then!

Having a previously unencountered old Robeson knife pattern with genuine stag handles is a great find, indeed. I'm glad to have it. The condition is not great, but the handles are the important thing about this knife and I think they are really quite beautiful.

You've just got to love this hobby of ours.

Charlie Noyes

Charlie,

That is a gorgeous knife! Good catch!

Kathy

Man, I'd be hard-pressed to find anything I didn't like about that knife. Give it

I agree, TJ. The more I look at the knife, the more I ! That pattern is as sweet as can be...

DITTO!!!! ::envy::

Charlie ! outstanding knives

congrats on that score charlie. that knife being as rare as you and dimitri say it is, it cannot be in a better collection.

Thanks, everybody.

Right now, it's in my right hand pants pocket. We're bonding......

Charlie Noyes

That is a nice one! If the condition isn't good enough for you then you can send it to me. That looks barely used compared to some of what I buy.

Just to show us what can be found at times on Ebay, if we know our subject and can spot certain characteristics of the knives we collect, here is the auction photo and the description provided by the seller.

The Japanese knife with the "chip" out of the front faux pearl handle was actually about 1/4 of the handle from pin to bolster. Notice he showed the back of the knife in his photo.

The seller also measured the Robeson incorrectly. It's 3 1/4" long.

The other, edited photo is what I shared with Dimitri and what helped me decide to try to buy it.

Evidently, I wasn't the only one to spot the knife, because it did generate some bidding competition.

Every day, there are hundreds of thousands of folding knives for auction on Ebay and among them are some lurking treasures.

I look at every new auction title every day in the pre-1970 category, plus I search for auctions under several different Robeson specific terms.

It pays dividends at times.

Charlie Noyes

Auction Description:

"2 OLD POCKET KNIFES ROBESON SHUREDGE 3.5" LONG IN GOOD CONDITION.PEARL HANDLE 3.5" LONG 2 BLADE NO NAME SFB 55 JAPAN ON BLADE CHIP ON CORNER OF HANDLE."

Auction Photo:

Charlie,

Special things can be found on ebay (no matter how much some love to hate it). The sellers can and do hurt themselves. Things like misspellings of the company names can be a downfall. I have seen some "Roberson" knives go pretty cheaply because it doesn't hit on a saved search..

Never under estimate the power of buying from a seller that has no idea what he's talking about.

Kathy, I just bought a mint condition German "Broker" Barlow for $12 and free shipping. Bet Charlie has seen about every Robotson variant there is.

I agree Kathy. Love it or hate it, Ebay is the biggest knife show on earth and what has and can be found there has boggled my mind since I joined in 1997.

I have followed auctions to completion on some almost unbelievable knives. Real bargains are not as easily obtained as in the earlier days, but they still happen occasionally.

As at a real physical knife show, one just has to scan the offerings and stop and look at what catches their practiced eye.

Charlie Noyes

only thing wrong with knife shows is that my eye is still practicing. which can be expensive lessons.
ebay purchases that aren't up to snuff when i get them can either be returned or sellers will give partial refunds.

i will now post a current purchase in the q&a section, as it is a remington.

Here is one that was a Valentines Day gift from Kathy. It came from a gun show, and I had no idea it was there. She doesn't look at guns, and always runs ahead of me, so I had no idea she had bought it. It is marked 61272, 4 1/2" long.

What a woman!

Bret,

Nice knife, nice gift, and an even nicer woman

Beautiful old Robeson. Kathy did good on that one.
That's a rare and hard pattern to find in good condition.

Charlie Noyes

You are lucky Brett, nice move Kathy! ::envy::

Here are the Robeson's I picked up at Lewisburg.

Very nice ones there, Kathy.

There were other little art deco patterns similar to that one.

Charlie Noyes

The little knife also spoke to my black and gold heart! Go Steelers!

Thanks, Charlie!

Great looking knives Kathy! I dig that Steeler knife too!

Sarah and I went to the Dalton, GA, NKCA/Spirit of Steel Knife Show this past weekend.

I found this little Robeson swell-end easy open jack. Roger Cunningham of AAPK had it in his case.

It's a pattern I've never seen or heard of before. I showed it to Pete Cohan and he's never seen or heard of one either, which says a lot.

The standard 027 Robeson EO jack is 3 3/4" long.

This one is 3 3/8" long, but has the same overall shape as the 027.

Its pattern number is 622277.

The knife has nice worm grooved brown bone handles.

The master blade has a partial etch. What remains is "...LEMAN & BECHTEL" in a fancy type-face. The rest has been obliterated by the pitting on the blade. I tried Googling that and came up empty handed. The history of Bechtel Corporation does not mention any previous such partnership.

Here are photos of the knife and its larger counterpart, the 027.

The search never ends, does it?

Charlie Noyes

Gino, I thought you would like the Steeler's Robeson!

Charlie,

Very nice looking EO's! Good for you!!

The excitement & the search are loads of fun!!

My one and only Robeson, picked up years ago at a house yard sale