All About Pocket Knives

Well i'm back after a protracted absence due to starting a new job that drastically altered my lifestyle (night shift). Now adjusted & getting back on track financially (including acquiring a few new additions to the ole knife collection)... was unemployed for 6 months before the new job. I'm finding time to visit the board again. It does feel good to be back.... Glad to see there is still interest in keeping this thread alive.... and what timing....

Jay... those Honk Falls knives are real nifty... and those photos of the factory are great. Been searching for a nice representative specimen myself, but they are pretty rare & what ones I've found available have been pricey.

I have recently acquired my first Napanoch knife which I'm tickled to death about... its a small pen knife... but I luv the bone on this one... both blades have the classic Napanoch arched tang stamp... looks to be little used if at all...

Welcome back to the forum, Ken.
I'm glad things have improved in your life and that you can contribute to the forum again.
That's a great looking little pen you have there.

Hey Ken, good to hear from you. Starting to get worried. That is a great nap! Nice bone and crisp blades. Definitely a keeper.

Good to see you back Ken!

Outstanding example of a Napanoch knife

Another welcome back, Ken, thought we had lost you. Very nice Napanoch pen knife!

Thanks guys... not able to visit as frequently as before... but certainly missed not getting here these past few months.

... but I have been continuing the hunt... found this timeworn Schrade Cutlery fishtail button knife with the butter & molasses handles at an antique shop in way up-state NY. The locking mechanism is weak, so the blade pops out with ease & has lotsa play in the open position... the tab on the locking slide is missing... the celluloid scales are a bit scarred from being carried quite a bit... but it cleaned up fairly well and the blade looks pretty full still...

I wonder if perhaps it is worth getting it restored?

... a couple more additions I picked up this month...

My second Wallkill Knife Works... a bit more traditional than my other example I posted previously... a 3⅜" bare end Jack with "Cracked Ice" celluloid handles (actually I'm thinking they might be bakelite or some kind of similar plastic as they are pure white when viewed edge on plus the scales are totally flat like they were stamped out of a plastic sheet.). As previously mentioned... New York Knife Co. produced this brand for only three years from 1928 until their closure in 1931.



... and just delivered this week... an Ulster Knife Co. Center Swell Tuxedo Gentleman's Pen Knife with genuine Mother of Pearl scales... after close examination... it is quite possible this gem is unused as there are no signs the blades have been sharpened but the edges on both blades are still quite sharp with very distinctive snap to both & the MoP is mint. This one is really tickling my fancy...



P.S. I'm discovering just how difficult it is to photograph MoP handles in order to capture its iridescent effect.

KAW wrote:I wonder if perhaps it is worth getting it restored?

Looks like a good knife, I would get it repaired

All nice knives but I really like that MOP tuxedo Ken ... To me the best way to capture the iridescence of MOP is indirect dispersed light using a light box or shooting outside later in the day... anyway I have a handful of tuxedos I'll have to post (though not pertinent to this thread) - what I like about those knives was that most had fancy handle materials - MOP, tortoise and ivory....

Miller Bro's wrote:Looks like a good knife, I would get it repaired

Thanks Dimitri... the next obvious question is... have any recommendations about who can repair such a knife?

Lee, I've been seriously considering expanding the collection to some of the Connecticut companies (especially after seeing some of the knives you & Joe have posted as well as their histories and their connections with the NY companies.) I like the fact that part of the Holley factory still stands today. I attended the Lehigh Valley Knife Show last Saturday and there was a dealer there that had a Holley Tuxedo with what appeared to be tortoise scales. He wanted $100 for it. I don't know if that was a fair price, but my little Ulster didn't lighten my wallet nearly that much. I really like its classical lines. Sure would like to see your Tuxedos, Lee. Seems like a good reason to start a new thread.

[Edit} Wanted to add... being just an non-serious amateur photographer... don't have a lightbox and wouldn't have any photos of the tuxedo today if I had to shoot outside as it rained all day... hard...

I get Kaleb to repair all my switches

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Very nice Ulster Ken.

Sorry JAMESC41001, previously missed that nice old ebony Honk Falls jack!
Nice knives, Ken, expecially the Napanoch pen and the pearl Ulster toledo!

Thanks all for the complements... I decided to place the tuxedo on my antique secretary desk next to the MoP handled fountain pen.

I also came across this "Baer" period Ulster № 63... while not as grandiose as the older tuxedo... it features a blade combination I have not seen before... 2 different size clip blades & a coping pen (first time I have come across this blade type). The 1959 catalog calls this a whittler... but not like any other whittler I have seen. In 1953, they called it a balloon pattern, but I think this pertained to the center swell handle than the blade combo.

Can someone tell me if Bonite was brown or black in color?

Well I guess we're up to the Schrade−Walden period. Unfortunately, I have not yet to take any photos of my SW's...
but I do have one I took of a Schrade−Walden pattern № 879... a version of the 4" Stockman that appears to have been discontinued after 1965.
(BTW, what is the difference between patterns 879, 880 & 881?)

The photo is intended as a comparison between the 879 & the older Schrade Cutlery Co. pattern № 8803G... a 4" Stockman with "green pearl" celluloid handles I had posted earlier in the thread... now to get busy taking some more photo...

OK.... its a drab, deary, cold rainy day, but I'm not home either to get to the rest of my collection...
so I took a picture of my EDC (well my weekend carry at least as my new job does not allow pocket knives)...

a Schrade Walden 234K... a 3-5/16" Jack with Butter & Molasses (K-Horn) handles
...and an antique brass-plated magnfier with 15/16" dia. glass & a pivoting brass cover also I carry... especially when antique shopping.

Ken that's a really neat magnifying glass, nice knife too!

Nice glass Ken. Beats the heck out of what I’m using. Enjoy looking at the knives your posting. Here is a cut co and SW. two long pulls.

Thanks Dimitri & Jay

Jay... If that bare-end jack didn't have the SW stamp, I'd swear it was 50 years older, but in really pristine condition!
A really classic pattern I didn't think they still made by the 2nd half of the century.
... of course... the equal end jack with those bolsters & shield is a classic too!

I hear ya Ken. I think the same thing every time I pick it up. Seems like the stamps should be reversed on those two. The equal end jack is spotless. Picture naturally doesn’t do it justice.

With the Schrade Waldens... I've started an attempt to put a collection together of the ones that were offered in the clear plastic tubes...
this is what I've gathered so far:
> 718RB, with a faint "Razor Blade Stainless" etch on the clip. (if you look hard enough... possible to make out in the group shot, but not in the solo.)
> 808Y, a junior stockman with yellow scales.
> 825RB, with a very nice etch.
>34OT, until I came across this one... I didn't know the Old Timer knives were offered in the clear tubes. I thought they all came in the faux wood-grain box... (While I did not take a photo... the little tab of the insert is stamped "34OT" at the end of the tube... so it is with its legitimate package... just in case you were wondering.)

Nice Schrade Waldens, Ken, I like the butter and mollases! Very nice pair of knives, James, especially the bone handled bare head!

Thanks Dan, glad you dig them. Ken that is lofty undertaking. I think there are a bunch of them. And there are always the one or two elusive ones. But that sure is a great start for sure. This is such a great thread. It covers such a long period of time with many of the great knife companies. Here are a few that cover a big span of the time. I want to use the same whittler pattern although I’m not really sure if the cut co is considered a whittler?? The Schrade curved stamp is from the early days naturally and the canal street is about 100 years later give or take. It has a Walden tang but it’s CSC. If anyone else will show a Hudson Valley pattern through the years I think it would be awesome!

James and Ken nice folders!

James, that early Schrade is definitely in the Whittler configuration or pattern! A non bolster shadow pattern Whittler. The master or primary blade on the front pivot and two smaller blades (or pen blade and nail file) on the rear pivot. Is it a split back Whittler with a wedge between the springs and the front primary blade riding on both springs? How long is the folder/Whittler? If you could show photos of the bottom of the knife and also the tang stamp closer up that would be great. Those pick bone handles are certainly in the Schrade early style and the handle pins look hammered and not spun which is certainly correct for the vintage era of the folder. It is a great folder either way and very rare if I am seeing the tang stamp correctly !

Thanks Lloyd, I’ll measure it and take some more pics. It is a curved stamp Schrade. Some people call it an arched stamp. 1904-1917 I believe are the years. Someone said it’s a sleavboard pattern. I guess I can see that. I understand all the terms you mentioned except the shadow part. Can you explain what that means. I’ve heard the term before. Never understood what it means. Thanks.
Jay