All About Pocket Knives

Hey 9ball...

Where have you been..... out hunting Sandbar Stag??? Whoooops, wrong thread. Sorry. Cool catalog.

LT, did you make any Bam!! bi style jerky? I hear it goes good with the Drown Royal.

Bill

P. S.
Mossdancer.....you OK up there?

Where have you been..... out hunting Sandbar Stag???

I will get to that later

good to hear from you 9ball. nice cat pages.

It's been a while since we had an Empire knife up, so I thought I'd revive this old thread. Now stay on track guys !!
Just got this one in the mail. It's a bit used, but still has the etch from an electrical contracting firm. This one is likely from the WWI era.
You all most likely have owned an Empire knife, whether you knew it or not, as they made knives for several other firms under different stampings.

I like that one a lot Charlie!

Nice one Charlie, nice to go through the thread again as well

Eric

A good friend of mine in Rhode Island hooked me up with this rare Fisherman's lockback. Built on the Arkansas Hunter pattern, it has stainless steel, and a "scaler" back. Great shape for 80-90 years old!

very cool charlie. i guess empire was one of the pioneers with stainless for pocket knives.

jonet143 wrote:very cool charlie. i guess empire was one of the pioneers with stainless for pocket knives.

They were a leading company in their heyday, especially before the Alvords sold out in 1929-1930. Stainless for a fishing knife seems like a no-brainer today!

Jack knife, and bartender's knife

Here are some "scouts", regular, and junior. The patina is all intact; this is my favorite condition for old knives. Full snappy blades, graceful age, lovely old bone.

One more knife!
This one is proof that our grandfathers weren't lying!
They did walk 10 miles to school! And, it WAS uphill both ways!
And you had to be tough before you were allowed to have a grown-up Jackknife!!
This moderate size knife, 3 3/4", can only be opened by a real man; no sissies here ! A true 9.9 on the opening scale!
And the snap is a 7.8 on the Richter!!!! In my 63 year dotage, it was either tear my nail off, or use a knife opener! And THAT'S THE PEN BLADE!!!! I KID YOU NOT!!!! The main is just off the planet !!!
The half stops are equally impressive on both blades. I'd like to meet the guy who used it for so long; but in the open daylight, with lots of friends around!!
Around 100 years old, and still going strong, with style. . . . meet the EMPIRE!!

AWESOME!!!!!
If you find another........................keep me in mind.

Actually the first knife on my list of Must Have Empires is a TL-29.

Dale

Here are a couple that I own:The first is a two blade pen with pearl scales,milled liners,and sterling silver bolsters.It was apparently a salesman's sample as there is a number inked on the reverse of one of the blades.It is in it's original pouch(I believe)even though the pouch shows considerable aging the knife is as new.

The second is a 2 blade wharncliffe pattern in it's original pouch with ebony scales and is in excellent condition.I know I have a couple more Empires around but can't locate them at the moment.They aren't anything special;just old.

A couple of beauties, K7K!! Those fancy bolsters are rare!!

well here is what I believe to be an Empire Eureka Jack. It measures 3 1/2 " long. On the master tang I can make out Winsted and CT plus a "E" above Winsted. I am also including a pic of Charlie's
from his Eureka thread for comparison. The secondary blade's tang has no stamping visible and is more of a Quill blade than Pen blade- on the pile side photo you can see how the swedge follows the blade shape. It is a rare pattern that I could not resist and hope it is correct. What do you folks think? Thanks in advance.

upnorth wrote: You all most likely have owned an Empire knife, whether you knew it or not, as they made knives for several other firms under different stampings.

which ones?

Paul, I think there is no question the handle is Empire, as is the master blade. There is evidence of re-pinning, as all the rivets are visible, and I can't find a knife in the catalogs with that secondary. That may mean it has been replaced; but I will continue to search as time permits. Nice old knife anyway!

tmwsiy, I have seen knives marked Shapleigh and D-E, KeenKutter, American Knife Co, HS&B, and several others.

Thanks Charlie!

Everyone sure has some nice looking empire's, especially that display board--never seen that many empire knives together--I thought I would share my jumbo 4" fat Empire with everyone--Have a happy thanksgiving all---Thx Mark

Nice one Mark.
Looks like a solid, well made hunk of a knife.
I really like those scales.

That's a great Jack, rattlesnake! Thanks for showing it!

Very nice.

Dale

Empire lockback hunter