All About Pocket Knives

Hey Joe!

Great point about the shield, can't believe I've never noticed none of my other Hammers have a shield before!

Here's a re-posting of the solid body black stockman, I also posted it in a new thread over in the Schrade Legacy forum to catch the eye of some of our Schrade-aholics over there too!

Mike

That Joe knows more than I do for sure, I forget most of what I'm told,,, if it ain't somethin to do with music. That's a solid lookin Stockman Mike!

I can't remember peoples names - I DO remember there faces. And for the artists when it comes to music.

You can make a pretty accurate guess that when an Imperial shell handle has a shield it's most likely stamped Imperial.
However, if the knife DOESN'T have a shield - it can go either way... Hammer or Imperial!
The "Kamp-King can be found with the embossed shield (most common) AND with a shield that is separate from the shell...
attached over the top of the cell wrap, by small tabs that penetrate through the wrap and shell cover.

Here are the patterns that had the Hammer Brand stamp AND a shield. There may be a a few more... I can't remember!

Ever seen the tip bolster before??

..... Joe

These are great examples Joe, Somethin bout these old shells that still gets me.

Great info Joe, thanks for posting, those are some beautiful knives....
I surely do not have any other Hammers with shields on them...but...
I do have this one that has tip bolsters though....of course it would be even more of a looker if it had a shield too!
Mike

I don't know Mike, I really like the Pile side of that Pen! Lotta depth there.

You know I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but...

I have been messing around with pen knives since the 80's. Whenever I would go garage sale-ing or flea market-ing these were the kinds of knives I dreaded finding. Most of the time they were all beat up and the construction would make me cringe.

Over the years, many so-called "shell knives" became my learning tools in messing with pocketknives. I have a whole box full of folding knife parts out in the garage and many are the remnants of these old knives.

After all this time of basically considering them to be worth about less than a fishing sinker - now I see all you guys interested in them as collectibles? Why?

Are the blades any good? I remember when I was a kid I bought one of these at a gift shop near the beach with my grandpa. As we were riding back to the house in his old pickup, he asked to see the knife I bought. My friend and I were in the truck and my grandpa just laughed, pointed at the blades and said, "inferior steel". I always assumed he was right. Was he?

bworldwidedotcom wrote:You know I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but...

I have been messing around with pen knives since the 80's. Whenever I would go garage sale-ing or flea market-ing these were the kinds of knives I dreaded finding. Most of the time they were all beat up and the construction would make me cringe.

Over the years, many so-called "shell knives" became my learning tools in messing with pocketknives. I have a whole box full of folding knife parts out in the garage and many are the remnants of these old knives.

After all this time of basically considering them to be worth about less than a fishing sinker - now I see all you guys interested in them as collectibles? Why?

Are the blades any good? I remember when I was a kid I bought one of these at a gift shop near the beach with my grandpa. As we were riding back to the house in his old pickup, he asked to see the knife I bought. My friend and I were in the truck and my grandpa just laughed, pointed at the blades and said, "inferior steel". I always assumed he was right. Was he?

Grandpa was wrong if it was an Imperial. They have (imo) great blades and springs. The skeleton (beneath the shells) is very sturdy. They are relatively inexpensive and have almost endless variety. And most of all they are COOL.

P.S. They are a link to my childhood.

Double post. Moderator please remove.

i like them , they remind me of days gone by

Yep, that's the main reason I collect these too, reminds me of another time gone forever. More art than anything else.

Yes indeed they are a relic of a time gone by...not to mention that despite the shell handles they are built to last, most all of my Hammers from the 30's, 40's and 50's have absolutely no blade wobble, snap like a bear trap, and take and keep an edge as good as anything else in my accumulation. The huge variety of patterns, colors etc make them fun to collect, not to mention that due to their durability there are still tons of them around, enabling a guy with limited funds to acquire some really old pieces of Americana for really low prices! Most all of my Hammers I've gotten for under 10 bucks. I can't imagine finding a fully functioning snappy Case knife from the 30's or 40's for 10 bucks...just not gonna happen. Not to mention that arm and hammer is just one cool tang stamp man!! I mean, what's not to like!?

Mike

Very true Mike, many of the backsprings on these are of better quality than 1980s Case knives.

Found this Hammer Fishknife yesterday in Wilson NC. It is pretty much intact, but had rough walk and talk. Got home and cleaned out some bits of paper and other debris, put drop of Coon-P in the joint and it is snapping great. The blade is full but dull, going to sharpen it up later today.

Great looking old Fish Knife there OH! Isn't it great how you can score yourself a crusty dusty old Hammer, show it a little love and have it back snappin' again in no time? I'm sure she'll take a nice edge for ya to. Like the scale pattern and the long pull too, plus a nice clean tang stamp...definite winner!
Mike

just pick this one up, looking for info...

thinking 38 to 41 tang stamp

imperial hammer

rogers bone

3 and 7/8ths