All About Pocket Knives

I recently picked up this Boker jack with the plan to rehandle it as the originals were shrinking and in fact one of the handle pins had popped already. And of course the Boker shield was gone also. I don't know what this original handle material is, just black composition probably. Anyway off they came and it was redone in stag. The blades were a little rough, although they were full and did not show excessive sharpening. Should make a good EDC knife.

What I like best about Bokers is their steel. Tough and chip/ding/bend resistant, but easy to sharpen. I am actually quite surprised, that in the 155 remake, Boker used an equivalent of 1085, SK-5.

Looks great in stag!

OC you made that old fellow 'pocket proud'. Great work as always. The stag has an Elk look to it to me. Excellent result.

cody6268 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 3:06 am What I like best about Bokers is their steel. Tough and chip/ding/bend resistant, but easy to sharpen. I am actually quite surprised, that in the 155 remake, Boker used an equivalent of 1085, SK-5.

Looks great in stag!

Thanks, and yes the diamond Lansky stones were able to put a very sharp edge on it. Is that the pattern number of this one, the 155?

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 3:19 am

cody6268 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 3:06 am What I like best about Bokers is their steel. Tough and chip/ding/bend resistant, but easy to sharpen. I am actually quite surprised, that in the 155 remake, Boker used an equivalent of 1085, SK-5.

Looks great in stag!

Thanks, and yes the diamond Lansky stones were able to put a very sharp edge on it. Is that the pattern number of this one, the 155?

Yep, its a 4.5" trailing clip fixed blade hunter. It's a remake of the model modified for USAF survival kit use in the '50s and '60s. My personal one is ca. 1970s. Sheath is shot, however.

Great job, OC! That really looks nice!

Beautiful job! That knife looks terrific in stag. FYI, I've redone a few old Bokers, and like yours the steel was great but whatever their composite material was (I don't think its celluloid) it was shrinking and coming apart. Anyway, not that yours needs the shield, but I called them on one occasion and they were very helpful and friendly and all I had to do was give them the exact diameter, and they had a new shield to me in a couple of days.

Great job on the clean up and rehandle work. I'm with everyone else...... that stag looks GREAT!
It's a beauty!

That turned out great OC!
Jeff

That made a very nice looking knife. Well done !

That came out nice, OC !!!

Awesome job Olde Cutler! Turned out to be a beauty! I think it's great when HOK's are given a second birth.
"Born Again Blades" ( That would be a cool name for a knife shop. ) COPYRIGHT!!!

herbva wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 11:35 am Beautiful job! That knife looks terrific in stag. FYI, I've redone a few old Bokers, and like yours the steel was great but whatever their composite material was (I don't think its celluloid) it was shrinking and coming apart. Anyway, not that yours needs the shield, but I called them on one occasion and they were very helpful and friendly and all I had to do was give them the exact diameter, and they had a new shield to me in a couple of days.

I have a few Bokers, and only one still has the shield. Is the shield for these like the one pictured, or is there a variety of different styles?

OC, I have a theory that Boker shields don't fall off but that they evaporate. If they just fell off there would be piles of them everywhere.

The one they sent me was the style in your picture and the nice lady on the phone didn't ask me what style I wanted. Since she was being so nice I did ask why so many of the vintage Bokers I see are missing the shields. She laughed and said it was because of the (expletive deleted) glue they use!

herbva wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 10:21 pm The one they sent me was the style in your picture and the nice lady on the phone didn't ask me what style I wanted. Since she was being so nice I did ask why so many of the vintage Bokers I see are missing the shields. She laughed and said it was because of the (expletive deleted) glue they use!

Dah, what am I thinking, mine is a Boker USA tang stamp. So it would not have had a shield that said "Boker Solingen" like I pictured. I am not sure what the shield would have looked like.

Great job!
Since Boker USA is out of business about the only way you'll find a old Boker USA shield is if you have another old Boker USA knife that has a shield.
Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen a lot of Boker USA's with shields. I know I have seen some, but it seems to me most of them don't have shields. Maybe I have seen mostly ones where the shield had already fallen out!

FYI, here's a picture of the knife I was referring to. This was probably 2 years ago. I don't recall the rep asking me is it was a Boker USA or Solingen. Now that I think about it, I just said it was a large trapper, and gave her the exact dimension of the shield. maybe I just got lucky.

There have been no BOKER USA shields made since 1984. As Dale said, the best way to get them now is to buy an old junker knife that still retains the shield and sacrifice it.
The shields made to fit the BOKER USA knives were made using standard dimensions, ie. 1/4" and 3/8". Solingen-made Boker knives have a metric shield, measuring 6mm, 8mm, 9mm, 10mm. (Germany has been using the metric system since 1870.) So if you have an old Boker knife with a round shield and you want to know for sure if it was made in USA or Solingen, that is another clue!

In a pinch, the German shields can be used in a USA knife. A 6mm will fit a 1/4" hole, and a 9mm will fit in a 3/8" hole. There will be about a 0.020" gap, so you will need to take care in centering the shield.
Ricky

The Boker shield is beautiful but it's also the weakest part of their knives. Can't tell you how many I have had come off. If you visit this link just go to the section where it says "Replacement Parts". It'll be a modern shield though...but they should be able to fix you up with one that will fit. https://www.bokerusa.com/ticket/index/sFid/63

I have a brand new 9mm round Tree Brand Solingen emblem if that helps you at all. PM me if you want it, I’ll send it out to you.
Jeff

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 10:38 pm

herbva wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 10:21 pm The one they sent me was the style in your picture and the nice lady on the phone didn't ask me what style I wanted. Since she was being so nice I did ask why so many of the vintage Bokers I see are missing the shields. She laughed and said it was because of the (expletive deleted) glue they use!

Dah, what am I thinking, mine is a Boker USA tang stamp. So it would not have had a shield that said "Boker Solingen" like I pictured. I am not sure what the shield would have looked like.

If you have a Boker USA knife with a round shield it should look like one of these three:
From late 1950s to mid 1970s, note no trademark registered (r) and horizontal lines. From 1975 to end of USA production. (Germany also used one similar to this) Note registered trademark (r). When Boker USA production moved to Statesboro Georgia for their final few years (1982-1984).
Instead of SOLINGEN, these are marked TREE BRAND. I hope this helps!