All About Pocket Knives

Good morning. New member with first post. Looks like a great group. Look forward to learning from you.

This Ka-Bar hunter is the knife that brought me to the forum. This is my first Ka-Bar knife so I wanted to learn a bit about its history. I found some good info online, but when it came to determining the age I came up a bit short. Based on what I was able to find on tang stamps, this seems to be from the 1950s, but this exact stamp wasn't listed on the charts I found. Just Kabar with no star or other markings. It has a real stag handle.

I also found it interesting how the bolster was "matched" to the antler and the flaws in the handle were filled. I assume this was done by craftsman at the factory??

Thanks, Mike

Hi, first off, welcome to the forum! Your good looking Kabar was made between 1952 and about 1967. There is no way of getting a closer date, nobody back then cared when a knife was made. The mark changed from KA-BAR to Kabar in 1952 but I'm sure the change didn't happen instantaneously on all models. Cole National bought KA-BAR Inc in 1966 and around 1968 they started to have the model numbers of the knives stamped on the blades. I also don't think this happened all at once for all models. Regarding the fitting of the bolsters, I believe what you are seeing is caused by pocket wear and use. Or possibly done by a previous owner, the factory did not have a guy sit there and do it to every stag knife they made.

Hi Gunsil, Thanks for taking the time to respond and share your knowledge.

Regarding the bolster, it must have been a previous owner. Some of the cuts appear machined with angular edges rather than something worn over time. It did seem a bit labor intensive for a mass-produced knife.

Welcome to AAPK. Nice old folding hunter!

I can’t tell for sure from your pictures but in regards to the handle cover-to-bolster interface: there is a phenomena that occurs during hafting, and typically manifests in places where the stag or bone has areas where natural indentations from stag “bark” grooves (or bone jigging) is adjacent to the bolster. In those places the bolster often has a sunken area. Case’s term for this is “sucking out” of the bolster material. It occurs during hafting, and is caused because the nickel silver in the bolster is softer than stag or bone. In those areas the hafting wheel removes material from the bolster corresponding to any natural indentations in the covers.

Below is an article from an old Case Collector’s Club magazine that explains it better than I can. Click the picture to enlarge for easier reading.

Ken

P.S. An unrelated item of note from the article is where the author says “After the covers are properly affixed to the scales (to which the bolsters have been electric welded)”. On most pocket/folding knives the “scales” are the metal liners next to the blade. Too frequently what are actually “covers” (aka handles) are mistakenly referred to as “scales”. Scales are the part closest to the blade, not to be confused with “covers”, which on most pocket knives are affixed by rivets or glue to the scales. The confusion comes about from fixed blade knives where the cover/handle may likely be next to the blade’s extension into the handle. In which case the “cover” is in fact also the “scale”.

to AAPK, Mike!
I'm a Ka Bar fan and have some in my collection, but I'm an accumulator as opposed to a collector so my knowledge is limited, but as you can read from the replies so far there are many with Ka Bar knowledge to help answer your questions.
IMHO, our biggest Ka Bar fan is "Whitneyrifle", and they have the knives to prove it!
Enjoy yourself, you'll like it here!

Ken
Thanks for that information. It’s super interesting.
I do have a question though. What was meant by the term “whittening”?
Many thanks
Froe

Froe wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:01 am Ken
Thanks for that information. It’s super interesting.
I do have a question though. What was meant by the term “whittening”?
Many thanks
Froe

Refers to use of something called a "whitening stone" which is a very fine grit finishing stone used by cutlers for sharpening or polishing. The operation is apperently called "whitening" at Case, maybe at other cutleries also. Maybe one of the cutlers here like Eric Albers can explain better. That article is probably 30 or 40 years old, not sure whether Case still does “whitening” the same way today.

I think its misspelled in the article. Should have only one "t" as far as I know.

Ken

Edit: https://www.merriam-webster.com/diction ... g%20stones

Welcome aboard. That is a fantastic old folding hunter!

Thanks Ken.

Thanks for the welcomes and replies. Special thanks to Mumbleypeg for posting the article. That is a great article and sounds like, in part, what I am seeing on this knife.

I guess, I need to check my settings as I'm not being notified when I get a response.

Madmarco wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 8:49 pm to AAPK, Mike!
I'm a Ka Bar fan and have some in my collection, but I'm an accumulator as opposed to a collector so my knowledge is limited, but as you can read from the replies so far there are many with Ka Bar knowledge to help answer your questions.
IMHO, our biggest Ka Bar fan is "Whitneyrifle", and they have the knives to prove it!
Enjoy yourself, you'll like it here!

Ha! Thanks for the Compliment! Here are a few Hunters that are always in my rotation besides my other Ka-bars.