Blade's Guide to Knives & Their Values

576 Pages·2010·37.36 MB·english

by  Steve Shackleford

(cid:1) (cid:2)
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From the Editors of B Magazine LADE S
LADE
GUIDE TO
Know What Your Knives Are REALLY Worth!
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he world’s most comprehensive roadmap to cutlery, Blade’s Guide to Knives & Their Values
contains expert analysis, appraisals and lifetimes of research from the foremost authorities
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on antique, custom/handmade, factory, international, club, commemorative, period, and
frontier knives, and all mainstream cutlery genres. V
Expanded with new collector information, how-to stories, photographs and other images,
historical background, vintage and contemporary maker listings and more, Blade’s Guide to Knives
& Their Values provides you with inside details, values and other tantalizing tidbits to maximize E
enjoyment of your knife hobby.
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• I dentify, date and appraise virtually any knife with updated value guides and thousands of
illustrations and descriptions.
• D ecipher the values of knives from many of the world’s greatest custom makers—living and

dead—via the totally overhauled and expanded custom/handmade section. T
• Learn all about collecting knives: how to grade, buy and sell, and care for knives; how to h&
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recognize fakes; explore the latest blade steels and handle materials; build and maintain a
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collection; and a whole lot more! r
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US $29.99
Z5054 (CAN $35.99)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4402-0387-9
ISBN-10: 0-4402-0387-3
52999
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009923225
ISBN-13: 978-1-4402-0387-9
ISBN-10: 1-4402-0387-3
Designed by Kara Grundman
Edited by Corrina Peterson
Printed in the Unites States of America
FRONT COVER
The pieces in the foreground at bottom left are all antique pocketknives courtesy of Pete Cohan,
curator of the National Knife Museum, which is housed in the sprawling Smoky Mountain Knife
Works retail knife store in Sevierville, Tennessee. At left is a Waterville Co. model with an ebony
handle. To the right of it is a Winchester stockman with a candy stripe handle. And to the right of it
is a Joseph Rodgers (To Her Majesty) wharncliffe in an ivory handle.
In the background at left is a spalted-maple-handle fi ghter made in Springfi eld, South Carolina, by
Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer© George Herron, and is courtesy of Herron knife collector
Jay Mealing. At right is a photograph by Point Seven of a “Zipper” folder made by Cutlery Hall-Of-
Famer Michael Walker.
BACK COVER
Beginning from top, the fi leworked multi-blade in mother-of-pearl is an antique I*XL George
Wostenholm made in Sheffi eld, England. The stag-handle piece with the clip-point blade is a
vintage Marble’s safety folding hunter. The lone fi xed blade is serial No. 8 of the original 13 First
Blood knives Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Jimmy Lile made for actor Sylvester Stallone for Stallone’s role
as John Rambo in the 1983 fi lm, First Blood. At bottom is the gunstock jackknife—photographed
by Kerry Hampton—Tony Bose made to be auctioned at the 2009 BLADE Show, with all proceeds
donated to the National Knife Museum. All but the Rambo knife, which was supplied by Jack
Lucarelli, long-time knife collector, Hollywood actor and stuntman, and one of the authors of
James B. Lile: The Arkansas Knifesmith, are courtesy of Pete Cohan.
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Table of Contents
Preface and Explanation of Values
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
SECTION I: COLLECTING KNIVES
Introduction: Collecting Knife Lore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Buying Selling and Trading Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
What Should You Collect?/Parts of a Knife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Knives as an Investment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Collecting Knives to Use & Knife Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Building and Displaying Your Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Grading the Condition of a Knife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Knife Show Etiquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Some Clues That Help Date and Identify Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Handle Materials & Blade Steels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Learning to Recognize Fakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Blade Finishes/Proper Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
The National Knife Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
SECTION II: FOLDING KNIVES
Introduction to Folding Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Factory Folding Knife Charts, Tables and Histories
Pocketknife Blade Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Pocketknife Brand List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Schrade Scrimshaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Pocketknife History
Cutlery Centers Past and Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Late 18th Century Sheffi eld Cutlers’ Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Masters of the Sheffi eld Cutlers Guild, 1624-1905 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Cutlers’ Company of London Pictorial Touchmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Masters of the London Cutlers Guild, 1584-1922 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Salisbury Cutlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
19th Century Sheffi eld Cutlery Firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
The History of G. Wostenholm & Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Swiss Multi-Blades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
History of the Solingen Cutlery Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Bohemian Pocket Cutlery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Eskilstuna Cutlery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
19th Century American Pocketknife Firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Remington U.M.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Case, Western, Ka-Bar, Cattaraugus, and Related American Brands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Case Pocketknife Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Winchester and Simmons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Imperial, Ulster, Schrade and Camillus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Makers of Picture-Handle Pocketknives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Standard American Folding Knife Patterns
Introduction to Standard American Folding Knife Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Pictorial Key to Standard American Folding Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Jack Knives: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Value Table For Standard Jack Knife Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Names, Illustrations and Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
(Equal-End Jacks, Slim Equal-End Jacks, Regular Jacks, Slim Jacks, Curved Regular or Clasp Jacks,
Sleeveboard and Jumbo Jacks, Jumbo Jacks, Curved Jacks and Congress Jacks, Sway-Back Jacks, Congress
Jacks, Crown Jacks, Swell-End Jacks, Easy-Openers, Swell-Center Jacks, Balloon Jacks, Swell-Center Regular
Jacks, Gunstock Jacks, Premium Jacks, Serpentine Jacks, Wharncliffe Jacks, Slim Serpentine or Crooked
Jacks, Eureka Jacks, Canoes and Surveyor Jacks, Surveyor Jack, Fishtail and Fish Jacks, Fish Jacks)
Double-End Jack Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
(Farmer’s Jacks, Stock-Knife-Type Double-End Jacks, Cattle-Knife-Type Double-End Jacks, Sunfi sh)
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Named Jack Knife Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
(Special Purpose Jack Knives, Harness Knives, Electrician’s Knives, Janitor’s Knives, Pruning Knives, Maize
Knives, Cotton Samplers, Budding and Grafting Knives, Florist’s Knives, Melon Testers, Sailor’s Rope Knives,
Rase Knives or Timber Scribers, Physician’s Knives, Spatula Knives, Corn Knives, Box Knives and Smoker’s
Knives, Special Spey and Veterinary Knives, Fleams, Other Veterinary Knives, Boy’s Knives, Barlow Knives,
English Jacks, Ticklers and Fish Knives, Trappers, Muskrat and Large Trappers, Folding Hunters, American
Clasp Knives, Swell-Center Hunting Knives, Swell-Center, Hunting and Lock Knives, Clasp-Type Folding
Hunters, Modern Folding Hunters, Farmer’s Clasp Knife, Folding Dirks and Folding Bowie Knives, German-
Style Folding Bowies, Switchblade Double-End Jack Knives, Switchblade Jack Knives, Silver Fruit Knives)
Pen Knives: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Standard Pen Knife Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Value Chart: Skeleton Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Names, Illustrations and Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
(Skeleton Knives with Gold-Filled or Plated Covers, Senator or Equal-End Pens, Sleeveboard Pens, Anglo-
Saxon, Milton, Oval or Cigar Pens, Congress and Tobacco Knives, “Gunstock” Pens, Crown or Coffi n,
Modern Crown Pens, Swell-Center and Balloon Pens, Serpentine Pen Knives, Swell-Center Serpentine,
Swell-Center Congress or Sway-Back)
Whittlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
(Equal-End Whittlers, Sleeveboard Whittlers, Jumbo Whittlers, Three-Blade Physician’s Knives, Oval or
Cigar Whittlers, Gunstock Whittlers, Congress Whittlers and Three-Blade Tobacco Knives, Swell-Center
Congress Whittlers, Serpentine and Wharncliffe Whittlers, Swell-Center Serpentine and Norfolk Whittlers,
Swell-Center Whittlers, Crown Whittlers)
Lobster Pen Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
(Oval Lobsters and Charm Knives, Equal-End Lobsters, Sunfi sh Lobsters and Dolphins, Sleeveboard
Lobsters, Sheffi eld Pattern Lobsters, Serpentine Sleeveboard Lobsters, Fancy Sleeveboard Lobsters,
Serpentine Candle-End Lobsters, Gunstock Lobsters and Orange Blossoms)
Quill Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Mechanical Pen Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Offi ce and Letter Opener Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Embossed, Color Etched and Enameled Handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Advertising, Figural, Character and Miniature Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Multi-Blade Knives: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Horseman’s and Sportsman’s Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Champagne Patterns, Bottle Opener and Smoker’s Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Folding Knife-Fork-Spoon Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Utility and Scout Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
(Six-Blade Utility Knives, Four-Blade Utility Knives, Large Size Utility Knives, Boy Scout Knives, Girl Scout
and Camp Fire Girls Knives, Remington Boy Scout Knives, Offi cial Scout Knives)
U.S. Military Utility Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Cattle Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
(Standard Cattle Knives, Four-Blade Cattle Knives, Junior Size Cattle Knives, Fancy, Three Backspring
Cattle Knives)
Premium Stock and Junior Stock Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Plier and Wrench Knives/Gadget Multi-Blades/Tool Kit Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Showpiece and Exposition Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Folding Medical Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Foreign, Exotic, Primitive and Historical Folding Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
SECTION III: FIXED BLADE KNIVES
Introduction to Fixed Blade Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Bowie Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
American Knifemakers and Selected American Cutlery Merchants of the Bowie Knife Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
American Indian Trade Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
American Hunting Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
(Butcher-Style Hunting Knives, First American Sport Hunting Knives, Marble’s Knives and Axes, Butcher-Style
Sport Hunting Knives, 20th Century Sheffi eld-Made American-Style Hunting Knives, After World War I, Gerber
Fixed Blade Sport Knives)
Pioneers of Modern Handmade Knives: William Scagel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Knife-Crafters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
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(Giles Wetherill, Howard James, Donald Moore; Kennedy Arms; Eske/Nevis, Randall Made [Orlando, Florida],
Morseth Knives, F. J. Richtig, Floyd Nichols, A. C. Cornelison, R.H. Ruana, John Ek, John Nelson Cooper, David T
Zephaniah Murphy) a
Buck Fixed Blade Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 b
SPECIAL SECTION
l
e
United States Military Fixed Blade Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
(Rifl eman’s Knives, Model 1880 Hunting Knife, Bolos and Hospital Corps Knives, Machetes, Trench Knives,
o
Special Combat Knives, Combat Utility Knives, Commercial Combat Utility Knives)
Foreign Military Fixed Blade Knives Including Third Reich Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 f

Foreign, Exotic, Primitive and Historical Fixed Blade Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
C
(Latin America, Scandinavia, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Indian Sub-Continent, East and Southeast Asia,
o
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, Australia)
Kitchen and Butcher Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 n
(Historically Interesting Brands, American Kitchen and Butcher Knives) t
Table Knives and Forks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 e
Carving Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 n
Trade, Craft and Artisan Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
t
s
SECTION IV: HANDMADE KNIVES
Bob Loveless: The Holy Grail of Handmades? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
Bill Moran: The No. 1 Name in Bladesmithing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
George Herron: Impacting Many Knives and Lives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Ron Lake: Mr. Folding Knife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Buster Warenski: What The Finest Maker Was All About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Jim Schmidt: They Didn’t Come Much Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Michael Walker: Maestro of Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
Jimmy Lile: He Put U.S. Knifemakers on The World Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
D.E. Henry: The Van Gogh of Knifemakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Tony Bose: Traditional Knives Personifi ed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
Today’s Knifemakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Alphabetical Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
SECTION V: MODERN FACTORY, COMMEMORATIVE, KNIFE CLUB
AND LIMITED-EDITION KNIVES
Buck Custom and Limited-Edition Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Commemorative and Limited Edition Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
(Cripple Creek U.S.A. Bench Made Collectible Knives, Fight’n Rooster Limited-Production Knives, Knife Club
Limited-Edition Knives, Schrade Limited-Edition Knives, Selected Private Limited-Edition Knives)
Buck Folding Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Gerber Folding Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
SECTION VI: PERSPECTIVES
Advertising Cutlery’s Rich Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Award-Winning Buck Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
Throwing Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
Buck Custom Shop Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
SECTION VII: APPENDIX
Some Specialists in Collectible Knives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Combined Glossary and Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
Cutlery Exhibitors at the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Major Watersheds of Modern Cutlery History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
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6
Preface to BLADE’s Guide
to Knives & Their Values
T
he fascination with all things knife has grown values of the vintage pocketknives that are so important
exponentially since the last edition of BLADE’s to you. Many of the values have increased, many have
Guide To Knives & Their Values, and the new remained the same and some have decreased. In addition,
Guide, seventh edition, is tailored to help you keep up with Pete scoured the sixth edition for any and all information
those ever-evolving developments. that needed updating, expanding, revising and otherwise
The biggest change you will notice in the seventh correcting, and we think you are going to fi nd the result
edition is the new, expanded section on collectible custom most informative and educational. He has supplied many
knives. It was, of course, impossible to cover all the many new and/or historic images that help detail the background
collectible knifemakers and their knives in such a section. of the knives and their rich pedigrees—not only the knives
Instead, we have touched on a selection of some of the but also such ephemera as the original boxes that held
industry’s legends, tapping the extensive knowledge of them, advertisements, old brochures and more.
such veteran knife observers as, in no particular order, In addition to Pete’s many new images, the work of
Phil Lobred, Les Robertson, Dave Ellis, Rhett Stidham, Jack such photographers/photographic studios as Point Seven,
Lucarelli, Pete Cohan, Jay Mealing, Paul Resnick, Bob Neal, SharpByCoop.com, Chuck Ward, Weyer International and
Harlan Suedmeier, Dr. Jim Lucie and Gordon White to bring others is contained herein, as well as the photographs and/
you the history and the values of the legends’ knives. The or coordination of same by Jay Mealing, Phil Lobred, Paul
makers include, also in no particular order, Blade Magazine Resnick, Jack Lucarelli, Richard D. White, Dave Ellis, Grant
Cutlery Hall-Of-Famers© Bob Loveless, Bill Moran, George Wells, Kerry Hampton and others.
Herron, Jimmy Lile, Bo Randall, Rudy Ruana, Buster Warenski,
Michael Walker and Ron Lake, as well as D.E. Henry, Jim
Schmidt, Harry Morseth, Frank Richtig, Tony Bose and
others as well.
Meanwhile, as noted, the world teems with some of
the most talented knifemakers ever to hold a blade to a
grinder or apply hammer to hot steel. A fully updated and
expanded list of those makers, with names, addresses,
phone numbers, e-mails and/or websites, is contained in
“Today’s Knifemakers.”
Of course, the main focus of BLADE’s Guide remains Phil Lobred (left) and Blade
antique knives, and Pete Cohan, curator of the National Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-
Knife Museum, returns to offer his savvy updates on the Famer© Gil Hibben.
Pete Cohan, curator,
(Phil Lobred photo)
National Knife Museum.
(National Knife
Museum photo)
Dave Ellis (left) and Blade
Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-
Famer© Bill Moran at a past
The editor (left) talks with ABS master smith Harvey Dean
BLADE Show. (Dave Ellis photo)
during ABS master smith Jerry Fisk’s 2007 One-Man Knife
Jack Lucarelli
Show in Nashville, Arkansas. (Chuck Ward photo)
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7
development of stainless, powder metallurgy, damascus
and others.
Beginning with the sixth edition, the Guide offered
P
several new sections and expanded existing ones on Buck
r
knives, and Larry Oden, Joe Houser, Richard Matheny and e
John Foresman have returned to update the values therein.
f
The section on club knives has been revamped and a
updated. We have alphabetized the clubs and divided the c
section into two parts: the fi rst part includes the club e
knives for which we were able to obtain value updates
(From left) Les Robertson, Blade Magazine Cutlery and the second part includes the club knives we were t
o
Hall-Of-Famer© George Herron and Bob Neal. unable to value update. Meanwhile, Debra Voyles, executive
(photo courtesy of Les Robertson)
director of the new Schrade Collectors Society (www.
B
schradecollectors.com), supplied a complete update of
L
Schrade limited-edition knives.
A
For all the devoted followers of past editions of the
Rhett Stidham
D
Guide—formerly known as the Levine Guide To Knives &
(left) and
veteran Their Values in the fi rst fi ve—you will be glad to know that E
’
knifemaker we have retained much of the rich historical information s
Barry Wood at originally provided by Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bernard
the inaugural Levine, the creator and original editor of the book, with G
A.G. Russell updates and revisions where needed. u
Knife Event in As for Pete Cohan’s system for appraising vintage i
2008. d
pocketknife values, we found it very effective for the sixth
e
edition and have retained it once again in the seventh
edition. The method is outlined in the “Introduction to the
t
Standard American Folding Knife Patterns.” We believe the
o
system provides the best means of determining a knife’s

value. It requires work and understanding of the system on K
your part, but we believe that once you understand and n
Bobby Branton (right) apply the system to your knives, it will be a more accurate i
with Blade Magazine way for you to arrive at the correct values. v
Cutlery Hall-Of- For instance, a knife from any of the widely collected e
Famer© Dan Dennehy brands under “List A” in Pete’s “Introduction” will have a s
during Branton’s starting point on the higher end of the value charts for
knife-throwing demo &
whatever the pattern is. If you read on, it will explain
at a past BLADE where to start brands of knives in terms of collectibility on
Show. T
the charts as well. Then you can determine the applicable
h
knife’s fi nal resting place, and thus its value, on the charts
e
through the “Other Factors Check List” outlined further on
i
in Pete’s “Introduction.” r
Please remember that this book is not designed to give
V
More have contributed as well. Richard D. White returns you an exact value for eachand every knife contained herein.
a
to cover advertising knives, Bobby Branton addresses Any book that claims to do that should be questioned. All
throwing knives, Gordon White assesses vintage Marble’s this book is designed to do is to give you an estimate. It is l
u
hunting knives, and Bill Claussen holds forth on American up to you to use the tools the book provides to arrive at the
e
Indian trade knives, non-Marble’s American hunting knives, most accurate value for your knife.
s
Gerber knives, U.S. military fi xed blades, Harley-Davidson
knives and more. Beginning in 1985, Steve Shackleford served as
The section on what you should collect has been managing editor and now serves as editor of BLADE®
expanded to include more on custom knives, including Magazine, the “World’s No. 1 Knife Publication.” He also
the latest patterns. There’s a new section on knife laws, the has helped staff and promote the BLADE Show, the world’s
section on handle materials has been expanded dramatically, largest knife show, since 1986. He is a proud member of
and a new section on blade steels outlines the history and the American Bladesmith Society Hall Of Fame.
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8
INTRODUCTION
S
E
V
I
N
K
Collecting Knife Lore

G
Knife collecting is a branch of treasure hunting. Similar the knives we preserve in our collections. It was a company
N
to digging for pirate gold, searching for knives offers the that opened its doors before the fi rst railroad track was laid,
I
T challenge of the hunt, the thrill of discovery, and the and that was still around well into the age of jet airplanes. It
C
concrete reward of the treasure itself. was a building to which hundreds of people walked, later
E
The ongoing hunt for cutlery treasure applies as much rode the streetcar, perhaps later drove their cars, every
L
L to knife lore as it does to actual knives. When people ask workday of their lives, often from childhood until advanced
O us knife enthusiasts what we collect, the short answer is, old age.
C “information.” We get excited whenever we fi nd a blade For many of them, the cutlery factory meant steady
marking, catalog, billhead, letter, advertisement, brochure, employment, a satisfying job, a comfortable family home. It
: label or directory listing that reveals a hitherto unknown meant friendships, romances and holiday picnics. However,
I
facet of cutlery history—and also when collectors send us for some it meant long, hungry layoffs in the bad years, and
N photocopies of such items, because it is the information long, exhausting toil in the good ones. It might even have
O
that is most valuable to us. It lets us add to or correct our meant an early death from grinder’s consumption, or from
I
T histories and brand lists, which in turn enable collectors to the fl ying fragments of a shattered grinding wheel.
C attach meaning, historical context, and value to knives that To the larger world, cutlery factories meant knives—
E
S might otherwise have remained mere scraps of metal. thousands of knives in hundreds of different styles. Yet,
people, somewhere, designed each one of those styles.
Why Bother with History? Other people refi ned the materials that went into the
knives. Forgers, grinders, cutlers and fi nishers actually
History matters to knife collectors because knives do not
made the knives, laboring in the hundreds of factories and
just happen. People design knives, people make them and
workshops. Then, armies of jobbers and salesmen carried
people sell them. People buy them, carry them, use them
the fi nished knives around the world, and legions of retail
and lose them. Much of what makes knives interesting—
merchants offered the knives for sale to the public.
and ultimately what makes them valuable—is people.
Every one of the businesses had a story—the
It is humbling to contemplate how little we actually
manufacturers, the wholesalers and the retailers. What’s
know about the history of any knife, about the real people
more, so did every one of the companies’ owners and
who were really behind it. We are reminded of this every
employees. Most of their life stories would have seemed
time we visit a place where knives are made, whether a
ordinary at the time, but even the most ordinary aspects of
big, modern cutlery factory or an individual knifemaker’s
distant times seem extraordinary to us now. The year 1818
workshop.
was before electricity, before gaslight, before telegraph and
Each major knife factory employs hundreds of people,
telephone, before indoor plumbing.
and its history could fi ll this book. Yet, today’s companies
Picture old Sheffi eld, England, with cobblestone streets.
are only a handful of the hundreds of cutlery manufacturers
What was it like for an 11-year-old English farm boy to be
that have fl ourished in just the past two centuries. Dozens
sent into Sheffi eld to be apprenticed to a cutler? What was
of now-vanished knife factories were once at least as large
it like for a Sheffi eld cutler, who had never before traveled
as today’s industry leaders, yet everything we know about
even as far from home as London, to board a wooden ship
most of the old companies is scarcely enough to fi ll out a
and sail across the ocean to Connecticut? What were life
single line of information in a brand list.
and work and play like when he got there? And what about
When that line of data includes a long span of years, such
life in Solingen, in Thiers, in Nixdorf, in Maniago, in Seki
as 1818 to 1963, consider what this really means. It was fi ve
City? What about life in Walden, New York, a century ago, or
or six generations of people, thousands of men and women
in Gladstone, Michigan, or Tidioute, Pennsylvania?
over the years whose life work has now vanished—save for
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9
These are the sorts of questions that we like to ponder The Knife’s Journeys
when we think about all knives. Whenever we look up a
name in the BLADE Guide to Knives & Their Values, we The old knife’s story did not end when it left the factory. I
are glad to fi nd a little information about it, but always wish Indeed, at that point its story had barely begun. It was n
there could be more. Even when an entry is complete—and part of an order that was shipped somewhere. How was it t
many are not—those few words and numbers are but the transported: by canal barge, railway, wagon or steamboat? r
o
palest shadow of the real human stories that each listing so Where was it sold and by what or whom: by mail-order
d
briefl y summarizes. catalog, Broadway department store, neighborhood cutlery
u
shop, rural general merchant, pack peddler or military
Each Knife Has a Story, Too commissary? c
t
Who bought the knife new: a schoolboy, a farmer or a
And what of the knives themselves? It is astounding how i
sailor, perhaps? Who had it next and how did he acquire it? o
much we take for granted about them, how little we really
Did he fi nd it on the side of the road, win it in a card game,
n
know. Look at a plain old jack knife, such as a Russell. It
pick it up on a battlefi eld, take it in a holdup, receive it as a
appears so simple but consider what it took to make it.
gift or inherit it from a distant relative?
First, the blades and springs. Prior to 1907, when French
And then who had the knife, and then and then? And
metallurgist Paul Louis Toussaint Heroult introduced his
how did each of those people come to have it, and perhaps
electric furnace, knife blades and springs were forged from
later come to lose it? And what, if anything, did each of
crucible cast steel, which was made by hand in fi re-clay
them think about it?
pots in Sheffi eld, 60 to 90 pounds at a time. Most of the
Old knives in mint condition pose their own series of
iron to make the fi ne steel was mined in Sweden from a
questions. Why was the knife never used? Where was it put
rich belt of meteorite impact that also supplied the cutlery
away and why? Was it preserved for sentimental reasons
industries of Eskilstuna, Sweden and Solingen.
(for example, “it belonged to Uncle Abner, who died in the
Next, the mounts. The copper to make nickel-silver
Great War”), or was it merely forgotten at the back of a
bolsters and brass liners might have come from Michigan
cupboard drawer?
or Peru, the nickel from Canada or Russia, and the zinc
from Mexico or Tennessee. Mild steel for rivets, bolsters and Imaginary vs. History
liners likely came from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Then, the handle material. Cocobolo wood was cut in Every period of time was different from every other in
the jungles of Central America, carried out on mule back, countless ways. With even a little study, we can begin to
then loaded on ships bound for U.S. or European ports. identify some of the more obvious changes from past to
Both ebony and elephant ivory were cut in equatorial present (cars, television, stainless steel, plastic), and we
Africa, carried to seaports by caravan, shipped from there can observe how these have affected our lives. With a little
to merchants in London, and then across the Atlantic to more study, we can free ourselves from today’s more absurd
Boston or New York. Shells for pearl scales were brought misconceptions about the past.
up from the sea fl oor by divers in the Philippines. Antlers For instance, “American Primitive” was a style of painting,
for stag scales might have come from the giant red deer of not a style of life. Earlier times had simpler technology
northern Europe, or from the Sambar deer of southern Asia. than we do now, but their language, manners, clothing and
Black buffalo horn came from the domestic water buffalo accouterments, even on the frontier, were a great deal more
of the Far East. Ox horn and cattle shinbone might have refi ned than ours are today—not better, kinder or wiser, but
come from the Chicago stockyards, but were more likely certainly more refi ned.
imported from the Argentine pampas. It would be impossible to recreate, or even to fully
All these materials were gathered together in J. Russell understand, a single moment of the past. No matter how
& Co.’s large, water-powered factory at Turners Falls, much information we accumulate, our view could not help
Massachusetts, built in 1870. Some of the people who but be distorted—both by our knowledge of what came
actually made the knife might have been life-long Russell later, as well as by our present attitudes and values. And
employees, perhaps even the sons or granddaughters even when we try, the past recedes as we reach out to it.
of cutlers who had worked at the original Green River Light fades and focus softens. Facts are forgotten, meaning
Works in Greenfi eld in the 1830s. Others would have been is lost.
recent immigrants, recruited by the company in England To make matters worse, revisionist historians tear off
or Ireland. fragments of the past, rending them beyond recognition to
support their personal imaginings.
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