- Joined
- Apr 8, 2004
- Messages
- 277
Sorry, no pictures, I haven't yet entered the digital age.
Stopped by Saint Vincent dePauls today and saw a funky lookin' old kitchen knife under their glass. Paid a $1.50 for it and brought it home.
The blade is a french chefs knife style, eleven and three eighths inches long and two inches wide at the ricasso. The edge shows wear from sharpening so it's just the tiniest bit concave. I believe the point may have been broken off and the blade reworked as it is slightly rounded, with the back dropping down a little more abruptly than symmetrically. As you look at the blade edge on there is a bevel on the left but the blade is flat ground on the right. The blade is tapered nicely to the point but the tang is not.
The blade has been broken and repaired where the tang meets the ricasso. I believe the repair was made using a process I have heard referred to as brazing. The repaired spot has a very golden color to it.
I believe the handle slabs were replaced, possibly at the time the blade was repaired, as the slabs are not wooden. Instead, it is an odd reddish material that appears to be some kind of old phenolic that was built up in layers (there is some separation of the layers making it quite apparent) and which I believe was used as an industrial electrical insulating material.
Interestingly enough, I have an old kitchen knife made from a planer blade that my grandparents originally got from a millwright friend of theirs who had made it for them. The handle material is exactly the same stuff and is even attached in the same way, countersunk slot headed screws. The handle slabs generally follow the shape of the tang but are uniformly one half inch thick and unbeveled other than where they meet the ricasso. The handle itself shows virtually no wear although it is obviously aged.
The blade is covered with a very heavy layer of patina, but is not rusty. I cannot find a makers mark. However the handle slabs have the name ROY stamped into them with small individual hand stamps.
Based on my grandparents knife I'm thinking this one is probably vintage 30's or 40's, but of course I could be wildly wrong, it's only a guess.
Anybody got a better guess?
Stopped by Saint Vincent dePauls today and saw a funky lookin' old kitchen knife under their glass. Paid a $1.50 for it and brought it home.
The blade is a french chefs knife style, eleven and three eighths inches long and two inches wide at the ricasso. The edge shows wear from sharpening so it's just the tiniest bit concave. I believe the point may have been broken off and the blade reworked as it is slightly rounded, with the back dropping down a little more abruptly than symmetrically. As you look at the blade edge on there is a bevel on the left but the blade is flat ground on the right. The blade is tapered nicely to the point but the tang is not.
The blade has been broken and repaired where the tang meets the ricasso. I believe the repair was made using a process I have heard referred to as brazing. The repaired spot has a very golden color to it.
I believe the handle slabs were replaced, possibly at the time the blade was repaired, as the slabs are not wooden. Instead, it is an odd reddish material that appears to be some kind of old phenolic that was built up in layers (there is some separation of the layers making it quite apparent) and which I believe was used as an industrial electrical insulating material.
Interestingly enough, I have an old kitchen knife made from a planer blade that my grandparents originally got from a millwright friend of theirs who had made it for them. The handle material is exactly the same stuff and is even attached in the same way, countersunk slot headed screws. The handle slabs generally follow the shape of the tang but are uniformly one half inch thick and unbeveled other than where they meet the ricasso. The handle itself shows virtually no wear although it is obviously aged.
The blade is covered with a very heavy layer of patina, but is not rusty. I cannot find a makers mark. However the handle slabs have the name ROY stamped into them with small individual hand stamps.
Based on my grandparents knife I'm thinking this one is probably vintage 30's or 40's, but of course I could be wildly wrong, it's only a guess.
Anybody got a better guess?