Eye Brand Knives

P

pinetree

Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Messages
713
Well, I bought a little Eye Brand lock-blade, Sooner calls it a mini-sodbuster but it it has a clip blade. A neat little knife and very pleasing to the eye. However, upon further review, I will not be buying anymore Eye Brand. The fit of the knife was horrible.
o - the lock sits 1MM above the knife back when locking the blade
o - gaps between scales
o - uneven grinding where the scales, liners and bolsters meet.
o - when closed, the blade is loose rubs on the inside of the rear bolster.

Bokers and Case are a much better value. Case is just too concerned with making novelty handles.
 
I feared this would happen sooner or later when I heard alot of the German knives were being made outside of house and the name just stamped on. Just like the modern Hen and Roosters are a pale ghost of what they used to be.

I'm sorry this happened to you pinetree. It would be an interesting thing for you to find an older real German in house manufactured Eye-brand and compare the two. The ones I used more than 25 years ago were wonderfull knives. Its a real shame, once upon a time the word Solingin on a blade was as good as Sheffield used to be in their day. :(
 
Sorry to hear that,
in germany you woun't see Eye-Brand that often, think they're just for export, so I can't
tell if they're good or bad.
If you want some nice solingen quality, have a look for Hartkopf, Teufelskerle, Klaas, Otter or Lütters.
These companies still produce nice knifes, and some of them, like Ottermesser (www.otter-messer.de) or Lütters are really cheap, but honest working knifes.
A shame, that the name SOLINGEN is loosing what it stood for, same with Sheffield.

regards
surfer
 
Sorry to hear that pinetree...I have heard that, at times, the fit and finish of the Eye Brand stag knives may be sacrificed to keep the cost down.

My Eye Brand Smooth Bone MiniTrapper purchased within the year (also from Sooner State, who I have found to be awesome) is a gem, however.

Again, sorry to hear about yours.
 
Add me to the list of people that's sorry to hear that.

I've got an Eye Brand stag copperhead and also a muskrat. They are super.

Perhaps, pinetree, you can ship yours back to the dealer for an exchange.
It could be that you received a defective knife.
 
surfer said:
Sorry to hear that,
in germany you woun't see Eye-Brand that often, think they're just for export, so I can't
tell if they're good or bad.
If you want some nice solingen quality, have a look for Hartkopf, Teufelskerle, Klaas, Otter or Lütters.
These companies still produce nice knifes, and some of them, like Ottermesser (www.otter-messer.de) or Lütters are really cheap, but honest working knifes.
A shame, that the name SOLINGEN is loosing what it stood for, same with Sheffield.

regards
surfer
Click to expand...
Surfer,
What a great site!
Can you get them in the US?
 
Those Otter knives seem to offer some very nice workingman's knives many in carbon as well as stainless.
 
I have came close to buying an eye brand several times,but I have had lots of other German knives that were disapointments,(several boker,and knives made by boker,Russel,henkels etc,4 or 5 pumas and a hen and rooster) Im sure all these fokes make some good knives,great knives even,but I seem to always get a bad example.It's sad to see such popular and well thought of names go down in quality. I guess thats why Im pretty much a Case,Buck and Victorinox man.
 
Otter and Lütters (www.loewenmesser.de) make some REALLY nice working knifes, strong backsprings, carbon steel (think it's CK85 in Lütters and about CK 75 in Otters).
Lütters and Otter exists since about 1840, and the patterns are basically the same.
the fit and finish is not allways that good, but what you can expect on a handmade working knife for that price.
Try to get in contact with Otter, they're great to deal with, shure they'll send even to the US.
Loewenmesser I think are a little better in the fit and finish, but a little more expensive too, and maybe it will be more dificult to get in contact with them.

My favorite is a Lütters rope knife!
anker_gross2.jpg


good luck
surfer
 
surfer said:
Otter and Lütters (www.loewenmesser.de) make some REALLY nice working knifes, strong backsprings, carbon steel (think it's CK85 in Lütters and about CK 75 in Otters).
Lütters and Otter exists since about 1840, and the patterns are basically the same.
the fit and finish is not allways that good, but what you can expect on a handmade working knife for that price.
Try to get in contact with Otter, they're great to deal with, shure they'll send even to the US.
Loewenmesser I think are a little better in the fit and finish, but a little more expensive too, and maybe it will be more dificult to get in contact with them.

My favorite is a Lütters rope knife!
anker_gross2.jpg


good luck

Surfer,
I do confirm your opinion on Otter and Löwen-Messer (by the way, also on most of your other posts here and on other fora). I have seven or eight knives from both makes and the quality of the Löwen-Messer is obviously better than with the Otter-Messer. But the Otter-Messer are quite acceptable for the very low price, they are honest working knives.
I 'm sure that Mrs. Susann Frécôt :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: at http://www.roedter-messer.de/ will send Löwen-Messer to the New World.
They are friendly, fast and reliable at Rödter-Messer.
Surfer, do you have any idea why the Otter bone handle knives are marked 'Svane Kniv' on the blade ?
Click to expand...
 
Hello Paragraaf,
don't know about the "Svane kniv", maybe it was ment to be exported to scandinavia?
shure that if you ask Claudia Idel from Otter, she'll tell you, they're really nice to deal with.

OT: some time ago, on the other US knife forum, someone asked about age of a "Svane Kniv". He was told, even by Mr. Levine, that it's from about 1890 (don't remember exactly) because of the square kick.... now have a closer look at Ottermesser :)


In northern germanys fishermen, the term "Loewenmesser" is sinonym to pocketknife in many places, they truely gained themselves a name!

regards
surfer
 
My theory on German Eye:
It is one of the brands made by the Olbertz "factory." They make Fight'n Rooster, Bulldog Brand, Jim Bowie, and German Eye. Fight'n Rooster seems to be universally good in terms of fit finish. I have a Stockman that is very well made. I'm not real familiar with Bulldog or Jim Bowie. The 2 German Eye Stockmans that I own are newer and have fair fit and finish, but I understand the German Eyes are meant to be used up as working knives. So, I think that Olbertz uses more experienced Craftsman for Fight'n Rooster and less experienced craftsman for German Eye. However, the more experienced craftsman still sometimes work on German Eye if needed. Therefore, you do still find some newer German Eyes with excellent fit and finish. My theory.

Olbertz website:
http://www.pocketknives.de/index_d.htm

Sincerely,
Jay
 
I had a eye brand stockman back in the late 70's and it was a pretty nice nice, good fit and finish and held an edge pretty good. I haven't tried any lately, seen a couple at gun shows and was not impressed. ahgar
 
I was really into Eye Brand a year or two ago, but I had to stop buying them because their QC was so inconsistent. The finish was usually pretty good (except on the non-locking sodbusters, which are less expensive), but the fit varied from okay to awful; many of the knives I bought had a lot of side-to-side blade play and the fit between the backspring and tang with the blade open was often particularly bad.

Eye Brand knives do have nice, thin, simple carbon steel blades and the deer stag scaled models can be a good value. It was just too hard for me to find ones without the fit problems.

According to this thread, Carl Schlieper manufactured its own knives for a long time before the name was sold. I don't know how long Olbertz has been making the brand (Carl Schlieper went bankrupt in 1993, according to the thread), but that could help account for the perceived difference in quality between the Eye Brand knives of today and those of past decades.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top