Friedr Herder Abr Sohn, Don Carlos, Edit: Lead Glass Knife!

T

Triplelock

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I hope I am in the right forum of this one. I've just started picking up old knives, since my first kiddo came along my gun budget has been...sad. So I started grabbing old axe heads and kitchen knives at garage sales/thrift shops, and learning how to fix them up. Today I was digging around in the local Salvation Army knife box and came up with something that was a little different then the average chinese serrated kitchen knife. I've been able to find a bit about it googling, but I had a couple questions regarding it I thought someone here might be able to answer.

Plus, you guy seem to be like me, and I figure you have fun seeing old knives someone pulled out of the .75c knife bin:

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Someone seems to have used it for a little bit of hammering over the years:

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And my first question is pertaining to that bit of metal on the blade:

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It almost looks like some metal was welded onto it? Was this maybe some sort of half hearted attempt to fix a chip? Any ideas?

It was butterknife dull when I got it home. I took some rust off of it and applied my poor (but improving) skills of sharpening a knife to it. Didn't take more than a couple minutes with a stone to get a pretty ok edge on it again. Seems like a good knife.

Anything anyone can tell me about it? I find Don Carlos to be a somewhat..unusual...choice in name for a German knife. If there some sort of story there.

In any case, I'm having fun learning about knives on the cheap. It's giving me something to do while any real money goes into keeping kids alive and repairing whatever they destroy in the process.
 
Maybe someone else can come along with more info. My understanding is that post-WWII, a lot of Solingen knife makers were pumping out blades for a variety of sellers. So there are a myriad of different brands that you can find. One of my favorite knives is an old K. Tragbar hunting knife my grandpa gave me, but I have never been able to learn much about K. Tragbar. I wish you luck on this one.

It looks to me like a mid century skinning knife that someone used pretty rough at points. I'd suspect that the bit of metal on the edge is more just a partially chipped piece from a particularly rough bit of usage at some point. It certainly is a cool looking knife.
 
Herder is one of the better German brands. At least as good as Puma and Boker, IMHO.
I remember them having ads in Outdoor Life and Field & Stream, (among others) when I was still a youngling back in the 1960's.

You have one of their Skinners.
Very similar to the Old Hickory and Russell Green River Buffalo and Sheep Skinner knives.
(The Sheep Skinner's have a 5 inch blade, while the Buffalo Skinners have a 6 inch blade.)
I don't remember if Herders used "Sheep" or "Buffalo" in the model name, like both Old Hickory and Russell Green River do, though. If I remember correctly (no promises or guarantees) it was originally a Euro pattern from either Germany or England, back in the first 1/4 of the 1800's.
The pattern is still made today, so it must be useful?

I'd guess yours is from the 1960's or 1970's, give or take ten years.

Exceptionally nice score for $0.75. That was not an inexpensive knife when it was new, even by today's standards. Congrats. :)
That one has a lot of use left in it, too. :)
 
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I don't know what a lead cutting knife looks like, but might that explain the hammering? I don't know, I'd have thought they'd have had a smoother hammer, but as I say, I don't know. I don't know much about skinning either, but I think that would make a good skinner.
I think the black areas, including the crescent at the belly, are where nickel plating has worn or chipped off.
 
afishhunter said:
Herder is one of the better German brands. At least as good as Puma and Boker, IMHO.
I remember them having ads in Outdoor Life and Field & Stream, (among others) when I was still a youngling back in the 1960's.

You have one of their Skinners.
Very similar to the Old Hickory and Russell Green River Buffalo and Sheep Skinner knives.
(The Sheep Skinner's have a 5 inch blade, while the Buffalo Skinners have a 6 inch blade.)
I don't remember if Herders used "Sheep" or "Buffalo" in the model name, like both Old Hickory and Russell Green River do, though. If I remember correctly (no promises or guarantees) it was originally a Euro pattern from either Germany or England, back in the first 1/4 of the 1800's.
The pattern is still made today, so it must be useful?

I'd guess yours is from the 1960's or 1970's, give or take ten years.

Exceptionally nice score for $0.75. That was not an inexpensive knife when it was new, even by today's standards. Congrats. :)
That one has a lot of use left in it, too. :)
Click to expand...

Fantastic info, thank you so much!

I can tell you that I did a bit of googling and found that the trademark info on "Don Carlos" says that it was first used in '76 and was "dead/canceled" in '84 which I would imagine dates it pretty well.

waynorth said:
Looks like a "Came" knife, for cutting lead Came (channels) when making leaded glass windows;
hence the metal on the blade!!
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Well that is very interesting. There's a lot of people around here who make such windows, I see them at garage sales a lot, and equipment.

It would not surprise me at all if one of these people saw the knife and thought the same as you, and used it for that purpose, despite it actually being a skinning knife.
 
Its not a skinning knife, its a purpose built tool for making and repairing stained glass windows

Amazon.com: Don Carlos Premium Lead Knife - Professional Stained Glass Tool: Kitchen & Dining

Online shopping for Kitchen Knives & Accessories from a great selection of Cutlery Sets, Specialty Knives, Sharpeners, Cutting Boards, & more at everyday low prices.
www.amazon.com

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The lead on the blade should come off easy with some bore solvent and a brass brush.
 
Arathol said:
Its not a skinning knife, its a purpose built tool for making and repairing stained glass windows

Amazon.com: Don Carlos Premium Lead Knife - Professional Stained Glass Tool: Kitchen & Dining

Online shopping for Kitchen Knives & Accessories from a great selection of Cutlery Sets, Specialty Knives, Sharpeners, Cutting Boards, & more at everyday low prices.
www.amazon.com

Knife question

I picked up what i call a fixed bladed hawkbill knife, but have never seen one sharpened quite like it. The scales appear to be made of ebony. with silver pins, and a silver butt plate. The blade has "Korea" stamped on it, and the edge is ground on the outer edge of the blade arc. In all my...
bladeforums.com bladeforums.com

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Click to expand...

Well that's just fascinating, thank you so much!
 
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