Oddballs!! Not your usual cutlery!!

[5K Qs]

Not sure what the definition of "oddball" is in a traditional knife context, but I'll bet it's quite subjective and means different things to different people. (Maybe it's hard to decide if a knife is an oddball or if it's the person presenting it that's the oddball. )

Here's an oriental Old Timer canoe that's unusual in that it came to me brand new with no shield (on either side). If Social Security "goes under" or I outlive my savings, I figure selling this rare knife will keep me afloat financially for the rest of my days!



- GT

 

[the-accumulator]

Not sure what the definition of "oddball" is in a traditional knife context, but I'll bet it's quite subjective and means different things to different people. (Maybe it's hard to decide if a knife is an oddball or if it's the person presenting it that's the oddball. )

Here's an oriental Old Timer canoe that's unusual in that it came to me brand new with no shield (on either side). If Social Security "goes under" or I outlive my savings, I figure selling this rare knife will keep me afloat financially for the rest of my days!
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- GT

No doubt! T-A

 

[danno50]

A surgical instrument of some sort. Someone told me the uses of the blades, but, I have forgotten. This is the only real tortoise shell I have.



I don't recall anyone posting an example of a Swedish barrel knife in this thread yet.

 

[Will Power]

danno50 Yes, it looks like a bistourie or scalpel used by doctors to make small incisions, i believe Tortoiseshell was often used as a handle material for the costly versions-it's always been a premium material. Does it have makers's mark?

Other oddball knives -the Barrel knife is ingenious ! - might be what we know think of as oddball but were once commonplace e.g. QUILL KNIVES for pointing nibs in the days before mass produced steel nibs and INK ERASURE knives from the periods when expensive hand written scripts, documents wills etc might have needed correcting (or forging ) Think Melville's Bartleby..."I would prefer not to....."

 

[danno50]

No maker's mark anywhere on it. Yes, I believe the barrel knife used to be very common in the Scandinavian countries at one time.

 

[galvanic1882]

Check this one out! Blade and tools hide in the handle till you swing the top open and show the tools. Pick the tool and place it in the handle

 

[A.L.]

I don't own this knife, just found the image on the interwebs. I believe it's meant to make parallel cuts for tree grafting.

sonofwilfred at the multitool subforum makes these from gardening SAKs: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/saks-other-knives-carried-together.1724068/post-22422383

 

[5K Qs]

I joined Blade Forums in 2014. The Forum Knife that year was a stag GEC #77. It's the only Forum knife I have, and I only have it because of the generosity of another BF member. He gifted it to me after he had installed new covers with handsomely jigged bone. It may be the ONLY non-stag 2014 stag Forum Knife in existence!



- GT

 

[r8shell]

sonofwilfred at the multitool subforum makes these from gardening SAKs: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/saks-other-knives-carried-together.1724068/post-22422383

Wow, that is cool (and odd) !

 

[Jack Black]

Klein & Son's made in 1996 (Code H). Often referred to as a Hawkbill or Pruner blade (and it is) Klein, manufacturer of lineman's and electricians tools, marketed this to electricians working with heavy cables (500 & 750 MCM, etc.). It is pretty beefy and I understand it was probably made for Klein by Utica. OH

Very interesting Bruce. Joseph Rodgers manufactured a similar knife, without the lock for the British Post Office (who also ran the telephones). They are etched with the year of issue, this one being from 1983. Telecom was the telephone division, later British Telecom, which was privatised. Interestingly, after Wostenholm quit their famous Washington Works, it was taken over by the GPO for a couple of years, until its demolition





More interesting, I think, are the heavier GPO knives, also by Joseph Rodgers, which, among other things were used for batoning through lead-covered cable.

 

[Jack Black]

Ron Flook records two names for the type of knife below, one of which is a Sudan Linesman's Knife, as Maleham & Yeoman had a contract to supply them to the Sudanese government for that purpose. Note that several of the knives shown have nail nicks on opposing sides of the blade, as did some British Army Clasp Knives from WW2 and post-WW2.



The other name given for the pattern is a NAAFI knife, as they were apparently sold to post-WW2 'National Servicemen' in 'NAAFI's. These knives were actually manufactured by a number of Sheffield cutlers, and I have seen 3 different styles, one of which is still manufactured in Sheffield. The example below is by Herbert Robinson.

 

[Jack Black]

A surgical instrument of some sort. Someone told me the uses of the blades, but, I have forgotten. This is the only real tortoise shell I have.

View attachment 2500753

I don't recall anyone posting an example of a Swedish barrel knife in this thread yet.

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Neat Surgeon's Knife. Even though this one (by Jonathan Hall of Bradford) originally had 4 blades, there is still a similarity of form


I wish I had picked up a Barrel Knife when they could be found here for a relatively modest sum

Check this one out! Blade and tools hide in the handle till you swing the top open and show the tools. Pick the tool and place it in the handle View attachment 2501168View attachment 2501169View attachment 2501170

That is really cool!

I joined Blade Forums in 2014. The Forum Knife that year was a stag GEC #77. It's the only Forum knife I have, and I only have it because of the generosity of another BF member. He gifted it to me after he had installed new covers with handsomely jigged bone. It may be the ONLY non-stag 2014 stag Forum Knife in existence!
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- GT

I'd forgotten about that one

 

[A.L.]

Can’t remember the maker for this German slippie because I don’t own it anymore but it was basically sharpened picnic knife. Had amazingly smooth but firm pull. I don’t see this kinds of knives much.

 

[glennbad]

I joined Blade Forums in 2014. The Forum Knife that year was a stag GEC #77. It's the only Forum knife I have, and I only have it because of the generosity of another BF member. He gifted it to me after he had installed new covers with handsomely jigged bone. It may be the ONLY non-stag 2014 stag Forum Knife in existence!
View attachment 2501432
View attachment 2501433

- GT

Sorry....

 

[5K Qs]

Sorry....

View attachment 2506849

As long as I'm here, I'll post this Richartz knife with multiplication tables stamped into the covers (tables for 1-6 on one side, 7-12 on the other). I haven't seen a lot of knives with mathematical tables on the covers, although I think Jack Black has occasionally posted a knife with conversion tables for a change in British currency.



- GT

 

[the-accumulator]

I acquired this oddball at an antique mall today for a fraction of what I would have expected to have to pay. My research revealed that civil war soldiers often purchased sets like this with their own money, so they're not military issued but were commonly carried by soldiers:





W. H. RICHARDS / PATENT JULY 23, 1861 / BOSTON. Reproductions are readily available for about $6 + S&H, but all that I found are stainless. This appears to be the genuine 1860s article. I think I got lucky today! T-A

 

[Old Engineer]

This one has been shown in other threads in the past . Made by Taylors Eye Witness

Looks like something is broken or very worn ,,,, but it isn't .
Conveyor Belt cleaning knife .
I call it Ain't Broken
And this makes you think your eyes went all wonky

Harry

 

[waynorth]

Unusual Russell Barlows!!

 

[5K Qs]

To me, this knife is odd because it's the only knife I have with a "game of skill" built into its handle.


- GT

 

[dsutton24]

Let's play Spot the Difference:

https://imgur.com/zoisPeu