"Old Knives"

Just acquired this Terrier EO Jack that is circa 1910 - 1916.

3 11/16" long. This is a sixteenth larger than their catalog stated. Should be 3 5/8. Guess the finisher went a little light on the wheel.

Beautiful brown bone. Jigged and grooved. No chips or cracks. Nickel-silver escutcheon shield.

Both blades marked, TERRIER / CUTLERY / ROCHESTER, N.Y. in three lines.

Nice Terrier dog's head logo on the back of the master and 27 / 626 on back of the pen. A Robeson of this pattern would be marked 626027 or 62627.

Both blades have half-stops and audible snaps opening, closing and at the half-stops. Actually, the blades snap more loudly at half-stop than most knives do on opening and closing.

This knife has got some springs.

Blades have seen virtually no use, but are patinated.

There are remnants of an etch on the master spear that appears to have been, "SHEFFIELD SILVER STEEL" in Gothic style letters inside a fancy etched cartouche with scrolls.

Jury is still out on what the etch actually says, but "...SILVER STEEL" is pretty obvious in the correct light.

I have never seen this etch on a Robeson or Terrier knife. I have seen "FIRTH'S STERLING STAINLESS STEEL" on a Robeson metal handled knife. That was probably a Robeson self-advertiser.











 
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Duncan, your little coke bottle is a pipe smoker's knife.

I had one way back, circa 1988. I sold it and Sarah fussed because she had it displayed on the antique secretary with her grandfather's pipes. I have tried to find her another and have seen a couple on Ebay, but they were later and had a pipe stamped or burned into one handle.

The punch or awl was used to scrape the inside of the bowl. The top of the bottle was the tamper.

Every one I've seen was by Camillus.
 
With a dedicated Case thread we don't see many old Case knives here in the "Old Knives" thread, but this one deserves to be here.
Case Tested XX knives existed roughly from 1920 to 1940 and are considered by many to be the best ever produced by the company.
Enclosed is a lovely old 3-3/4 inch two blade jack with classic Case jigged bone handles.

View attachment 1194469
 
Just acquired this Terrier EO Jack that is circa 1910 - 1916.

3 11/16" long. This is a sixteenth larger than their catalog stated. Should be 3 5/8. Guess the finisher went a little light on the wheel.

Beautiful brown bone. Jigged and grooved. No chips or cracks. Nickel-silver escutcheon shield.

Both blades marked, TERRIER / CUTLERY / ROCHESTER, N.Y. in three lines.

Nice Terrier dog's head logo on the back of the master and 27 / 626 on back of the pen. A Robeson of this pattern would be marked 626027 or 62627.

Both blades have half-stops and audible snaps opening, closing and at the half-stops. Actually, the blades snap more loudly at half-stop than most knives do on opening and closing.

This knife has got some springs.

Blades have seen virtually no use, but are patinated.

There are remnants of an etch on the master spear that appears to have been, "SHEFFIELD SILVER STEEL" in Gothic style letters inside a fancy etched cartouche with scrolls.

Jury is still out on what the etch actually says, but "...SILVER STEEL" is pretty obvious in the correct light.

I have never seen this etch on a Robeson or Terrier knife. I have seen "FIRTH'S STERLING STAINLESS STEEL" on a Robeson metal handled knife. That was probably a Robeson self-advertiser.












I wonder if this 'Sheffield Silver Steel' was the actual steel type at the time:

Silver steel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Silver steel is common tool steel that is supplied as a centerless ground round bar (with tolerances similar to that of drill bit). The name comes from the highly polished appearance of the rods; there is no silver in the alloy.

Amongst other applications, it has been widely used to make such things as punches, engravers, screwdrivers. Sheffield silver steel is used in France as a blade steel for straight razors. In Finland, German silver steel was and still is widely used for Puukko knives.

The composition is defined by UK specification BS-1407, and is given below.

In the annealed state it has a hardness of 27 HRC. It can be hardened to 64 HRC.[1]

The European/Werkstoff equivalent is 1.2210 / 115CrV3, which also includes some vanadium.

Composition of Silver Steel
Element BS-1407 Silver Steel[2] DIN 1.2210 / 115CrV3[3]
Min
Typ Max Min Max
Carbon 0.95% 1.13% 1.25% 1.10% 1.25%
Chromium 0.35% 0.43% 0.45% 0.50% 0.80%
Manganese 0.25% 0.37% 0.45% 0.20% 0.40%
Silicon 0 0.22% 0.40% 0.15% 0.30%
Vanadium 0.07% 0.12%
Phosphorus 0 0.014% 0.045% 0 0.03%
Sulphur 0 0.018% 0.045% 0 0.03%
Iron Balance Balance
 
With a dedicated Case thread we don't see many old Case knives here in the "Old Knives" thread, but this one deserves to be here.
Case Tested XX knives existed roughly from 1920 to 1940 and are considered by many to be the best ever produced by the company.
Enclosed is a lovely old 3-3/4 inch two blade jack with classic Case jigged bone handles.

View attachment 1194469
I, too, love that Era of Case knives. That's a beauty, herder!! :thumbsup:
 
Thanks, black mamba and waynorth. Interesting how you can name some companies by just their handle jigging.
And thanks also Charlie for the information regarding the Schrade Cut. automobile knife. :thumbsup:
 
Thanks, black mamba and waynorth. Interesting how you can name some companies by just their handle jigging.
And thanks also Charlie for the information regarding the Schrade Cut. automobile knife. :thumbsup:
Yes, most of us don't have to read the tang or shield to know these are Case Jacks; identifiable just by looking at the bone handles!!!
Jacks 1.jpg Jacks 2.jpg
 
Hey.
The shape of the bottom knife blade is my favorite.

Reminds the mouth of an alligator, as I see it.

I repaired the old Ka-Bar, which I bought at auction.

I think he is still ready to serve for a long time.
G1BBcB9-y-FUQA

https://yadi.sk/i/G1BBcB9-y-FUQA
 
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That bone is remarkable Mike, catalogue too :cool:

Liked all that discussion and pictures about the Thistle Top knives, beautiful items, love to see a modern attempt on them:thumbsup:

Regards, Will

Good idea Will, it would be neat to see a modern version of the Thistle handled knife.
 
With a dedicated Case thread we don't see many old Case knives here in the "Old Knives" thread, but this one deserves to be here.
Case Tested XX knives existed roughly from 1920 to 1940 and are considered by many to be the best ever produced by the company.
Enclosed is a lovely old 3-3/4 inch two blade jack with classic Case jigged bone handles.

View attachment 1194469

Beautiful old case, and neat old alligator wrench. I'm not so sure that pocket knives have improved over that period, but pipe wrenches sure did. :)
 
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