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Olsen OK knives

Duckdog said:
I'm sorry for the loss of your mentor, as those are enriching relationships. I am happy to have your knowledge available here, as I inherited a couple of 511's from my stepfather and started an internet search on the knives' legacy. Interesting, but many short dead-ends.

Other than the 510 and 511, what other folders did Olsen make? Or contract from others?

Thanks.
- Stuart
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Hello Stuart , here we go i haven't really talked Olsen's after my friends passing. So I am trying to reboot my brain. Here are some pics from 3 different catalogs. So let's get to it. Lol
 
4qggtRx.jpg
Ok as I said just rebooting my brain. I said that the 511 and 510's were the only folders made by Olsen, I had a brain fart. They did make and assemble some Aerial and Jaeger Bros. Easy open or Switchblade knives, depending on what you want to call them . Lee Olsen Sr's wife was a Jaeger, her family owned the Aerial knife company. Olsen was given a box of leftover parts for Aerials k112. Olsen assembled what Aerial knives they could with the parts they had and built some Jaeger Bros knives from scratch to honor their relatives. The only way to tell them apart from and original Aerial is the release lever. The original Aerial lever has little circles on it and the Olsen's have a checker board pattern and have stag handles. Here is a pic of my Jaeger Bros k112 made by Olsen. You can read about these knives in Mark Erickson's book Antique American Switchblades.
 
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You have an amazing amount of knowledge that doesn't seem to be available anywhere else, not to mention a great collection. The two 510's in stag and smooth stag are superior to anything I've seen and make them much more appealing. The last knife you posted, the auto Aerial, is a treasure not to be believed. Thanks for all the photos.
 
Remarkable collection. The catalogs are a revelation. Thank you for sharing your treasure trove!
 
joeradza said:
You have an amazing amount of knowledge that doesn't seem to be available anywhere else, not to mention a great collection. The two 510's in stag and smooth stag are superior to anything I've seen and make them much more appealing. The last knife you posted, the auto Aerial, is a treasure not to be believed. Thanks for all the photos.
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Thanks it's fun to talk Olsen's again. I never say never but there isn't to much that I haven't seen when it comes to Olsen OK knives made in Howard City mi.
 
Yes, what a truetreasure trove of information and knife images!! As Alan ( joeradza joeradza ) said, this information is very welcomed. When I first posted my 511, not many folks had seen an Olsen folder, and only @5K Qs knew where Howard City was. This is a revelation

Itsmebsh said:
The only way to tell them apart from and original Aerial is the release lever. The original Aerial lever has little circles on it and the Olsen's have a checker board pattern and have stag handles.
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I did not know of the Olsen connection to Aerial. This may explain why the Aeriel that I posted months ago looks "younger" than the date that Aerial closed would indicate:

VZQFx1S.jpg


Another mystery solved. Thanks.
- Stuart
 
Duckdog said:
Yes, what a truetreasure trove of information and knife images!! As Alan ( joeradza joeradza ) said, this information is very welcomed. When I first posted my 511, not many folks had seen an Olsen folder, and only @5K Qs knew where Howard City was. This is a revelation



I did not know of the Olsen connection to Aerial. This may explain why the Aeriel that I posted months ago looks "younger" than the date that Aerial closed would indicate:

VZQFx1S.jpg


Another mystery solved. Thanks.
- Stuart
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Your welcome Stuart my pleasure, happy I could shed some light on the mystery lol. Really nice knife by the way. Diffineatly made by Olsen.
 
Thanks for all the catalog postings. I see my Olsen Gold shield two bladed Hunter is a Model 119, and apparently made by Schrade, not Camillus. John
 
John A. Larsen said:
Thanks for all the catalog postings. I see my Olsen Gold shield two bladed Hunter is a Model 119, and apparently made by Schrade, not Camillus. John
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Your correct all gold shields we're made by Schrade . Glad to help, I've thought hard about sharing my Info. But am happy I did, I've spent a lot of time and money researching, collecting data, paperwork and knives . There is a lot of wrong info out there about the Olsen ok Knife Company . Just trying to shed some light if i can.
 
Itsmebsh said:
Your correct all gold shields we're made by Schrade . Glad to help, I've thought hard about sharing my Info. But am happy I did, I've spent a lot of time and money researching, collecting data, paperwork and knives . There is a lot of wrong info out there about the Olsen ok Knife Company . Just trying to shed some light if i can.
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Well, it is helpful, and I'm sure many of us appreciate you sharing that info. Olsen has always been a bit of a mystery to many collectors, so filling in a blank piece of history is great!
 
glennbad said:
Well, it is helpful, and I'm sure many of us appreciate you sharing that info. Olsen has always been a bit of a mystery to many collectors, so filling in a blank piece of history is great!
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Your very welcome, like I have stated if I can answer your questions I will. And if I can't I will tell you that also. I'm not here to mislead anyone, and if I state something I can back it up. If it's hear say I will tell you that also. Just glad if I can help. I backed away from my collection when my friend passed, but this is getting me excited again to share. I would love to show a pic of every knife in my collection, and I will share more. But it takes me 4 to 5 hrs just to clean them all let alone take pics .
 
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