Russell straight line barlow

rockman0

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May 5, 2013
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The arrow through R stamp on the blade and the grinds not polished off drew me to this knife. Pictures were poor but it was much better in hand. I noticed right away how extremely dull the blade is. At first I thought it was from use. Took it out in good light today and looked at it with a 10X glass. The edge is perfectly flat as is the tip. So it either left the factory before being finished or someone ground it flat and put it away for many years. What's your opinion?
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I wonder too.
Dulled on purpose for use as a toy by a small child, or for use as a letter opener for someone scared of cutting themselves?
Curious.

That knife is a beauty, nice bone, and I love that the primary blade grind is so visible.

Michael
 
I bought a Queen Country Cousin on eBay from Ken Daniels daughter (Courtney “knifegirl” is Ken’s daughter, right?). In any case, it is a new knife, that is unsharpened. I was going to get it sharpened, but maybe I should keep it unsharpened. I have other Country Cousins, so I’m not denying myself the pleasure of using one.
 
Rob, that's a heck of a Russell, blade was never finished but what I find most unusual is the back side of the tang with the Russell arrow stamp. Can't recall ever seeing that before, wondering if some sort of factory sample or mock up, great find.
 
I'll certainly leave as is:thumbsup: thanks

That's an unsharpened knife. Leave it as is, it's an interesting curiosity, a glimpse into an extinct company's manufacturing processes.

Thanks Charlie:thumbsup:

I agree 100% with kamagong!!!:thumbsup:

I think it's unfinished. The spine of a butter knife would make a cleaner cut on letters;)
Thanks Michael :thumbsup:

I wonder too.
Dulled on purpose for use as a toy by a small child, or for use as a letter opener for someone scared of cutting themselves?
Curious.

That knife is a beauty, nice bone, and I love that the primary blade grind is so visible.

Michael

I wondered about the tang stamp, I've never seen it either but I'm glad to hear it from a guy that's seen a lot more old Russells than me. I thought it might have been a salesman sample but probably not. Thanks Augie :thumbsup:

Rob, that's a heck of a Russell, blade was never finished but what I find most unusual is the back side of the tang with the Russell arrow stamp. Can't recall ever seeing that before, wondering if some sort of factory sample or mock up, great find.
 
A lot of Russells were made with the "worn out" Bolster stamp, but I've never seen that back tang stamp!!
 
Well now I have two venerable collectors that haven't seen it:thumbsup::thumbsup: Thanks for letting me know Charlie :thumbsup: I'm excited about this one:eek:
A lot of Russells were made with the "worn out" Bolster stamp, but I've never seen that back tang stamp!!
 
Interesting reading and I agree about leaving the knife as is - I love finding this sort of thing as it’s extremely interesting as the questions come to me as in why?
Why wasn’t the knife sharpened in Factory? I posted very recently in “ Prune big or gi Home” Thread - a very old Wilbert Pruner - quite possibly Empire manufacture, this too has never been used and it has never been sharpened since the day it was made- it has never had an edge put on it!
To me it’s fascinating.
 
Very intriguing to find them like this Duncan, the mystery and unanswered questions keep us on the look out for such specimens.:):thumbsup: thanks
Campbellclanman Campbellclanman
 
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