What are some of the things you’ve learned from Blade Forums?
- Thread starter T. Erdelyi
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2017
- Messages
- 416
Sorry to hear that. I don't do any of those social media sites. Too hectic for me. This would seem to be a much more relaxed and welcoming site for reasonable interaction amongst folks.
Oh well. I guess times are changing, and I'm just not changing quick enough to keep up
.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2005
- Messages
- 19,385
Pretty minimal presence on social media here also for me. Don't even have an instagram account and barely have a facebook account that I never visit. Blade Forums is probably much better for interaction.Sorry to hear that. I don't do any of those social media sites. Too hectic for me. This would seem to be a much more relaxed and welcoming site for reasonable interaction amongst folks.
Oh well. I guess times are changing, and I'm just not changing quick enough to keep up
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
- Messages
- 25,491
I've learned the bulk of what I know thanks to these forums and/or through contacts I made thanks to these forums.
marcus52AR
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2014
- Messages
- 4,722
What is that cool looking knife 3rd down from the top? Is that an awl in the handle?Ted, you're a great person and I appreciate all of your contributions.
Just a picture which I hope is in tune :
Without the great people on Blade Forums I would probably never gone so much over board...
I learned I really really need to recognize the difference in wanting an excellent tool from my desire to chase the white rabbit...
& doing both, can be fine, if you approach it with some thought
I learned you are all horrible enablers...
& that's okay also, if you learn to approach it in some semblance of balance
I learned that people really do buy a heck of a lot more knives than seems reasonable
& handtool demand is likely a reflection on people wanting to actually DO something... (aka modern life twiddlethumbs syndrome)
...
I learned to get back in the shop/garage/boat yard/craft table/hiking trail more often, that reading these forums can be a gateway back to these real life things when you slap yourself from being online so much
& doing both, can be fine, if you approach it with some thought
I learned you are all horrible enablers...
& that's okay also, if you learn to approach it in some semblance of balance
I learned that people really do buy a heck of a lot more knives than seems reasonable
& handtool demand is likely a reflection on people wanting to actually DO something... (aka modern life twiddlethumbs syndrome)
...
I learned to get back in the shop/garage/boat yard/craft table/hiking trail more often, that reading these forums can be a gateway back to these real life things when you slap yourself from being online so much
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2009
- Messages
- 416
I think you are looking at a Marlin Spike, it will assist you in making and undoing knots.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2001
- Messages
- 32,293
I went full circle with size. I started smaller because I was younger and smaller was appropriate for my size.
Got my first bigger blade, a fixed blade around 13, a Schrade Sharpfinger. Then I got my first larger folder for work. I got a Benchmade 730 Ares. Then as my need for a less bigger knife became evident I downsized from a large Sebenza 21 to a smaller 21. I’m more likely to throw a traditional sliojoint in my pocket over a larger tactical style knife.
That’s not to say I don’t carry the larger blades anymore, I just don’t carry them as much since I find if I’m gonna need one I’ll plan for it and take it for the job and not carry it ,”just in case.”
herisson
Apple slicing rocking chair dweller
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 4,754
marcus52AR
This is an Yssingeaux pattern with an awl, restored by Couteaux d'Ile de France. I just did some research out of mere curiosity and this would rather be an Issoire pattern. The awl is quite the give away : this was a wine merchant's knife and the awl was used to untap the wine barrels for letting the client have a taste of the product. But these patterns are very similar, were common in a wide area of Central France and have been interpreted by a lot of cutlers. And today's iterations often are quite different from the antiques. So....all bets are off !
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2001
- Messages
- 32,293
History is one of the main reasons I came here in the beginning. Blade Forums became my resource point. If I couldn’t find the info through the search function than I could find someone who could guide me toward the answer. Actually my preferred method since it helps me to learn on my own.
A great example was this Josef Szirakay pearl lobster.
This was a knife I bought at one of the first estate sales I'd ever been too. The gentleman who'd passed away collected some knives and it was me and another guy bidding on the 30 or so knives that went up. It was a great first sale as the guy bidding against me was completely fair and if he saw I was interested he backed off and I did the same so we both would up with an equal share of the knives and we both got for the most part what we each wanted.
The one knife I missed, in fact we both missed was this little pearl Sleeveboard Lobster pattern that came with a little leather purse. It was part of a box lot that was filled stuff from a woman's vanity table. The bidding got past $12 and i let it go, (my wife was already mad that I had bought over a dozen knives and explaining why I needed one more wasn't goin' to help my case much. so I lost the lot.
Later that evening as we were gettin' ready to settle up I ran into the woman and i asked her if she'd be willin' to part with the knife and she immediately resonded by pullin' it from the box and asked me for $3 which I gladly handed over. she even found the leather purse that went with it. That was back in the 80s, I hung onto that knife not knowing or finding any other info about the knife except a name which was stamped into the blade.
Here's some pics, now at this point in the story I knew nothing other than the name in the blade JSZIRAKI.
Part of what helped me date it was the little SAK style nickel silver tweezers or what I thought was a cocaine spoon which would have put the knife around the 1800s but that was just a educated guess by me which turned out to be completely wrong. Around the early 90s I was at a local show and I ran into a guy who had a table full of old knives all in great shape. During the conversation I had shown him the knife and he corrected me and gave me my first solid piece of evidence. What I thought was a coke spoon turned out to be an ear pick used to scoop out ear wax and debris from one's ears, long before the invention of the Q-tip this was the acceptable method, an ear pick used to scoop out the nasty stuff.
It was most likely a manicure tool made for an upper crust Victorian woman. but other than that info there was nothin' else for another 18 years. Now 18 or so years later the internet is in full bloom, social media put me in contact with more resources and people who had more knowledge than I had on the subject and a member here at BFC saw the name and hooked me up with links and history about the maker. ,(I love the internet ).
Well after owning the knife that I bought for $3 around 30 or so years ago turns out that J (Josev) Sziraki was the intergral player if not the father of the central European Cutlery industry going back to the early to mid 18th century. This guy was a god, the Tony Bose of his day and to make things even better he was Hungarian, he was one of my people.
I'm still learning about this knife, here it is I've owned it for 30 years and i feel I'm barely scratchin' the surface. I got a big break whe a member here at BFC sent me a PM with a couple of relevant links, Thanks, I'll post your name when I go back and check my PMs to see who you were , thanks again.
Here’s another old knife I was able to date based on research on BFC or places where the forum had led me. Just to give you an idea about the amount of info I was able to gather from various sources and people here. It’s a long read but interesting for sure.
It was an advertising knife that I bought for cheap 30 years ago only to find out 20 some years later it was an old valuable knife and how my detective work led me to it's age based on the coined covers.
I love advertising knives, there's always so much variety in patterns and quality to make it interesting to collect. Above is a knife for the Good Roads Machinery Company they were in business with that name from 1892-1907.
Good Roads Machinery Company patented the "American Champion," the first four-wheeled pull grader, in 1877. It was reorganized under the American Road Machine Company name in 1889 after opening plants in Delphos, Ohio, as well as Groton and Marathon, New York.
The Good Roads Machinery Company was organized as the firm's sales branch, and Good Roads became the brand name under which the equipment, which included graders, rollers and rock crushers, was manufactured, although the American Champion name was continued for graders. The Good Roads name was a direct allusion to the Good Roads movement, under which dirt farm roads throughout the United States were being improved for automobile traffic.
The firm expanded into Canada in 1888, and the Copp Brothers firm of Hamilton, Ontario, gained sole licensing rights for American Champion graders in Canada in 1892. John Challen, the manager of Copp Brothers, bought the company out in 1896 and renamed it Good Roads Machinery Company, not to be confused with the sales agents of the same name for American Road Machinery. Challen's firm failed in 1907, and he became a salesman for American Road Machinery, which apparently acquired the firm's assets.
A new group of investors bought the former Challen firm in 1908 and reorganized it as Canadian Road Machine Company Ltd., and this firm also failed and was reacquired by American Road Machinery in 1909 as American Road Machinery of Canada.
New & Used Heavy Equipmenthttp://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Good_Roads_Machinery_Company#ixzz3JxLCPOTs
There was no tang stamp but on the corner of the stamped handles were the name Bastian Bros Co. Rochester NY. Here's a little history on them, seems like they started their company around the same time. Robeson was contacted to make the knives while they stamped the handles.
history on the stamp Bastian Bros Co Rochester NY...
Bastian Company Profile
Bastian Company was founded in 1895 and was incorporated as Bastian Brothers Company initially operating as a jewelry store. Shortly after i’s founding, Bastian Brothers became one of the first firms in Rochester, New York to become a Union Shop and continues today to be a totally unionized firm. Within a short period of time, the firm became known for its custom recognition and award products and underwent a rapid expansion. Soon after moving into a larger facility, Bastian expanded its sales and marketing efforts to eventually cover the entire United States and today has numerous customers located outside the United States.
Since 1895, Bastian Company has been recognized internationally for its quality, craftsmanship, and integrity in the production of emblematic jewelry, lapel pins, medallions, belt buckles, paperweights, key tags, convention badges, police-security-firemen badges and insignia, and automotive decorative emblems.
Bastian Company’s die cutters (tool makers) can reproduce a concept into an embossing die that will provide the clarity, sharpness and definition of detail you expect in the finished product. In each and every step of the very labor intensive die striking, enameling, polishing, finishing and plating procedures our employees build integrity and quality into every Bastian Company product.
In December of 2003, Bastian Company acquired the assets of CRDL Inc. and moved all equipment and operations from the CRDL plant in California to the Bastian plant. CRDL invented and patented magnetic sculptures and today offers more than 300 designs to select from. With the move to the Bastian plant, CRDL magnetic sculptures are now union made along with all Bastian products.
Not bad for a $10 flea market find.
A great example was this Josef Szirakay pearl lobster.
This was a knife I bought at one of the first estate sales I'd ever been too. The gentleman who'd passed away collected some knives and it was me and another guy bidding on the 30 or so knives that went up. It was a great first sale as the guy bidding against me was completely fair and if he saw I was interested he backed off and I did the same so we both would up with an equal share of the knives and we both got for the most part what we each wanted.
The one knife I missed, in fact we both missed was this little pearl Sleeveboard Lobster pattern that came with a little leather purse. It was part of a box lot that was filled stuff from a woman's vanity table. The bidding got past $12 and i let it go, (my wife was already mad that I had bought over a dozen knives and explaining why I needed one more wasn't goin' to help my case much. so I lost the lot.
Later that evening as we were gettin' ready to settle up I ran into the woman and i asked her if she'd be willin' to part with the knife and she immediately resonded by pullin' it from the box and asked me for $3 which I gladly handed over. she even found the leather purse that went with it. That was back in the 80s, I hung onto that knife not knowing or finding any other info about the knife except a name which was stamped into the blade.
Here's some pics, now at this point in the story I knew nothing other than the name in the blade JSZIRAKI.
Part of what helped me date it was the little SAK style nickel silver tweezers or what I thought was a cocaine spoon which would have put the knife around the 1800s but that was just a educated guess by me which turned out to be completely wrong. Around the early 90s I was at a local show and I ran into a guy who had a table full of old knives all in great shape. During the conversation I had shown him the knife and he corrected me and gave me my first solid piece of evidence. What I thought was a coke spoon turned out to be an ear pick used to scoop out ear wax and debris from one's ears, long before the invention of the Q-tip this was the acceptable method, an ear pick used to scoop out the nasty stuff.
It was most likely a manicure tool made for an upper crust Victorian woman.
but other than that info there was nothin' else for another 18 years. Now 18 or so years later the internet is in full bloom, social media put me in contact with more resources and people who had more knowledge than I had on the subject and a member here at BFC saw the name and hooked me up with links and history about the maker. ,(I love the internet ).
Well after owning the knife that I bought for $3 around 30 or so years ago turns out that J (Josev) Sziraki was the intergral player if not the father of the central European Cutlery industry going back to the early to mid 18th century. This guy was a god, the Tony Bose of his day and to make things even better he was Hungarian, he was one of my people.
I'm still learning about this knife, here it is I've owned it for 30 years and i feel I'm barely scratchin' the surface. I got a big break whe a member here at BFC sent me a PM with a couple of relevant links, Thanks, I'll post your name when I go back and check my PMs to see who you were , thanks again.
Here’s another old knife I was able to date based on research on BFC or places where the forum had led me. Just to give you an idea about the amount of info I was able to gather from various sources and people here. It’s a long read but interesting for sure.
It was an advertising knife that I bought for cheap 30 years ago only to find out 20 some years later it was an old valuable knife and how my detective work led me to it's age based on the coined covers.
I love advertising knives, there's always so much variety in patterns and quality to make it interesting to collect. Above is a knife for the Good Roads Machinery Company they were in business with that name from 1892-1907.
Good Roads Machinery Company patented the "American Champion," the first four-wheeled pull grader, in 1877. It was reorganized under the American Road Machine Company name in 1889 after opening plants in Delphos, Ohio, as well as Groton and Marathon, New York.
The Good Roads Machinery Company was organized as the firm's sales branch, and Good Roads became the brand name under which the equipment, which included graders, rollers and rock crushers, was manufactured, although the American Champion name was continued for graders. The Good Roads name was a direct allusion to the Good Roads movement, under which dirt farm roads throughout the United States were being improved for automobile traffic.
The firm expanded into Canada in 1888, and the Copp Brothers firm of Hamilton, Ontario, gained sole licensing rights for American Champion graders in Canada in 1892. John Challen, the manager of Copp Brothers, bought the company out in 1896 and renamed it Good Roads Machinery Company, not to be confused with the sales agents of the same name for American Road Machinery. Challen's firm failed in 1907, and he became a salesman for American Road Machinery, which apparently acquired the firm's assets.
A new group of investors bought the former Challen firm in 1908 and reorganized it as Canadian Road Machine Company Ltd., and this firm also failed and was reacquired by American Road Machinery in 1909 as American Road Machinery of Canada.
New & Used Heavy Equipmenthttp://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Good_Roads_Machinery_Company#ixzz3JxLCPOTs
There was no tang stamp but on the corner of the stamped handles were the name Bastian Bros Co. Rochester NY. Here's a little history on them, seems like they started their company around the same time. Robeson was contacted to make the knives while they stamped the handles.
history on the stamp Bastian Bros Co Rochester NY...
Bastian Company Profile
Bastian Company was founded in 1895 and was incorporated as Bastian Brothers Company initially operating as a jewelry store. Shortly after i’s founding, Bastian Brothers became one of the first firms in Rochester, New York to become a Union Shop and continues today to be a totally unionized firm. Within a short period of time, the firm became known for its custom recognition and award products and underwent a rapid expansion. Soon after moving into a larger facility, Bastian expanded its sales and marketing efforts to eventually cover the entire United States and today has numerous customers located outside the United States.
Since 1895, Bastian Company has been recognized internationally for its quality, craftsmanship, and integrity in the production of emblematic jewelry, lapel pins, medallions, belt buckles, paperweights, key tags, convention badges, police-security-firemen badges and insignia, and automotive decorative emblems.
Bastian Company’s die cutters (tool makers) can reproduce a concept into an embossing die that will provide the clarity, sharpness and definition of detail you expect in the finished product. In each and every step of the very labor intensive die striking, enameling, polishing, finishing and plating procedures our employees build integrity and quality into every Bastian Company product.
In December of 2003, Bastian Company acquired the assets of CRDL Inc. and moved all equipment and operations from the CRDL plant in California to the Bastian plant. CRDL invented and patented magnetic sculptures and today offers more than 300 designs to select from. With the move to the Bastian plant, CRDL magnetic sculptures are now union made along with all Bastian products.
Not bad for a $10 flea market find.
mwhich50
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2011
- Messages
- 3,236
Same here, I guess. Unlike most of the internet, you have to have manners to successfully participate in this forum. I have learned more about knives (value knives) on Youtube, but this is the place to ask questions, if you want a quick response.