WW2 Era Folder
- Thread starter leghog
- Start date
Knife is 1951 to 1966. The lower case Kabar italicized mark started in 1951 when Union Cut Co changed it's name to KA-BAR Inc. and it was bought by Cole National in 1966. Cole National still used the Kabar lower case mark but began stamping the model number on the blade. If it were a WW2 era knife it would have KA-BAR all caps over Olean, NY (circa 1943-1946), or if an early war knife it would be KA-BAR plain or with a secondary blade marked UCCo or Union Cut Co. The KA-BAR caps over USA was used circa 1947 to 1950.
Thanks.
There's a reason it's in such good shape after 50 or 60 years, assuming it is mid-1950s at earliest. It's a nail breaker. The pull on the main blade is an 8.5 out of 10. The pull on the other tools is between a 20 and a 30 on a scale of 10.
Why would Kabar use steel for the liners and pins a decade or more after brass was no longer on the critical materials list?
There's a reason it's in such good shape after 50 or 60 years, assuming it is mid-1950s at earliest. It's a nail breaker. The pull on the main blade is an 8.5 out of 10. The pull on the other tools is between a 20 and a 30 on a scale of 10.
Why would Kabar use steel for the liners and pins a decade or more after brass was no longer on the critical materials list?
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Leftovers- why waste perfectly good parts just because the war ended and the government killed all contracts with zero notice, leaving manufacturers holding the bag.
Price - It took a while for brass to become readily available on the civial market and companies had a lot of steel lying around anyway - see previous reason.
Western was still putting aluminum guards on knives until the early 50s.
Price - It took a while for brass to become readily available on the civial market and companies had a lot of steel lying around anyway - see previous reason.
Western was still putting aluminum guards on knives until the early 50s.
First of all most knife companies made steel liner and bolster knives for years and well before the war. Many were made like that in the 1800s. Steel makes a stronger knife and many fine old knives by US cutlery companies will exhibit these characteristics. Many companies made the same model with nice bone scales and brass liners with nickel bolsters and also with wood handles and steel liners and bolsters. The wood scaled steel versions were cheaper and more "working man" knives. Secondly, your if your knife was made in 1951-1953 which is quite possible it was only 6-8 years after the war, not decades later. I am not sure about the can opener but if Imperial had a patent on it KA-BAR Inc would have had to pay royalties to use it. Your knife has the early Union Cut type of punch blade too which was changed on later production knives.
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If Imperial got a patent on the opener in 1944, it would have been in effect for at least 20 years, i.e. 1964. Which would have covered nearly the entire period during which the knife could have been made.
Many non-Imperial Knife Company knife makers were using the safety can opener will before 1964.
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Was that a practice of Kabar?
Just trying to learn the rationale behind the knife's manufacture.
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I have several pre-war steel lined and bolstered Olcut folding hunters by Union Cut Co. I have never collected the later knives marked Kabar lower case italicized letters so I can't really comment on those. One thing is that the scout/utility knife like yours is and was a good candidate for steel frames because it was a hard worked model. If there was a rationale behind your knife's manufacture it was likely to make a cheap strong scout/utility knife. The black plastic scales and steel frame seem to lead that way.