Fengler Brothers??? knife sharpener

[jimreed2160]

Spengler Brothers knife sharpener

I have had this knife sharpener around for years and finally got around to dressing the badly glazed stones. While cleaning it up, I found a label painted on the front. Unfortunately, there is a big paint splash over the first few letters. What I can make out looks like:

Manufactured by
--engler Broths Co
Chicago IL

My guess is "Fengler". Did this company exist?

Anyway, I deglazed the stones and they look like early 20th century red india stones. Has anyone seen something like this? The interior mech is pretty robust but the outside is cheap stampings. It seems to be made for home use.

 

[notlob]

Spengler brothers - inventors of the modern pencil sharpener.

Here's the patent for your knife sharpener:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US1078507A/en?assignee=Spengler+Brothers+Company

 

[exmaxima1]

Jeez, I don't know which is more dangerous: the sharp knife or the sharpener!

 

[jimreed2160]

notlob--That was super quick. Thanks for your research!!!

 

[PFSard]

Cool. How's it work?

 

[jimreed2160]

Cool. How's it work?

Have not had time to put it through its paces yet. The glazed wheels made lots of noise but did not sharpen worth a darn. Now that they are dressed I have much higher expectations for them. I will try to remember to get a carbon steel knife from the kitchen tomorrow and give it a go.

 

[jimreed2160]

I had some shop time today so I sharpened a carbon steel chefs knife. One trip down and one trip back. It took all of about 15 seconds and the blade was touched up and sharp enough to slice the newspaper.

 

[WZRoberts]

Success! Not perfect, but functional. Glad it's in working order for you.