Show Your Vintage Knife

[Private Lugnutz]

This is sort of corny and kitschy, but I couldn't resist. The interchangeable tools hook in on the other end. Imperial of Providence R.I. made those gigantic US Navy folding survival knives with the saw blades that are almost always missing, so I was a little disappointed one of the tools (that long thing that seems to have no clear purpose, for example) wasn't serrated. File, spike, screwdriver, bottle opener, adn the long dull thing. Lufkin was fond of maroon leatherette and vinyl and I thought it was going to be something machinist related when I opened it.

 

[Maui]

I purchased the tool box shown in the photos below at an estate sale earlier today. It was $35. A very nice heavy duty box with some useful tools in it, but what caught my eye when I opened it up was the knife in the bottom of the tray with the heavy mildew on the knife handle and the scabbard. It says “Camillus” on one side just above the guard and “USMC” in the same position on the other side. This looks to be a Kabar made by Camillus cutlery. And the blade itself is in excellent condition. Could someone here recommend a way to properly clean off the mold and mildew without damaging the knife handle or the leather sheath? I’d like to bring this knife back to good condition without doing any harm to it.

 

[four.cycle]

I responded to your "how to" question in the other thread.

 

[Maui]

Thanks 4cycle. I figured that I’d get more replies if I posted it in a separate discussion.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't see a separate discussion, but I use diluted vinegar, then immediately follow with Neats foot oil or whatever your preferred leather softener is.

Camillus made more M2 fighting knives (I know that it has been crescent wrenched into the user lexicon, but "Ka-bar" was a Union Cutlery trademark during WWII) than Union Cutlery and every other mfgr combined, but still, they are uncommon in the wild, and it doesn't get more wild than an old toolbox. That is a fantastic find!

 

[RAS61]

My father's Kabar that was his Boy Scout knife in the 40's, his initials stamped on the back of the sheath. He passed it on to my Eagle Scout son, which is even more appropriate since they have the same initials

 

[Spike01]

A buddy offered me some pocket knives the other day. He said they were rusty and "junkers". I gladly accepted and started to clean them up a little. Still more cleaning to be done but...
1) Vintage Winchester 3953 with bottle opener and cork screw (still looking for more info on this one
2) Vintage Western "Whittler"
3) Colonial "Forrest-Master" camp knife

 

[gpw_42]

I don't see a separate discussion, but I use diluted vinegar, then immediately follow with Neats foot oil or whatever your preferred leather softener is.

Camillus made more M2 fighting knives (I know that it has been crescent wrenched into the user lexicon, but "Ka-bar" was a Union Cutlery trademark during WWII) than Union Cutlery and every other mfgr combined, but still, they are uncommon in the wild, and it doesn't get more wild than an old toolbox. That is a fantastic find!

Lugz, the other discussion is here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...nife-found-in-tool-box-at-estate-sale.489203/

Maui, welcome aboard! You seem to have found the knives in a World War 2 mechanic toolbox, which seems to be in great shape. And you **** for $35 for the box, much less the contents. Keep us in the loop as you work on the knives, please. If that Camillus is WW2, it's worth a chunk cleaned up. I can't speak to the Kinfolks.

Welcome also to Spike01, and his folders. That Winchester and the Western are sure appealing to me. I'd be tempted to carry the Winchester, but afraid that I'd lose it.

 

[Farmer J.]

Here's some old film of blade forger Albert Craven, might be interesting to the old knife enthusiasts.
Showing him make 2 blades. About 11 minutes in he shows various interesting knives he has made..

 

[gpw_42]

Possible, I suppose, although I am inclined to think it's just as possible these were made later in tribute or celebration of the revolution. I have contacted the museum. I am awaiting a reply.

EDIT: I will let on that one thing that has me just a little cautiously excited is the handle. The guard and the pommel are not steel. Or, not magnetic, anyway. They could be silver. There is a tang that goes through the guard and the grip and terminates at the end of the pommel. I can see it where there is some wear and that spot and only that spot is magnetic.

For anyone who wants to follow the odyssey of Lugz' machete, take a look at his Lugzonian thread, starting with Post 509: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/the-lugzsonian-a-virtual-tour.468584/page-13 His efforts to find more detail about the source and construction of the machete led to a rather amazing experience at a nearby jewelry shop! Please keep us in the loop as any further developments occur, Lugz! I'm way overdue on a lot of GJ, and just discovered today (30 Dec) what Lugz posted back in late October.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Please keep us in the loop as any further developments occur, Lugz!

Sadly, two missives to the Museo Zacatecas have gone unanswered. I'm still planning to find someone fluent in Spanish to call them for me. I don't want to impinge on Jose at the jewelers again, especially after rebuffing his subtle hints about wanting it.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I snagged this vintage "BUCK 107" sheath at the flea this morning. I do not have a Buck 107 fixed blade knife to go inside it, and I did not buy it for that purpose, per se. But I have some similar 7" knives with 4" blades that might fit. And if I should happen to find a Buck 107 one day, it will have a proper home. It's a really nice sheath. That entire edge is a piece of wood, stained black, giving it some nice shape and stability. I don't think these are tool old. I am not a Buck collector, but I'm guessing 1960's or 70's.

 

[gpw_42]

Nice grab, Lugz! Those are handy to have...you'll eventually luck into a 107, and your temporarily "homed" orphan will be an orphan again....

 

[jabberwoki]

Buck knife display case

 

[piehammer]

Picked up this morning. Blades could be in better shape, but happy to have it.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Buck knife display case

Shhhhweeeeet! That would be nice for a Buck knife collection, but really any knives.

 

[gpw_42]

Piehammer, any indication who made that for Sears?

Jabberwoki with the sweet score on the Buck case. Sure remember drooling over those things as a kid. Dad wore a 102 on the few camping trips we took when I was a little kid. I thought I'd really arrived as a teen when I got one of my own, as a Christmas present.

 

[piehammer]

Piehammer, any indication who made that for Sears?

Jabberwoki with the sweet score on the Buck case. Sure remember drooling over those things as a kid. Dad wore a 102 on the few camping trips we took when I was a little kid. I thought I'd really arrived as a teen when I got one of my own, as a Christmas present.

Blade says Craftsman, but pretty sure it's a Schrade.

 

[jabberwoki]

Got this one as well.

 

[Macduf]

Some current finds

 

[Macduf]

Any idea on who made these?

 

[gpw_42]

Interesting knife which belongs to an acquaintance; blade marked Ulster with an Old timer badge. No research (yet) on company histories to sort that out.

The owner keeps it in a tool box as a handy user. Brightest polished blades I think I’ve ever seen on one of these Scout-type knives.

 

[Farmer J.]

I wonder what the accumulated knife knowledge on GJ can tell us about this, so, information please if you know anything.
I bought it on a secondhand cutlery stand at a county agricultural show a few years ago, from an incredibly grumpy yorkshireman who seemingly didn't know much or have interest in anything at all unless it was made in Sheffield! I thought it unusual and interesting so gave him a very small amount of money and made off.. It reminds me of one worn by a friend of Wilfred Thesiger on his first crossing of the Rub' al Khali (the Empty Quarter).
All I can find out so far it that a knife seller in a souk somewhere in UAE ! reckoned it was very lovely and comes from the Northern part of Oman. My Uncle showed the chap some pictures of it then they had tea or coffee together or something like that. He didn't discuss a monetary value or the estimated age.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Bonney box cutter

 

[Dave455]

I wonder what the accumulated knife knowledge on GJ can tell us about this, so, information please if you know anything.
I bought it on a secondhand cutlery stand at a county agricultural show a few years ago, from an incredibly grumpy yorkshireman who seemingly didn't know much or have interest in anything at all unless it was made in Sheffield! I thought it unusual and interesting so gave him a very small amount of money and made off.. It reminds me of one worn by a friend of Wilfred Thesiger on his first crossing of the Rub' al Khali (the Empty Quarter).
All I can find out so far it that a knife seller in a souk somewhere in UAE ! reckoned it was very lovely and comes from the Northern part of Oman. My Uncle showed the chap some pictures of it then they had tea or coffee together or something like that. He didn't discuss a monetary value or the estimated age.

As soon as I saw your post, my first thought was that it’s an Omani “Khanjar”, a type of dagger unique to that region.

I did wonder if it was a variety of Arabic “Jumbya” (curved dagger) that I hadn’t seen before, but every Jumbya I’ve ever seen has had a blade curved in one direction only. The only blades I’ve seen that curve back like that are a variation of the Omani Khanjar, so I think your souk knife seller was bang on.

I believe there are several different regional patterns, so an expert could probably be more precise! Failing that, the Muscat souk!

 

[Mintgrun]

I took this one out of the scrap metal bin yesterday and they charged me a dollar for it. The handle is stamped SK 224 and Village Blacksmith. That company was in Wisconsin and it was established in 1905. SK refers to skinner (or skinning), I'm guessing. It seems sort of like a butcher's paring knife.





The paint pretty much fell off when touched with a razor blade. I took the rust off the blade with that too and then gave it a quick whisk on the fine wire wheel.





I splurged on this one and paid the $5 asking price. The homemade handle is so crude that it's charming. Comfortable too.



The black ink is where I'm tempted to remove material.



These DEXTER knives are incredibly thin at the edge and scary sharp. It was fun finding a 10" to go with the 12" I already had.



This 10" chef's knife is unmarked. It's really grown on me in the two weeks since I bought it.



I get a kick out of vintage kitchen knives. Having a variety to choose from makes cooking more fun.

Tom

 

[Farmer J.]

As soon as I saw your post, my first thought was that it’s an Omani “Khanjar”, a type of dagger unique to that region.

I did wonder if it was a variety of Arabic “Jumbya” (curved dagger) that I hadn’t seen before, but every Jumbya I’ve ever seen has had a blade curved in one direction only. The only blades I’ve seen that curve back like that are a variation of the Omani Khanjar, so I think your souk knife seller was bang on.

I believe there are several different regional patterns, so an expert could probably be more precise! Failing that, the Muscat souk!

Thanks Dave, I didn't know that

 

[gpw_42]

Farmer J. thanks for bumping this thread! Wish I had something useful to offer on your Omani dagger.

OTG, I like your Bonney 199 - those are cool looking knives.

MintGrun I like your vintage kitchen knives; NICE job on the resto of that skinner! I picked up an LL Bean 8" chef knife, made from carbon steel, last year (IIRC), which is much newer than your knives (probably 80s), but it was sharp enough at purchase to be useful.

 

[Mintgrun]

MintGrun I like your vintage kitchen knives; NICE job on the resto of that skinner! I picked up an LL Bean 8" chef knife, made from carbon steel, last year (IIRC), which is much newer than your knives (probably 80s), but it was sharp enough at purchase to be useful.

Thank you, gpw_42. I used to really prefer the high carbon knives to stainless, until diamond abrasives came along. Then the stainless ones were not so hard to sharpen. This recent knife purchase has rekindled my preference though.

I like the over-sized brass rivets on these two handles. The bread knife is marked Lamson, but no markings remain on the butcher knife.



Vintage bread knives are fun.



I choose knife blocks based on how many knives they can hold. The high-volume blocks are hard to pass up, when they come up in the $3-$5 range. The same's true for nice old kitchen knives. Thus, they tend to add up around here.



Tom

 

[RTM]

Good grief I don't have enough counter space for that many knives and blocks.

 

[Mintgrun]

Good grief I don't have enough counter space for that many knives and blocks.

You should see how little counter space there is in this kitchen! The trick is to stack the blocks with the one on top sitting upside down. Then slide them both back against the wall. Those all fit in a 12"x20" footprint.

Compact drawer storage is also helpful. I made this maple block with slots wide enough to insert knives from both directions and some of them can be stacked one on top of the other.



I like the early CUTCO "Lamb" knife handles, like the curvy one towards the left. They're the second generation (1952-'72), with the first knives having rectangular wooden handles. The white handle is the late (1972-current)Lamb style, but they're usually brown.

Here is some information about Thomas Lamb, "the handle man."

Thomas Lamb - "The Handle Man"

E

www.hagley.org

Tom

 

[mvcorse]

Facom knife from Sweden.

 

[Dave455]

Facom knife from Sweden.

EKA Swede 60!

Very decent knives with well ground blades.

If you’re going to rebrand a knife, might as well pick a decent one!

 

[mervyn]

My very first pocket knife. Grandparents gave it to me Probly late 60’s. It used to have some kind of mother of pearl material on the Handle. Busted off long ago. I remember feeling armed and dangerous when I got it lol - Fabre , made in Japan.

 

[gpw_42]

Mervyn, that's cool to have your very first. Wish I still had mine! If you want to restore it, some of the knife parts companies will sell replacement scales for it. Not sure if mother of pearl is an option, but know that bone, jigged bone and various woods are available. Though it looks to me like you've used that knife for a long time without scales....

 

[Nevadablue]

Two of my Dad’s knives.
His Navy Kabar from WWII and his ‘fishing knife’ from the ‘60s I think.

 

[mvcorse]

Facom knife from Germany




Facom has a long relationship with Böker. So this is actually a Böker knife around 1980s, or you can say it's a Browning Sportsman made in Germany. In the 1970's Browning shifted their knives production out of the USA to Böker of West Germany. In recent years Böker is still making stainless-steel knifes for Facom named 840.4A as their top knife products.

 

[Doublebarrel]

Here's a couple of my knives.

 

[Doublebarrel]

Sorry picture didn't attach.

 

[mervyn]

Mervyn, that's cool to have your very first. Wish I still had mine! If you want to restore it, some of the knife parts companies will sell replacement scales for it. Not sure if mother of pearl is an option, but know that bone, jigged bone and various woods are available. Though it looks to me like you've used that knife for a long time without scales....

No it’s fine the way it is. Don’t remember how it got so beat up.
I remember I knocked the stone out of my class ring working at the grocery store in high school