TalkBlade.Info Knife Forums

Latest find is this old J.A.Henckels single blade lockback folder with stag handle. My guess would be early 20th century. https://i.postimg.cc/jDXTNsQB/GEDC3458.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/bSkcv8wC/GEDC3461.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/jWSb4GM2/GEDC3459.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/Z0dhHPx8/GEDC3462.jpg https:...

Also found this interesting background information about the American pocketknife industry, by Walden village historian Mary Ellen Matise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loY2aom ... reload=101

From what i've read on another forum NYKC Hammer Brand knives with only the blade etching and no arm & hammer tang stamp yet predate the knives that have both, which would make your knife a real early one, probably from around 1880 - 1885. Sheffield crucible cast steel was indeed an entirely differe...

Beautiful old school model, never seen one like that before.
Also with that mother-of-pearl handle definitely a more expensive knife/letter opener, especially back in the day.
Does your knife also have the tang stamp with the arm and hammer ?

@ Billyfish: Do you have a few pics of your knife ? The logo on the main blade of my knife was already long gone before i started the regrind, the blade surfaces were all scratched up from use & sharpening attempts. That the New York Knife Company used crucible steel in their Hammer Brand line was s...

The finished knife. Both blades can now shave armhair above the skin, the joints have had a few drops of 5-weight Nano-Oil, and the knife is fully usable again. https://i.postimg.cc/5XRYKhK1/GEDC3423.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/jC4h3jHb/GEDC3426.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/56Gt4Lxh/GEDC3436.jpg https://i....

How the main blade currently looks. It's surfaces have for now been finished on 1000 grit wet & dry on a semi-hard rubber backing using WD40 oil as a lubricant. A microbevel has been applied on the white sticks of a Spyderco Sharpmaker at the ~30 degrees inclusive setting, again using some WD40. htt...

As i intend to carry & use this well made old knife for a while i'm treating it to some TLC. Already cleaned everything thoroughly using toothpicks, a old toothbrush, an ultrasonic cleaner, and also electrolytically. Then removed the bladeplay in the pivot and gave the old wood panels a few coats of...

On most period Hammer Brand knives the tang stamp shows a shorter upper arm section with a bulging bicep, while on mine the upper arm is more elongated and without that pronound bicep. Speculating i would think that the bulging bicep could be seen as an improvement from a marketing point of view, ma...

Recently i bought this old Hammer Brand 2 bladed jackknife, made by the New York Knife Company in Walden, New York. The company was operational from 1856 until 1931, when it closed it's doors. The main blade seems to have an early version of the arm holding a forging hammer, and this is how the knif...

Currently busy refining the convex surfaces of the now centered edge with a DMT blue Diafold (coarse / 325 mesh / 45 micron) The ancient "edge" had most likely been done freehand on a stone wheel, and was neither convex nor even close to being centered (it waved irregularly from left to right) https...

The project has been on the backburner for a while, but now it's time for a few refining steps of the new convex edge. First with the blue side of a DMT Diafold, later followed by the red side. https://i.postimg.cc/NKPTVrKS/GEDC3198.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/QHf08CBk/GEDC3199.jpg https://i.postimg.cc...

This is one of several projects i'm currently working on, a vintage XXL Fahrtenmesser/Scout knife manufactured by Kienel & Piel in Solingen, Germany. In Germany knives this size were often used by hunters for clearing shooting stands etc, but basically by anyone in need of a good quality heavy chopp...

Someone on another forum thought that it might be dendritic wootz; no specific patterns, but possibly comparable mechanical properties. The handle on this talwar is indeed a bit too cramped for my medium sized hand and it's also a tiny bit loose, probably because the pitch/treesap mix has dried out ...

Partial etching attempt with a bit of lemon juice, just to see if something would appear.
It seems it did, but so far it doesn't look like any of the wootz patterns i see online.
Click 2 x on the picture, then enlarge further.