For the leverlock geeks

[jim d,]

Vintage German leverlocks were often contract knives with many tang stamps originating from a few manufacturers. Here is what appears to be two identically stamped examples originating from different manufacturers. The two 11 cm knives in the photo have visually identical front stamps as shown (rear stamps are different). There are obvious differences; blade style, scale and liner material, etc. At a minimum, the key to identifying the manufacturers is the bottom bolsters. According to research by Ulf Ahlstrom (published across 3 issues of the SharperDeal newsletter about a decade ago), the knife on the left was made by Wingen, and the one on the right by Weltersbach. I realize this may be of interest to only a few folks here

Jim

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[JulesVane]

Nice Jim! Are they the "Type 1" and "Type 2" that I've read in Ulf's blog? (I think there's 3 types?)

[jim d,]

The one on the top is Type I and the one on the bottom is Type III.

Jim

[hearandgone]

Thanks, very interesting!

[whippersnapper]

Good ones jim

[button_man]

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Can somebody post a photo of the "Type 2" and explain how it's different? Thanks!

Jim D ~ I am here to learn and welcome all info, no matter how esoteric or arcane.
I appreciate your post - - thank you!

.

[Tom19176]

Thanks for the info Jim !

[XBMX]

Nice to see Jr. with company. All you need is a Tang stamped Hubertus, be a nice trio.

[jim d,]

button_man - here is a Type II bolster. Note the absence of lines at the top of the bolster as opposed to those in Type I and Type III. There are also some dimensional differences but my calipers have been mia for years. There is a shape difference as well. Type II knives are cited as being made by Bonsa (Bontgen & Sabin). The knife in the photo is stamped Bonsa.

Jim

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[jim d,]

XBMX - my tang stamped Hubie

Jim

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[XBMX]

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That one's worth the rent for sure. Just scored a Tang stamp today.[img][img]

[Tkreil66]

Hi, I’m Tkreil66 and I’m a leverlock-aholic. Aka geek
Jim D, the clip point lever is a great looking knife and the tang stamped Hubi is a great addition which brings me to my question and probably should be a separate post. I have a few tang stamped Hubertus and wandering why some have imitation scales and some don’t and why some are stamped Springer and some are not? Being Tang stamped I assume they are from the same “Era”?
Or is this a matter for exported knives vs. non exported knives?

[Mario]

Thought you guys might like to have a look at this one I got earlier this year. Is this an early Hubertus? I was wondering if the early models were unstamped like this one.

[jim d,]

Tkreil66 - Yes, the tang stamped Hubies are from the same era - 1955 - 1972. There were many models having different scales with some having the Springer bolster stamp and some not.

Mario - your knife looks like it could be a Hubie, not positive. What is the length? I have the small (~6 in. open) Hubie in front of me and the proportions look identical to yours. Conventional wisdom is that unstamped models were made for the local market (not exported), but take that as the default answer. Honestly, I'm not certain.

Jim

[Panzerfaust]

Tkreil66 - Yes, the tang stamped Hubies are from the same era - 1955 - 1972. There were many models having different scales with some having the Springer bolster stamp and some not.

Mario - your knife looks like it could be a Hubie, not positive. What is the length? I have the small (~6 in. open) Hubie in front of me and the proportions look identical to yours. Conventional wisdom is that unstamped models were made for the local market (not exported), but take that as the default answer. Honestly, I'm not certain.

Jim

Jim, you have some nice leverlocks and I am a fan of these too. I wish someone would make them again with the quality of the 50s knives with carbon steel or at least something better than what Hubertus uses. I don't think Hubertus made unmarked knives because I have two that I bought in Germany and I have never seen one without markings. It looks like the etching may have been worn off on the one pictured above.