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Page 10 Knife World November 2010 by Bernard Levine www.knife-expert.com Mr. Paul Florio asked for information on a large double-end folding knife made by Western Cutlery Co. of Colorado. The knife is an equal-end that is 6 inches long closed. In one end is a wide clip blade with two nail nicks. In the other end is a tapering saw blade. The handles are brown jigged Delrin plastic on brass liners. It has no bolsters, but the pivot rivets are reinforced with burrs (small washers used with rivets). It came with a tan leather belt sheath. The clip blade is held open by a projecting brass locking liner. This lock was patented in 1906 by William Franklin Watson, who assigned half the rights (no, not to Sherlock Holmes) to Roy Chadwick. Both men were res- idents of Tidioute, Pennsylvania, then home to the Brown Brothers’ Union Razor Company, which had taken over the Tidioute Cutlery Company in 1902. According to the book Tidioute Brand Pocket Knives by David L. Anthony, William F. Watson was a cutler for Brown Brothers in 1906, while Roy Chadwick was a grinder there. However the men licensed their invention to a different rival firm about 70 miles away to the northeast, Cattaraugus Cutlery Company of Little Valley, New York. How that came about has been forgotten, but as far as I know, Cattaraugus was the only knife company to use this lock until the patent expired in the early 1920s. Since then it has been used by many companies on several types of knives: electri- cians’ knives mainly, but also fishing knives, Cub Scout knives, and this big Western knife, among others. The primary virtue of this novel lock, as Watson pointed out in the patent, is that it requires no more parts than an ordinary fold- ing knife, and no modification to the knife’s mechanism, its blades and springs. All it need- ed was a different blanking profile for one of the liners. Thus it cost little more to make than a similar knife with no lock. Western Cutlery Co. introduced its big dou- ble-end jack knife in the 1960s. It is not shown in their 1960 catalog, but is shown in 1968... at the very end of the catalog, and not listed as a new product. This No. 932K RANGER “KNIFE and SAW” was sold as a set, in clear plastic box. The box also held the sheath for the knife, a smaller leather sheath holding a sharpening stone, and a tube of lubricant. The design of this knife was not exactly a novelty. It was a light-weight modernized ver- sion of a knife that had been made during World War II, developed as an emergency sur- vival knife for U.S. Navy pilots. The Navy ver- sion had a bail, and came with a snap-flap cloth sheath that fit into a pocket in the life vest. It was made by Colonial Knife Company of Providence, Rhode Island. An Army Air Force version without bail or sheath was made both by Colonial, and by United Machine Tool Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan. United made 60,000 of them, Colonial probably even more. The military versions were stouter and heavier than the Western, with a thick saber- ground knife blade. They have steel liners and bolsters. All metal parts of the 1940s versions were blued. They have checkered black plastic handles secured to the liners by screws. The Miller Brothers (William and George) of Meriden, Connecticut, had had both a patent and a trademark registration on this screw construction -- the 1870 patent spanning the 1870s and 1880s, the trademark in effect until the 1920s). The two military versions of this big folding knife were common on the surplus market after World War II. The United was offered for $2.95 apiece in 1946. Eventually that surplus supply dried up. Western hoped to fill ongoing demand for this style of knife, by introducing its new RANGER version. Similarly Western introduced an updated version of the Army Air Force tropical bail out WHUT IZZIT? Courtesy M. H. Cole
Transcript of Page 10 Knife World November 2010 WHUT...
Page 10 Knife World November 2010
by Bernard Levinewww.knife-expert.com
Mr. Paul Florio asked for information on alarge double-end folding knife made byWestern Cutlery Co. of Colorado. The knife isan equal-end that is 6 inches long closed. Inone end is a wide clip blade with two nail nicks.In the other end is a tapering saw blade. Thehandles are brown jigged Delrin plastic onbrass liners. It has no bolsters, but the pivotrivets are reinforced with burrs (small washersused with rivets). It came with a tan leatherbelt sheath.
The clip blade is held open by a projectingbrass locking liner. This lock was patented in1906 by William Franklin Watson, whoassigned half the rights (no, not to SherlockHolmes) to Roy Chadwick. Both men were res-idents of Tidioute, Pennsylvania, then home tothe Brown Brothers’ Union Razor Company,which had taken over the Tidioute CutleryCompany in 1902. According to the bookTidioute Brand Pocket Knives by David L.Anthony, William F. Watson was a cutler forBrown Brothers in 1906, while Roy Chadwickwas a grinder there.
However the men licensed their invention toa different rival firm about 70 miles away tothe northeast, Cattaraugus Cutlery Companyof Little Valley, New York. How that cameabout has been forgotten, but as far as I know,Cattaraugus was the only knife company to usethis lock until the patent expired in the early1920s. Since then it has been used by manycompanies on several types of knives: electri-cians’ knives mainly, but also fishing knives,Cub Scout knives, and this big Western knife,among others.
The primary virtue of this novel lock, asWatson pointed out in the patent, is that itrequires no more parts than an ordinary fold-ing knife, and no modification to the knife’smechanism, its blades and springs. All it need-ed was a different blanking profile for one ofthe liners. Thus it cost little more to make thana similar knife with no lock.
Western Cutlery Co. introduced its big dou-ble-end jack knife in the 1960s. It is not shownin their 1960 catalog, but is shown in 1968... atthe very end of the catalog, and not listed as anew product.
This No. 932K RANGER “KNIFE and SAW”was sold as a set, in clear plastic box. The boxalso held the sheath for the knife, a smallerleather sheath holding a sharpening stone, anda tube of lubricant.
The design of this knife was not exactly anovelty. It was a light-weight modernized ver-sion of a knife that had been made duringWorld War II, developed as an emergency sur-vival knife for U.S. Navy pilots. The Navy ver-sion had a bail, and came with a snap-flap clothsheath that fit into a pocket in the life vest. Itwas made by Colonial Knife Company ofProvidence, Rhode Island. An Army Air Forceversion without bail or sheath was made bothby Colonial, and by United Machine ToolCompany of Grand Rapids, Michigan. United
made 60,000 of them, Colonial probably evenmore.
The military versions were stouter andheavier than the Western, with a thick saber-ground knife blade. They have steel liners andbolsters. All metal parts of the 1940s versionswere blued. They have checkered black plastichandles secured to the liners by screws. TheMiller Brothers (William and George) ofMeriden, Connecticut, had had both a patentand a trademark registration on this screwconstruction -- the 1870 patent spanning the1870s and 1880s, the trademark in effect untilthe 1920s).
The two military versions of this big foldingknife were common on the surplus marketafter World War II. The United was offered for$2.95 apiece in 1946.
Eventually that surplus supply dried up.Western hoped to fill ongoing demand for thisstyle of knife, by introducing its new RANGERversion.
Similarly Western introduced an updatedversion of the Army Air Force tropical bail out
WWHHUUTT IIZZZZIITT??
Courtesy M. H. Cole
November 2010 Knife World Page 11
kit knife of 1934, in its W49 bowie knife. Thatbig fixed blade seems to have been more popu-lar than the big RANGER folder; at least I seemany more of them around now.
*Mr. Michael R. sent in photos of a damascus-
steel bladed dagger that he was offered as a“bowie knife.” It is a very nice knife, but it isnot a bowie. It is a European hunting knife.This means it is a hunting weapon used forkilling stag and boar, not a utility knife forskinning or quartering.
Ignorant, over-eager, or unethical sellersoften offer hunting knives, along with all sortsof exotic fixed blade knives, as “bowie knives.”They are encouraged in their wicked ways bynovice or self-deluding buyers who respondeagerly to such offerings. Buyers afflicted byvanity are especially vulnerable to this sort ofmisrepresentation, the folks who believe that aknife becomes historical, important, andAmerican merely by virtue of their owning it.
This knife has a 10-1/4 inch long blade, 1-1/8inches wide at the ricasso. Overall length isabout 15 inches. The blade is double edged,with narrow central fullers (grooves). Theblade was forged of a straightforward foldeddamascus steel, the type that Jean-JacquesPerret of Paris described how to make back in1771, in his book The Art of the Cutler.
http://www.knife-expert.com/p29-dama.txt
The handle is a solid chunk of stag, withattractive dark brown bark, and not a singlebald spot (white places where the bark wasground away by a lazy or careless knifemaker).Only the sharp points of the bark weresmoothed down, where they might hurt theuser’s hand.
The mounts are nickel silver, both therecurved guard and the thick flat butt plate.The butt plate was profiled to fit the stag,rather than the stag being fitted to a standardround pommel.
Very likely it was used earlier in France, butprobably not a lot earlier. In the United Statesthis shape was the original “steak knife.” Atleast that is what it was called in catalogsbefore World War I. Now it is our standardtable knife shape.
This set would put Ch. Guerre within about50 years of 1910 -- although conceivably thebusiness of that name might have been aroundeven longer.
That search found another Ch. Guerre setthat was retailed by a merchant in Paris, sug-gesting that Guerre was indeed a manufactur-er.
I would date this set later than the other,after World War I. Its auction listing says thehandles are ebony, but I think they are blackplastic. The technique of molding plastic han-dles onto ornate die-cut escutcheons dates tocirca 1892, but was not widely used until circa1920. See the discussion of August Pauls ofNew York and his Gebruder Pauls VULCANbrand pen knives in the November 2007 col-umn.
Google Books search yielded a couple ofadditional data points, including precise dates.The town of Langres is in the Champagneregion of France. In 1876, Volume 3 of the jour-nal of the Société d’horticulture et de viticultured’Epernay, included a press release touting thehigh quality cutlery sold by Ch Guerre ofLangres. In 1893, Volume 5 of the Bulletin dela Société historique et archeologique deLangres included a similar favorable mention.
I would guesstimate the Ch. Guerre damas-cus hunting dagger to date circa 1880, but itcould be as much as a generation older ornewer. Newer is more likely than older.
It is a nice hunting knife if you like that sortof thing. It is very well made and detailed.However the design seems kind of clunky to myjaded eye, especially as compared to that grace-ful 1930s German hunting knife we saw backin the July 2010 column. And alas, no amountof wishing or hoping or paying (let alone pray-ing) will turn it into a bowie knife.
*As always I am happy to be corrected when
I am wrong. Otherwise I would never learnanything. If you catch me in an error, please dome the favor of letting me know. Just be sure ofyour facts before you do.
Please send me an email to [email protected], or mail paper correspondence toWhut Izzit, c/o Knife World, Box 3395,Knoxville TN 37927. Be sure to enclose eitheran email address, or a long self-addressedstamped envelope with your letter, and also aflatbed scan, photocopy, or photograph (onplain LIGHT GRAY or WHITE backgroundplease) of your knife. Do not write directly onthe picture. Indicate the knife’s handle materi-al and its length (length CLOSED if it is a fold-er). Make enlarged images of all markings andindicate where they appear. Because of thelarge backlog, it usually takes me at least sixmonths to answer a letter to the column.
The scabbard body is wood, covered withleather stitched up the center of one side. Thescabbard throat and its long frog stud appearto be nickel plated or even painted steel (theyhave areas of what looks like brown rust). Thescabbard tip is missing.
Both sides of the ricasso are marked. On oneside is a logo of a crown over a five-armed cross.It appears to represent a military or civicmedal. The French Legion of Honor medalestablished by Napoleon has exactly this shapeof cross.
The other side is marked, horizontally, CH.GUERRE / A LANGRES. The name on theblade, Ch. Guerre, is presumably of the cutlerymanufacturer who made the knife. Guerreworked in the town of Langres, one of the old-est cutlery centers in France. Ch. Guerre mighthave been a merchant in Langres, rather thana manufacturer, but the evidence I foundonline seems to favor his being a maker.
I did a Google search using this exact string:"ch. guerre" a langres
This search turned up a few other cutleryitems that Ch. Guerre sold. Notable is a boxedset of table knives, silver plated or possiblyeven silver bladed.
The recurved blade shape of these kniveswas first used in the United States circa 1911.
