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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on November 14, 2014 at 22:25

Jeremiah,

To be able to have knives that your grandfather use is great.

The top one is called a Hawkbill or a pruning knife.

The bottom looks to be a Sodbuster frame.  A good general purpose knife.  If there are any tangstamps, pics would help with identification.  They would be on the other side at the base of the blade.

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Permalink Reply by Brad T. on November 15, 2014 at 14:48

Those are great old knives. Like JJ said, try to get some focused shots of the tang stamps and you will have answers soon thereafter.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremiah wilker on November 15, 2014 at 17:37

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it. I did find a tag on the top one, but can only make out knife co N.Y

The other one I did not see one

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Permalink Reply by Jeremiah wilker on November 15, 2014 at 17:38

Jeremiah wilker said:

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it. I did find a tag on the top one, but can only make out knife co N.Y

The other one I did not see one

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on November 16, 2014 at 12:49

The jigging & steel butt-plate on the pruner are reasonably unique. I know the stamping but have not nailed it down .. yet.
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The top line of the stamping possibly ends in an "R" ??? Could you / would you snap a macro shot of the stamping on the pruner & post ? Is there any stamping on the obverse side ???
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I have knives w/ similar swedged steel bolsters & steel butt plate ..but.. they are Miller Bros. i.e. stamping not even close.

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Will keep looking. Note: any high res pic of the stamping will help   .......   in comparing against known stampings.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremiah wilker on November 16, 2014 at 17:17

I tried a macro shot and no more showed up. It looks like it ends in ER and there are no other other imprints that I can see. 

I know he collected antiques mainly in the PA area so I would expect the knives to be older 

I appreciate it. A good Mystery is fun as I have been looking online with the information that I have learned from this forum

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Permalink Reply by Brad T. on November 16, 2014 at 20:09

Truly a search to try our researchers skills.

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on November 17, 2014 at 0:17

Bee doing some looking.  Nothing meeting the tang stamp criteria, though found some that are simiar nonetheless.

New York Knife Company

Unknown "Frontier pruiner", similar bolsters

All I can find out is the first one sold for $18.00, I believe and the second sold for around $39.00.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on November 17, 2014 at 13:15

Jeremiah, I copied your tang stamp photo and ran it through two different photo enhancement programs-- There are 3 lines in the tang stamp---Unfortunately, the top line is undecipherable from the photo-- The second and third lines, I am 99 % sure read Knife Co. NY. I know Walden Knife Co. used a similar tang stamp ( same block lettering and 3 line stamp circa late 1880s to early 1900s. At this point, just a guess.-- You might try making a rubbing of the stamp-- Put a thin piece of paper over the stamp,and rub over the stamp area with the side of a pencil lead. It might reveal enough letters in the  top line for us to have something to work with.I do think that I am about right on the vintage, regardless of the maker, basing on other  hawkbills (pruning knives) I have seen from that time frame.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremiah wilker on November 22, 2014 at 16:25

Wow some fancy detective work:) That gives me a good idea...I was just curious

Any ideas on possible background of the other one?

Thanks everyone. 

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Permalink Reply by Gary Munford on January 23, 2017 at 19:36

Have any other shots of the sodbuster? Specifically, the other side of the tang, the liners, and spine.

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