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Calling all knife detectives! What have I got here?

I won this little Bassett multi tool on ebay. I already had four of them. The four I already have are numbered 9, 79, 80, and 94. The most I paid for any of the other four was about $4.00. I had told myself that I would never pay more than $5 for one of them. However when I saw this one I wanted it because it was a different number (90) than any I had and because of the nautical scene and its excellent condition. So I posted a maximum bid of $7 which with the $3 shipping could cost me as much as $10. I got the bid for $6.83 which made my total cost $9.83.

It arrived today and I took pictures of it. When I was looking at the pictures on my computer, I realized it is signed. What do I have here? Did it come from the factory like this? Did someone add the scale and scrimshaw it? If someone hand scrimshawed it, they are very, very good. Even when I zoom way in on my computer, the detail is sharp. Does anyone know who MW might be?

And a general question, what do the numbers on these little multi tools indicate? Are they model numbers or maybe indicate the year manufactured?

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Permalink Reply by Brad T. on April 27, 2013 at 21:46

I agree the detail is great. I am sure someone else will have the information you seek before I can get on my computer. I am currently on my smartphone, which sucks for information checking.

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Permalink Reply by peter force on April 27, 2013 at 22:47

yes its a model number.... i have heard the years of business range from the q920s to the 40s... and levines puts the company in providence ,RI. ...also says that BOKER helped along the way but i didnt read so much..somethig aabout BOKER providing the shells for the knives and BASSETT attaching whichever handles were to be attached.

...i have a ton of these bassett's myself as they seem to turn up everywhere!! ...lots of your nail clippers at flea markets if they have a file on the inside that folds out will half the time be a bassett.

anyway THE SCRIM and the MW... my personal guess would be the handle was swapped out and then the work done...and regardless of what kind of scrim... as you will se in this link i found the same MW...but it says ETCHED SCRIM. im no where near a scrim expert and cant tell you which matrials can hold which kind of scrim job. BUT HEY HERE IS A LINK AS WELL TO HELP YOU OUT!!! cant beat that...same guy and all... normally you never find a match! http://www.etsy.com/listing/127444230/vintage-etched-bone-signed-mw...= anyway in my book ...A NICE SCORE BY FAR! oh and the reason i say the handle would have been switched is only due to the fact that the BEAR MGC knife in the above link was created about 50-70 years after the Bassett your showing... so with having the same scrim artist on both.... i can only draw the simple conclusion that the handle was switched... HOPE I HELPED ...and im even happy i found that link..you can see the same MW!!! GREAT SCORE!!!!

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on April 27, 2013 at 23:31

Peter, thank you!!

This site is fantastic with a lot of fantastic people! This isn't the first knife that someone on this site has helped me learn about. I am at best still a rank ameteur at knife collecting. It is great to be able to access the knowledge available on this site.

If Bassett only produced these tools until the 40's, that means this knife is over 60 years old. But it is in excellent condition, almost mint. This is the only one I have or have seen that has any kind of scale on it. All the rest just have the folded metal that makes the body of the knife. Do any of your Bassetts have scales?

I almost forgot. Is etched scrim some sort of transfer process or done by machine?

peter force said:

yes its a model number.... i have heard the years of business range from the q920s to the 40s... and levines puts the company in providence ,RI. ...also says that BOKER helped along the way but i didnt read so much..somethig aabout BOKER providing the shells for the knives and BASSETT attaching whichever handles were to be attached.

...i have a ton of these bassett's myself as they seem to turn up everywhere!! ...lots of your nail clippers at flea markets if they have a file on the inside that folds out will half the time be a bassett.

anyway THE SCRIM and the MW... my personal guess would be the handle was swapped out and then the work done...and regardless of what kind of scrim... as you will se in this link i found the same MW...but it says ETCHED SCRIM. im no where near a scrim expert and cant tell you which matrials can hold which kind of scrim job. BUT HEY HERE IS A LINK AS WELL TO HELP YOU OUT!!! cant beat that...same guy and all... normally you never find a match! http://www.etsy.com/listing/127444230/vintage-etched-bone-signed-mw...= anyway in my book ...A NICE SCORE BY FAR! oh and the reason i say the handle would have been switched is only due to the fact that the BEAR MGC knife in the above link was created about 50-70 years after the Bassett your showing... so with having the same scrim artist on both.... i can only draw the simple conclusion that the handle was switched... HOPE I HELPED ...and im even happy i found that link..you can see the same MW!!! GREAT SCORE!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on April 28, 2013 at 15:34

Well I dont know a lot about Scrimshaw but this site has some interesting information

http://home.earthlink.net/~nbrass1/scrim.htm

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on April 28, 2013 at 19:15

I contacted the ebay seller of the knife to see if he could tell me any more information about the knife. All he could tell me was that he bought it at an estate sale in an old general store in Cashtown, Hunterdon County NJ. He had no idea who MW was.

I sure would like to find out who MW was or is.