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iKnife Collector

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iKC Resources for Identifying and Valuing Knives.

***This post is for the Library only, please. Knife ID posts should be their own discussions under Q&A with John McCain***

Greetings members!

For a while now, Jan and I have been discussing us trying to form a set of resources that can be used to research the knives and answer the questions of our members. As many of you may recall, we had John McCain as our go-to guy for info before his passing. While many members do pitch in to answer people's questions, sometimes it is just beyond us. Thus, I have started to try to gather resources on knives that will be used for iKC research. Now, we thought about trying to buy books for this, but after looking up the prices for new books, we found that gathering enough to be functional will either take a great deal of time, or a prohibitive amount of money. So I have decided to try something a little different.

We would like to appeal to our members, and ask you all whether or not you may have *any* knife books, guides, catalogues or other resources that may be collecting dust, or socked away in a box somewhere that you are not using and would care to pass along. Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated, and would go toward building The John McCain Memorial Library and Research Center! The Library would be there for any questions our members may have, new or old. I am the first to admit that I don't hold a candle to the knowledge John shared with us, but as I work from home, I am willing to try my best to keep our Q&A section going strong.

Now...some sites ask for a membership fee, others require payment to get answers to your questions. Jan and I both agree that this is not a direction we want to go. Also, research takes time and patience, and sometimes online resources just aren't enough. As I live in a small town in Canada, finding specific books is quite difficult, especially not having a knife store or knife shows locally. Also, many companies will not send catalogues up North without an exorbitant amount of shipping. So we ask you, our members and family, for any donations and help you may be able to provide, so they can be used for the iKC Community.

I am still fleshing out the idea, and we will have two options for shipping addresses to try to keep mailing costs down. I will also start and maintain a Library Group for research requests, as well as what books and other resources we have available and whom they were donated by. This way we will all know what iKC has available as well as knowing what we need. John Kellogg has already started us off with a generous donation of 5 books to officially start the Library, and I have been collectiong some digital resources such as magazine and the like

So, there you go. An iKC Library of resources dedicated to John McCain with content donated by our community to make our site more helpful to those with questions about our fantastic hobby! You can email or message either Jan Carter or myself (addresses at the bottom left of the main page) regarding donations and we'll let you know the best way to go. So...check your shelves or book boxes, keep an eye on the bookstore bargain bins, check with friends, order an extra free catalogue from your favourite knife company and help us make our community even better! Who knows? It may be you that the Library helps to get a better sale value for your knives for sale, or answers that nagging question you have had about a piece in your collection!

Thanks for listening, and do share any ideas you may have to help with this endeavor!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gene Kaplan on August 13, 2018 at 5:53

New to IKC, so if not proper forum I am sorry! In the process of liquidating a knife collection from a local estate, I came across a Ka-Bar Knife Roll with the "Dog Head" Logo....and cannot for the life of me find out when it was made, or the value??? I simply couldn't find out anything about it, just wondering and thought maybe HERE on IKC I may get an answer, thanks in advance.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Scheuerman (Manx) on August 13, 2018 at 12:53

Can't really tell how big this roll is, but I presume it is for folders, and not kitchen knives. I am finding absolutely nothing on any type of roll from Ka-Bar. Now, with that being said, and seeing that there is no copyright symbol on that, I start to wonder if someone hasn't just branded a roll themselves. A hobby laser engraver would do this up just great...kinda like what I did to a dagger sheath a while back. I'll keep looking to see what I can find, though...

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on August 13, 2018 at 13:49

That could very well be true Manx. It even appears to be a fairly recent or unused roll. It could also be that someone had them made for the Ka Bar Collectors club formed in 1976

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Permalink Reply by Michael D. Mitchell on August 13, 2018 at 17:11

Bozz Lady, ?I Must have Missed Your Reply??, on Your Paying $hipping of my Knife World Magazine's.

Jan Carter said:

Michael,

Yes we can do shipping charges. Let me check with John K and Manx. We just shipped some pretty heavy books to Canada and could easily match that weight

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Permalink Reply by Gene Kaplan on August 14, 2018 at 6:08

Thanks for the input on the roll! It belonged to a guy who is no longer with us, but his son said that the roll had been with his dad's knives for "quite a while". So that can be taken as 1970's for sure, and everything said makes sense, thank you! I was going to put it on ebay….but didn't know what to say about it, and yes, it is indeed for 'folders'.