I would love to see them Pat.  I dont know anything about them but this gives me a chance to do some more research!!  

OK....I bought this knife because it intrigued me.  It appears to be handmade even in the pictures.  But when you get face to face you can see the hammer marks on the bbolsters where it seems he tried to tighten the ends up.  And it's not as if the knife had problems he tried to fix.  The hammering looks as old as the knife.  An amatuerish job for sure.

No marking of an kind on the blades, tangs, bolsters, scales....nothing at all.  Maybe if I take the thing apart?

The seller didn't know anymore than me, which ou can see is Nada.  It looks like there are iron marks and saw marks on the iron pieces.  It is a little knife.  Closed about 2.5"  Cost me less than $10

My question is has anyone seen this style of knife?  The design or the hammering, sawing, filing of the iron?  I am baffled.

And I'll take a pic of my recent box o' Ten knives, which turned out to be 13!!  A grab bag of knives for sure.

Thanks all.

Lee,

I have never seen this style and yes it appears handmade.  Although the fit and finish are a bit rough, I like it!!  In all honesty it looks like an early attempt at something resembling a cigar band type of handle.  

I think that is a fine collector piece and it would be fun  challenge anyone to grab up some raw materials and do better.I'd say that feller has built things before.  He wanted his own knife around the last two bits of ivory  left from his African trip.

Pat when you've said Solingen, stag, fixed blades, and coming from your dad, those could make  the center piece of any collection. Look forward to seeing them.

My "Baker's Dozen" Box Full O' Knives

Left to Right and Top to Bottom we have:

1)  No markings            2)  Kutmaster            3)  Multiblade

Bone?                                  Utica N.Y.                Black handles

Iron bolsters I think            U.SA.                        Can opener says

                                            Wood handles           Pat. Pend.

4)  Multi-blade                5)  Boker                  6)  Campers Knife

     China                              Tree on handle          Towika

                                            Boker                         Bird on a branch

   U.S.A.                                                                 Republic of

                                            Reverse=                    Ireland

                                            Tree + 83148

7)   Lithograph            8)  All blades                 9)  MOP

       New York       

 Empire State Bldg         shut tight                         no readable markings

10)  Auto Figural     11)  Sterling siver           12)  Utility w/chain

       Stainless                   Imperial                          Handle =

        Taiwan                    Floral design                  Lehigh Safety

                                        no engraving                  Shoe Co.

                                                                                Blade =

                                                                                Made in USA

                                                                                Pat Pend

13)  Has a bubble on handle

       can't tell what is inside

       Bade reads:

       Bassett

       U.S.A.

       Pat 2779098

Thank you all for teaching me what to look for, how to read things, books to use for research.  You are invaluable to me!!

On the hand made knife below that Jan said might be an early "cigar band" knife (that makes sense to me!!) I was trying to say it had "file marks" as well as saw marks and the hammer marks.  It is one marked up little bitty knife.

Lee, what book are you talking about? Did you buy those knives in a pakage deal?

Yes, Robert.  I bought this as a package of 10 knives but the guy threw in some extras.  When I counted there were 13.  The ook I was talking about was a previous post I read in a different group about "The Big Book of Pocket Knives".  I don't rememer who posted about it bbut I bought a cvopy and it started my education about pocket knives.  I knew a little something about switchblades but was (heck, still am) a pocket knife dummy.

Lee, where could I buy that book?

I got mine at Amazon Robert

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Pocket-Knives-Edition/dp/1574326309/...

So here's another knife out of my "Bakers Dozen" box of knives.  I forgot I took it out.  So I bought a package of 10 junk knives and actually received 14.  Such a deal!

I like this one a lot.  Kind of a mini-Bowie knife.  When I first saw the little round design in the handle I thought it was a Boker tree.

Close inspection showed it to be a working compass.  Pretty cool little feature.

The knife is 4 1/2" long with a 2 1/2" blade.  There are no markings of any kind on this bad boy.  And it doesn't appear to have ever been sharpened.  It's like some guy built himself a knife and just left it in the build status, never finished it up.

Maybe it was meant for a kid??  I've never seen one like this but I don't collect fixed blades or home-mades.  I just wind up with a few here and there.

Here's a Pal Cutlery knife I recently found on ebay.  I believe it to be a Pal Jack Electrician's Knife.

I attended the Friends of the NRA banquet this weekend in Amarillo, TX and won the bid for the 2012 Knife of the Year.  It is a drop point skinner made by Canal Street.  The handle is American Chestnut,, an extinct species, and the display box is from a barn of some historic value.  I will have to take a picture and get it posted. 

Well here is the picture of  the NRA Knife of the Year.

Congratulations Mel. That's a beautiful knife and display case.

Wow!  Nice and congratulations Mel.  I like that knife.

Very nice.  Thanks for supporting the NRA. I like my rights.

 I wish I had the rest of that barn. In my opinion ,there is no material as beautiful for  knife scales or pistol grips than  good old   wood.

Another acquisition this past weekend at an Estate Sale.  The knife is marked American Knife, Germany on one side of the tang and Sabre, Soligen on the other.

Take me to some Estate Sales mel!  Nice knife and I reall like the pitola.  Beautiful buys.

Unusual for me to find good quality knives at Estate sales but couldn't pass this one up.  It was priced at $45 and I got it for $30.  I hope that is reasonable since I know little about the German company American Knife.  The knife appears new except someone attempted to sharpen it and didn't do a very smooth job.  If anyone has some history on them I would appreciate the info.

Sorry for my morning typing Mel.  I meant I really like the pistola.  I would lame it on my keyoard but I midtype anyway.

The grips on that pistol are sweet!  And I would say that you got  real good deal on the knife & sheath.

Mel,

Congrats, that NRA knife is wonderful.  The estate find is terrific.  I also never find that stuff :(

Mel,

What little I can find...There was a company in Solingen Germany named American Knife Company.  There does not appear to be a lot of info on them but I have a lead that can possibly give you some info on them.  There is a fantastic site named World knives.  They have some wonderful resources about the knives of that area.  Here is the link.  Be sure to scroll down to the bottom where they have about 100 more links to information. The interesting part is they have an email address down there and it appears they will help you with determining some dates for the company.

http://www.worldknives.com/info/knives-of-solingen-germany-43.html

My pleasure Mel.  I love to research!!

I was visiting Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg for the first time.  While I spent most of my knife money at Smoky Mountain Knife Works, i Could help but waste a little on these  knives.

Okay I actually got that one at SMKW.  I is by Elk Ridge.  3.5 inch tooth pick.   Bought the Redneck shot glass at a souvenir shop in pigeon Forge.

My four other shot glasses.  The black one is actually from Harlan Kentucky is made out of coal!  The knives are similar to the knives made by Royal Crest.  The big one was around $6-7  the small one around $3-5 depending on the store.

Almost every place had knives with names on the back but as they had no "Toby" knives, I settled for "Hillbilly" on the big knife and "Army" on the small.  Only one place I visited had the knives with a blank back scale.  I got one of those for my nephew "A.J."    Despite my sister's chagrin, I'm proud to call myself a Hillbilly, however I prefer the more sophisticated term of "Mountain William"

Another view of the front of the souvenir knives.

Never a waste of money on a knife Tobias, it is always and experience and it looks like you had a great adventure

This is kind of a cool little knife.  It has excellent snap, a half stop...walks and talks very well.  A friend picked it up for Donnie it says JF Novelty CO.   New Yoork NY and the blade says China.  Anyone know where new Yoork is?

That fat stag handle is really nice Pat

Both look like big boys.

Very Nice Pat

I like those big knives, Pat. How long are they? My large blade that I use in the woods is 15".

Has any one ever bought a Ruko? I understand that it is a Spanish company. I found this knife at a local farm and ranch store last year for about $3.00. It is not a great built knife, but it is sharp and has good snap. It is Chinese built.

Billy....

Begin your investigation here:  http://www.rukoproducts.com/cart/index.php

Billy, that's a good looking little knife, sorry I have never heard of it but that doesn't mean anything. I am stuck back in the boon docks.lol

Very good looking knife.  Sharp with good snap is nice but what is not quite up to par with it?

Hard to decide which thread this one could go under.  Tacticals?  Schrade?  Globals?  I'll just dump in the Box Full of knives  I recently bought a "Super knife"  assisted opening Karambit.  I think the eBay seller "ZIX" called it the Big Mo Jungle karambit w/ tiger stripes.  Itlooks very much like the S&W  CK32C Extreme ops in the "Urban Camo"

(See Below)

left: Super knife, right, S&W

As you can see the camo is almost identical.  The S&W has writing on the blade. and lack the little thumb stud to aid in opening.  Both have the same hole design for opening

Same knives with the blades out.  S&W on the bottom.  The assisted opening does not have a safety so it could in theory flip open inyour pocket.

The S&W (top) is a frame lock. The pocket clip can easily be removed but not moved to a new position.  The Super knife (below) is a liner lock and the pocket clip cannot be removed without taking the knife apart.

Both have 440 blades, Both are made in China.  Both blades can be opened using the thumb hole.  THe S&W is very stiff however and is will require effort. 

  The S&W cannot be opened with the hand in the reverse grip, a common way to hold a Karambit.  Because the Super Knife is assissted you can easily open it in the reverse grip with the flick of your pinkie or small finger.:

The Super knife cost $11,   The S&W was bought on Amazon $13.50 (SMKW sells it for $22.

Both knives were razor sharp upon arrival.  The Super knife will probably loosen over time but it has been my experience that you can tighten them easily without the use of tool simply by squeezing the handle together and tightening the screw by hand. (Something to say about cheaply made.)

I think both knives look pretty cool and both are comfortable in the hand.  The S&W  feels more solid but is harder to deploy and cost more. I bought them to see if I'd like the karambit design.  I'm not looking at getting a decent fixed blade karambit.

Billy,

Great way to decide if that style is right for you.  Almost seems that for an everyday carry the Super knife would be a better deal than the S&W

I think you meant Toby, Jan.  Anyway, I agree.  the Super knife opens more quickly.  Only problem is lack of safety.  Still both look pretty cool.

OMG...Toby, I am so sorry.  I should not work 16 hours and then try to make sense LOL

Here is a small part of my collection.

LOL!

Now that is a box of knives.  LOL!

There are some real nice knives there Frank.

Here are the only Utica knives in my collection. I don't hear much talk about them. 

The little lockbacks are interesting.  Never seen lockbacks quite like those.  I'm also a big fan of Barlows.  Like the shape of that clip.

Not so much a box of knives, but a drawer of White Smooth Bone.  The picture will be out of date in a day or two when the next shipment arrives.