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For those who Question - A Knife Identification Thread

Would it be appropriate to begin a discussion for the sole purpose of providing a place for people to post a photo or two of a knife that that are having a hard time identifying?

Once a person adds to the thread posting photos and any information that they can of a knife they need help ID'ing, then the entire iKC community should be able to see it and hopefully be able to assist in the identification of the knife.

I personally have a couple of knives that I would greatly appreciate that type of assistance, but will refrain from posting anything further, until I receive some sort of confirmation from those of higher standing than myself.

Thoughts, feedback, comments, and suggestions are always welcomed!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lars Ray on November 9, 2022 at 18:15

OK - let's get this started. I inherited a few remaining small pocket knives from my dad. Never one for the more modern EDC's, he always enjoyed the little pen knives. Always small and light, he would often forget he had one in his pocket when traveling, leading to a vast collection being donated to TSA.

This is one...a little toothpick (I think that's the style)

What I Know

It’s old and retired from active service
Obverse tang stamp "PAT No5", maker stamp obscured by bolster
Knife is 4 1/2" open, 2 1/2" closed
Celluloid scales are very fragile, some cracking already occurred
Carbon steel blade; stainless steel bolsters
SWAG at circa 1950's
Good blade snap, no wobble

What I want to Know

Based on the bullet info above and judging the best you can from the photos, I would like to know the following:

Estimate year of knife manufacture? (no SWAG)
Who made it?
What, in your opinion, is the value of the knife? (“as is” please)

Please feel free to ask me questions, request additional photos, or whatever in order to assist you in your evaluations. Please also feel free to correct my understandings with additional facts, as I want the best info I can get.

Thank you for your comments and assistance – it is greatly appreciated!

Permalink Reply by Lars Ray on November 9, 2022 at 18:40

Oh - and here is another one...

What I Know

It’s old and retired from active service
No tang stamps of any kind
Knife is 5" open, 3" closed
Celluloid scales
Can't tell if blade is carbon steel or stainless
SWAG at circa 1950's
Good blade snap, slight wobble

What I want to Know

Based on the bullet info above and judging the best you can from the photos, I would like to know the following:

Estimate year of knife manufacture? (no SWAG)
Who made it?
Model?
What is the blade steel?
What, in your opinion, is the value of the knife? (“as is” please)

Please feel free to ask me questions in order to assist you in your evaluations. Please also feel free to correct my understandings with additional facts, as I want the best info I can get.

Thank you for your comments and assistance – it is greatly appreciated!

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on November 9, 2022 at 18:59

Excellent start! Than you Lars!

I am not familiar with either of those at this time, but I will certainly try to find something to help. Hopefully we can get the full assistance of our iKC members to help ID these knives. I would love it if Jan is suddenly inundated with requests to join this group. :)

That first one is a little feller! and the quarter is a good one!

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on November 9, 2022 at 20:15

Lars -

Regarding your small toothpick style pocket knife. All of the little sized toothpicks that I can find so far were made by Hammer, Imperial, Rough Rider, or Case. The Case knives were ½" too long even in there small size. I think that the Rough Rider's are too new. So that leaves the Imperial and Hammer. All of the examples that I can find had maker's marks stamped into the ricasso of the blade. I did find one that looks to be very similar to yours on ebay, but it has a couple of patent numbers stamped on it as opposed to what I believe is a pattern number (5). From what I was able to find, the Imperial toothpicks in that size were made from 1946 to 1956.

I did find discussion of 'toothpicks and ticklers' right here on iKC started by Tobias. Perhaps he may be able to shed some additional light on this one. Here is a LINK to the discussion.

I certainly wish I could find something more definitive for you! But I do hope that some of our other members may be able to share much better information than the scraps that I was able to find.

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on November 9, 2022 at 20:20

Lars, Probably the first test to check the blade material is a simple magnet. Carbon steel tends to be magnetic whereas most stainless steels are not. This is not completely foolproof, but is a good place to start.

Permalink Reply by Lars Ray on November 9, 2022 at 22:23

Good stuff Kevin - Thank you.

In my own investigation, Hammer is my prime suspect as well. I have some other Imperial knives, and even with the bolster impeding some of the script, it's easy to determine if it's Imperial or not...which is not the case here. So Imperial slips on the suspect list, but totally written off.

Thanks for your diligence, and for starting the thread -

Kevin D said:

Lars -

Regarding your small toothpick style pocket knife. All of the little sized toothpicks that I can find so far were made by Hammer, Imperial, Rough Rider, or Case. The Case knives were ½" too long even in there small size. I think that the Rough Rider's are too new. So that leaves the Imperial and Hammer. All of the examples that I can find had maker's marks stamped into the ricasso of the blade. I did find one that looks to be very similar to yours on ebay, but it has a couple of patent numbers stamped on it as opposed to what I believe is a pattern number (5). From what I was able to find, the Imperial toothpicks in that size were made from 1946 to 1956.

I did find discussion of 'toothpicks and ticklers' right here on iKC started by Tobias. Perhaps he may be able to shed some additional light on this one. Here is a LINK to the discussion.

I certainly wish I could find something more definitive for you! But I do hope that some of our other members may be able to share much better information than the scraps that I was able to find.

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on November 16, 2022 at 20:35

Lars,

I spent quite a bit of time trying to find anything similar to that single blade black and red flake celluloid knife. This effort was to no avail. So far I have not been able to find ANYTHING that resembles that one. You aren't supposed to stump the community so quickly! LOL!

Hopefully a member will find this thread that will be able to help us out more than my feeble attempts.

I did find another example of that first knife that also implied a Hammer manufacture. So my confidence in that first ascertation has improved a bit.

Permalink Reply by Lars Ray on November 16, 2022 at 21:09

Ha ha ha! Nice...it's not often I leave the likes of you or others stumped! And that's certainly not the point of this thread...we'll save that one for DLKG's game of "Guess what knife this one is?"

I do appreciate the time you're spending on it. One thing is for sure...we both are learning what these are not.

For kicks and grins, here's one to add to the fray -

What I Know

It’s retired from active service, but still very functional (not yet fragile)
Obverse tang stamp is INOX; Reverse tang stamp "Italy" - just a whiled guess here, but I think it's European. :-D
Mother of Pearl Celluloid scales
INOX in this context will mean the blade is stainless steel
SWAG at circa 1970's
Good blade snap, no wobble
Nice solid bail

What I want to Know

Based on the bullet info above and judging the best you can from the photos, I would like to know the following:

Estimate year of knife manufacture? (no SWAG)
Who made it?
Model?
What, in your opinion, is the value of the knife? (“as is” please).I have a good idea as to its value, but I am interested in what the knife gallery thinks...I'm not a folder expert.

Thanks Kevin, and to all who weigh in on these...

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on December 24, 2022 at 9:37

Dog-gone it Lars.

I have spent a lot of time trying to find anything on this INOX single bladed folding knife from Italy.... I have seen so many switchblades, swing guard, and double bladed knives from Solingen (or other parts of Germany), I do not want to see any more of them!

By adding 'keyring' or 'keychain' into the search parameters, I was able to see knives that were closer to yours... but they still had bolsters or the loop was 90° off.

Of course, you are pretty savvy at researching things, so if you are posting here, one should be expecting that it is not something easily discovered, right?

About the closest that I could find were 2 bladed knives (some with a corkscrew, some without) from Gust Haker or C. Lutters and Cie. But both of those are made in Solingen, so are not real options.

The difficulties that I have had finding anything close to 2 of your knives, has me questioning my ability to find these things. Either that, you have some real oddballs! LOL

Hopefully other members will see this and come to your rescue! I wish I could help more!

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on January 12, 2024 at 21:36

I was chasing around the net looking for information on CASE XX knives, and I found a fair number of 6265 SAB folders for sale. Well, I know that I have a 6265 CASE XX folder, but I was not sure about the SAB or even what that meant (turns out it designates saber grind). Well I had to go check my knife to see if it was a SAB knife or not, and eight next to it was another knife very similar to the CASE. I do not even recall where I got it, but I had it in my head that it was a Chinese or Pakistan knock-off. Inspecting it closer, I discovered that it is an Olsen. Made in Solingen, Germany.

I have tried to find some information on it. while I can find lots of Olsen fixed blades made in Germany, I can hardly find any folders from there at all. Does anyone have any ideas or information?

I did find an article that said that from 1950 until 1970 Olsen was made in Howard City, MI. From 1970 into the 80s they were made in Germany.

As you can see from the photos, the Olsen is a little smaller than the CASE XX, but the stamps on the ricasso of the smaller blade are very distinct.

You can see that there is a little chunk broken off one scale on the Olsen. I was thinking about replacing the scales with handmade ones; but after realizing the manufacturer, I am rethinking that a bit.

I have not done anything at all to clean up the Olsen at all. I think perhaps I need to give it a little attention and see how it comes out. :)

Permalink Reply by Kevin D on January 13, 2024 at 13:42

Just in case it matters... the 6265 is a 1989 manufacture.

I am guessing the Olsen is 1970 to mid 1980s. The scales on the Olsen are much lighter brown than others I have seen. I don't know enough to know if that is significant or not.

Permalink Reply by Lars Ray on January 13, 2024 at 14:11

So is the Olsen also a model 6265? Or is this the Case model number and the Olsen just looks similar in design (similar to the Buck 110 folding hunter and the Kline 44037 Sportsman) ?