Vintage American Knives

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Knives of days gone-by and the companies who made them

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Any help on what I have here??

by jerry marr

Oct 17, 2017

I bought this and 7 other knives at a rummage sale, a friend of mine told me too look them up cause they look vintage. All of the knives I found info on except the one I'm sending pictures of, sorry about the quality of the pics. The little info Ive found tells me its a Ka Bar Dogs Head, the odd part about it is the dog head emblem doesn't have Ka bar etched into it. The blade has Union etched into it, is this an odd knock off or something. Can anyone enlighten me on what I have here? Thanks

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    Jan Carter

    Jerry,

    Are we helping any?

    Oct 17, 2017

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    jerry marr

    Yes Jan, all of you have been plenty helpful on enlightening me on this knife. I really appreciate all of the investigating you've done for me, this is a wonderful group and so helpful. I had the opportunity to chat with a gentleman who was very helpful as well, even wrote a book on KaBar, I believe..  ill copy and paste some of what he enlightened me on, I'm gonna keep his name private..   Respect!

      The knife is a Union Cutlery Company Swell Center Folding Hunter with a back lock made in Olean, New York Between c.1911 and c.1951. In 1951 the Union Cutlery Co changed its name to Ka-Bar Cutlery. It has a carbon steel saber clip blade with a Matchstriker nail pull. Nice set of jigged bone handles. The bolsters and end caps appear to be nickel silver but I’d have to have it in hand to be sure. The blade liners and handle pins can be either brass or steel but I’d guess brass. Does the blade lock and unlock correctly. I can’t see the blade well enough to tell if it was ever sharpened or used but the blade does look to be full.

        But I can see some staining and pitting but doesn’t look too bad from what I can see but again I’d have to have it in hand. I can almost guarantee you the knife is 5 1/4” long with the blade closed. I have a drawing of the exact same knife in a reference book I have published in the 1990’s. If it were in mint condition, 25 years ago, it was estimated to be worth at least $750.00. Your grandfather left you an outstanding knife. Take good care of it. Keep it clean and keep the blade coated with any number of products that help prevent rust. A light oil even. But NOT WD-40 as it will create rust. Ask anyone in your group

    Oct 18, 2017

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    Jan Carter

    WOW!  Great info!

    Oct 18, 2017