Add a Comment

Comment by DAN REYNOLDS on April 5, 2017 at 20:19

Thank you for the info. I did indeed buy the knife from "autoknife". The price was high but not as bad as some of the other knifes and I was caught up  by the idea of and auto by Klein tools. I have since discovered that the "K" on the tang stamp is a date code indicating that the knife was made in 1974 an not in the 1940's. Whoever did the custom work did a neat clean job except the spring is to weak to flip the blade all the way open. Buyers beware especially when there is a policy of no returns for any reason.

In Memoriam Comment by D ale on April 5, 2017 at 19:32

Well .. I did find an example like it out there .. listed @ "Roadsideimports llc" .aka.."autoknife.com".  They list it as "Vintage 1940's Klein & Sons Electricians Hawkb" ..but.. do not currently hold stock on it. 
.
Note the first 3 returns on this image search.. they appear identical to what you have.

.

I could very well be wrong here ..BUT.. my experience is that "roadsideimports" / "autoknife.com" will sell anything ..AND.. they are on the high priced side. Please understand .. that is my opinion only & I could be way off base !!! At the same time .. they do handle some rare old knives .. at some pretty hefty prices.
.
My point is .. based on that information alone .. I cannot state that it is a production unit ..or.. an after-market modification.
.
I'll keep looking & see if I can come up with any other source. If I can .. I'd feel substantially more comfortable stating you've an actual production knife.
.
Again .. please take mu comments with a HUGE grain of salt.

.

Regards,

D ale