Welcome Home...THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY

iKnife Collector

The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel

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!

20 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Scheuerman (Manx) on February 28, 2018 at 16:46

I understand that, Jerry. :-) However, some companies do some strange things that can identify your knife. Some companies use dating codes, others may have small changes in the tang stamp, they may have changed scale material or handle pins at a certain year, a different style of bolster may indicate age...you never know. I like to ask for as much as I can to make identification easier. I don't mean to imply that you couldn't see that for yourself, I was just looking for more information.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michael D. Mitchell on March 2, 2018 at 15:50

Bozz Lady, No Xcuse for the LATE Reply. ?Somewhere in my Attic??, I have (from around the 1980's or Earlier) KNIFE WORLD MAGAZINE'S..... Pre- Dating, Knife Magazine, (back) when Bernie Levine would Quote Estimated Price$$/Worth's on hiz, Whut Izzit? Column. I've a ?FEW?? Pounds of them. ?Shipping from Etna, California??,

I'm 71 and on a Fixed Income, ?Whatcha Think??

Jan Carter said:

For those of you that recently joined. John McCain kept up the Q&A section like a BOSS! He researched until he found the answer! Losing him was hard for very many reasons, this was just one and I think this is a great way to honor his name and his efforts.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on March 2, 2018 at 18:21

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

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Todd Werts on March 5, 2018 at 4:49

Good morning gentlemen,
Trademark update: I am up to 1910 now.

Question:
I've been using Shackleford's Blade's Guide to Knives and their Values as a "check point" when trademark documents don't specifically refer to individual products. However, I've found scores of trademarks not listed in his book. In an effort to inform him of the undocumented marks I've found, I attempted to email him but got no response. So, is this the best resource for me to use and, if not, can you recommend another?

Thanks gents and stay tuned for updates as we're currently working on iPhone and Android apps for trademark lookup!

Todd

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on March 18, 2018 at 18:33

You can call Steve Shackleford but honestly a read receipt email is likely the best route to take

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on March 20, 2018 at 20:59

So Manx, is this going to be a home library that you can manage then....?...I am sure I can come up with some books for the library..

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Scheuerman (Manx) on March 21, 2018 at 11:59

Yes Sue. Something all the members can have some access to through information or ID requests. I have a good amount of magazines and some books in electronic format, and I thought I'd combine that with any books I could beg or borrow or buy. :) It will also give me a chance to step out of my comfort zone of more modern styles and get me learning more about traditional styles and patterns. I imagine they will live with me until they need to be passed on to our next "researcher".

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on April 28, 2018 at 20:07

We have received a few monetary gifts which is fantastic as now, we have books being delivered to be sent to Canada! Manx will have a bit of reading and some more material to help our members in identifying their treasures

THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of my heart!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Scheuerman (Manx) on April 29, 2018 at 11:45

*sighs theatrically* More reading on knives?? Oh the humani...awwww...who am I kidding? That is great news! And so awesome to see members of the community contributing to help others!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on May 23, 2018 at 19:19

Do you already have the up to date list of case knives that Tony Foster puts out at the shows?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on May 23, 2018 at 19:22

Thanks Todd.......

Todd Werts said:

Good morning. I am the owner of the ToolArchives website, which focuses much more on mechanics tools. However, I've recently begun an exhaustive effort documenting all tool related trademarks registered since 1870. I've made it through 1907 so far, with a goal of going through 1950. I thought you might find this research useful for knives. There are multiple ways to search the data but I suggest the Product Search. Simply begin typing the name of a product (like Pocket Knife, or hunting knife, sword, etc.) and choose the option you wish to see TMs for. By placing a comma after your selected product, you can then type again and select multiple products. Products with a ** after them are "focus products" which means we collect every trademark that has those products listed, whereas products lacking the ** are collected incidentally. Besides knives and edged weapons, we are also documenting guns of all types, tools of all types, and metal and woodworking machinery & tooling if you're interested in those domains.

In the right menu you can find other ways to search the data such as manufacturers (registrants), registration dates, etc.

http://toolarchives.com/trademark-productsearch-browser

I truly hope your community can benefit from this work and please don't hesitate to ask questions or make suggestions. I'm all for making this an invaluable resource for the collecting community at large.

You will see a login but there is not need to create an account if you don't want to.

Kind Regards,

Todd