Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on August 20, 2013 at 9:20

Brian, this is what we have in our Knife Dating Group :http://www.iknifecollector.com/group/knife-dating/forum/topics/west...

Permalink Reply by peter force on September 4, 2013 at 0:14

hey brian not to much to offer but i can tell you this. in 1977 western did start using letters for the dating system...i remember this only because i was born in 1977 ..so i collected a few westerns with the A for fun.i can say this.the few i do own are great knives.

___1984-became Coleman-Western___ BUT.. i have only 1 coleman/western knife that came with a pile of junkers but it made a nice EDC and it had the letter J in a circle stamped on the front..sorry no picture .. i gave it away. my only guess is that COLEMAN kept up on the dating---again thats a guess{at least for a little bit} but its the only thing i could think of... ANYONE WITH A COLEMAN -WESTERN WITH A LETTER CODE??  .. anyway wanted to toss up an example of what i meant by COLEMANS CODE. so went and found picture that was similar to BRIANS.. i did this as well to show that LOOK.. even after being sold to COLEMAN almost no difference..compare the 2 main blades and even the bodies of the knife.that is of course in looks.i dont know from experince as i only owned the one coleman but from what i have read most,it seems, didnt like the coleman-western knives and still dont.

and yes BRIAN- thats delrin!... on another note for those who dont know.....DELRIN was not used on knives in the USA until around 1961+ ...from all that i have read and gathered.. {please if i have that wrong ,correct me,as its a handle material that helps me to date knives that have been rehandled.} -hope i helped..

 

Permalink Reply by peter force on September 4, 2013 at 0:42

 

hey brian i just saved your pic and put it up for easy comparison hope ya dont mind.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on September 4, 2013 at 8:52

Thanks Peter, that is some good information!

Permalink Reply by Brian H Bentley on September 4, 2013 at 12:12

Thank you, Peter. I think your info explains the confusion about date codes being on the back, and then the front, of the main blade. I appreciate your time to help me out.

Cheers, Brian

peter force said:

hey brian not to much to offer but i can tell you this. in 1977 western did start using letters for the dating system...i remember this only because i was born in 1977 ..so i collected a few westerns with the A for fun.i can say this.the few i do own are great knives.

___1984-became Coleman-Western___ BUT.. i have only 1 coleman/western knife that came with a pile of junkers but it made a nice EDC and it had the letter J in a circle stamped on the front..sorry no picture .. i gave it away. my only guess is that COLEMAN kept up on the dating---again thats a guess{at least for a little bit} but its the only thing i could think of... ANYONE WITH A COLEMAN -WESTERN WITH A LETTER CODE??  .. anyway wanted to toss up an example of what i meant by COLEMANS CODE. so went and found picture that was similar to BRIANS.. i did this as well to show that LOOK.. even after being sold to COLEMAN almost no difference..compare the 2 main blades and even the bodies of the knife.that is of course in looks.i dont know from experince as i only owned the one coleman but from what i have read most,it seems, didnt like the coleman-western knives and still dont.

and yes BRIAN- thats delrin!... on another note for those who dont know.....DELRIN was not used on knives in the USA until around 1961+ ...from all that i have read and gathered.. {please if i have that wrong ,correct me,as its a handle material that helps me to date knives that have been rehandled.} -hope i helped..

 

Permalink Reply by Brian H Bentley on September 4, 2013 at 12:14

Do not mind at all. Now, if I could just learn to be a better picture taker ...

peter force said:

 

hey brian i just saved your pic and put it up for easy comparison hope ya dont mind.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on September 7, 2013 at 15:37

That said Brian...you and me both..I have been trying to take better pictures since getting a new camera and so far has been working pretty good. Only problem is I have to now retake a lot of bad pictures!

Here is the other thing, I sure wish knife companies had been more consistent in their identification. Sometimes it is so difficult to find any info! Don't you wonder what they had in mind?

Brian H Bentley said:

Do not mind at all. Now, if I could just learn to be a better picture taker ...

peter force said:

 

hey brian i just saved your pic and put it up for easy comparison hope ya dont mind.

Permalink Reply by peter force on September 8, 2013 at 3:47

hey brian. if you are wondering how to make the pictures appear openly on the screen like i did with your image. its easy

right above these wrods you will see a few boxes starting very small with the word LINK in blue. go to the second box from the left...it will say IMAGE when you float your arrow over it... click itand search your pc for any images you have saved on it... of course if that is what you are trying to do..  the pics you have supplied are well enough for the questions you are asking.. like i said i can even tell its delrin and not bone so no where near worse pics.

Permalink Reply by peter force on September 8, 2013 at 3:47

YOUR WELCOME..always glad to help!-CHEERS AS WELL-peter

Brian H Bentley said:

Thank you, Peter. I think your info explains the confusion about date codes being on the back, and then the front, of the main blade. I appreciate your time to help me out.

Cheers, Brian

peter force said:

hey brian not to much to offer but i can tell you this. in 1977 western did start using letters for the dating system...i remember this only because i was born in 1977 ..so i collected a few westerns with the A for fun.i can say this.the few i do own are great knives.

___1984-became Coleman-Western___ BUT.. i have only 1 coleman/western knife that came with a pile of junkers but it made a nice EDC and it had the letter J in a circle stamped on the front..sorry no picture .. i gave it away. my only guess is that COLEMAN kept up on the dating---again thats a guess{at least for a little bit} but its the only thing i could think of... ANYONE WITH A COLEMAN -WESTERN WITH A LETTER CODE??  .. anyway wanted to toss up an example of what i meant by COLEMANS CODE. so went and found picture that was similar to BRIANS.. i did this as well to show that LOOK.. even after being sold to COLEMAN almost no difference..compare the 2 main blades and even the bodies of the knife.that is of course in looks.i dont know from experince as i only owned the one coleman but from what i have read most,it seems, didnt like the coleman-western knives and still dont.

and yes BRIAN- thats delrin!... on another note for those who dont know.....DELRIN was not used on knives in the USA until around 1961+ ...from all that i have read and gathered.. {please if i have that wrong ,correct me,as its a handle material that helps me to date knives that have been rehandled.} -hope i helped..

 

Permalink Reply by Jean-François on September 15, 2013 at 13:52

Sorry that I have overlooked this discussion. When comparing the date on the box with the letter on the tang, one finds 1977 for A, 1978 for B, 1979 for C... Coleman just continued the code. I have got this Coleman Western with  an M on the  tang.    I can't say if there were any N stamps - as you know, Camillus Cutlery absorbed Coleman Western in 1991.