Hello everyone...also possible Victorinox sailors knife?

kyenglish · **on:** April 18, 2014, 03:54:11 AM

Hey all,

my names peter, I have only just signed up here, (glad I found the place!

), after trying to do some research on a knife a friend of mine included in a trade. I've been interested in old knives for awhile and SAKs, like everyone, were part of my childhood. I've picked up the bug again with the Alox craze, during my time on another forum. Anyway thought Id' introduce myself a little before begging for information.

Nice to be here BTW!

After some research i ended up landing on an old thread on this forum which lead me to think this knife is something of a Victorinox Sailors knife, but with sacking awl instead of a marlin spike, and missing it's pruning blade. I also think the main blade, if it is indeed an old Vic, has been replaced and another tool, perhaps a pruner, has been lost.

It's main blade looks distinctly different from other examples I've seen, with an almost handmade look to it, it fees solid and nice in the hand, the main blade has a half stop, the others not

northwoods norfolk for comparison

Here is everything

The sacking awl has some nice working on it, but to looks a little more "crude" compared with other pictures I've seen

Main blade grind, it really looks to have been made from something else to my eye and the stamp is definiteness "missing"

it's sharp though

One thick one thin liner, notice the thick liner i recessed on the main blade side, leading me to further believe the main blade has been replaced, and they didn't quite get the fit right

Saw looks good, but it's nail nick goes right to the end of the blade, which is different although I've yet to fins a picture of the saw on an actual known example of the breed

You can see where it is missing a tool here

Finally here is a link to pictures of what I think it is, I have messaged some in this thread who posted but not heard back yet, and I don't want to post a picture without permission but thought the link might be okay?

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php?topic=25628.0

These look close to the one I have to my eye...If the blade had been replaced/modded and it had lost it's pruner blade and the one in this picture has a saw not deployed...a lot of if's there but...heck

If nothing else I'm glad to have a new place to poke around to explore the interest, but I'd appreciate any thought and information you may have or wish to share

Sorry for the big first post and all, and thanks for looking!

also i really like these smiles that I have never seen before, so thanks for that to

captain spaulding · **Reply #1 on:** April 18, 2014, 04:02:28 AM

Glad you found your way over.

Like I said before I am not sure if yours is a Victorinox that has been repaired or if it's just a similar looking knife, but i'm sure our more knowledgeable members will be here momentarily to give you some info. Welcome aboard.

kyenglish · **Reply #2 on:** April 18, 2014, 04:13:00 AM

Quote from: captain spaulding on April 18, 2014, 04:02:28 AM

Glad you found your way over.

Like I said before I am not sure if yours is a Victorinox that has been repaired or if it's just a similar looking knife, but i'm sure our more knowledgeable members will be here momentarily to give you some info. Welcome aboard.

thanks for the suggestion, happy to be here

SAK Guy · **Reply #3 on:** April 18, 2014, 05:06:17 AM

Welcome bro...good to see you here and good luck in your quest for info!

captain spaulding · **Reply #4 on:** April 18, 2014, 05:20:09 AM

Surprised no one has info for you on this yet. It is a bit of a odd duck you have.

kyenglish · **Reply #5 on:** April 18, 2014, 05:54:10 AM

Thanks, SAK Guy

Captain, I guess you're right, I'm was utterly convinced of it's swissness until now, been looking at some German knives though, where I started out researching actually, and I do't know, its scales and overall shape look similar to a number of German slipjoints.

captain spaulding · **Reply #6 on:** April 18, 2014, 06:12:51 AM

Yea, i'm leaning towards it being not Victorinox. The forum is kinda dead right now so probably why its taking a while to get an answer. My guys are usually pretty quick.

Hear that fellas!!!

ColoSwiss · **Reply #7 on:** April 18, 2014, 08:03:34 AM

Hi Peter,

Welcome aboard!

Your knife is what is known as a 'Farmer' knife. The pattern originated in Germany, but was copied all over Europe, including Switzerland. However both Victorinox and Wenger typically only have one bolster (the metal reinforcement on the end of the handle) while your's has two. The fact the knife is unmarked makes me suspect it is French. For some reason a lot of the smaller French makers didn't bother to mark their knives. Lots of others with wide expertise here who may be along in a bit to provide more info.

Below, some older Victorinox horn-handled Farmers knives.

captain spaulding · **Reply #8 on:** April 18, 2014, 08:31:16 AM

How did I know you would be the one to answer this.

Currahee · **Reply #9 on:** April 18, 2014, 11:27:07 AM

Howdy, Peter!

I had read a similar message from you on another site and was saddened to see that no one took the time to respond to you.

I was in the middle of telling you that I didn't know, in 10K words or less, when the idea struck me to come to the one place that might actually have the answers you were seeking. That's right...HERE!

Well, not only did I find the answer -- I also found YOU! Small world, eh!

So, congratulations regarding your mystery knife! The answer provided compliments of Mr. Rocky Mountain's High, himself -- ColoSwiss. And thank you, Peter, for for providing me with the stimulus to drop in over here and see some old and familiar typefaces!

Cheers, again, my friend!

Currahee

ducttapetech · **Reply #10 on:** April 18, 2014, 12:41:20 PM

Hello Peter. That a nice looking knife. Like everyone else, its not a Vic, but it is still a sweet knife.

live from Nate's mobile

kyenglish · **Reply #11 on:** April 18, 2014, 02:37:22 PM

Quote from: ColoSwiss on April 18, 2014, 08:03:34 AM

Hi Peter,

Welcome aboard!

Your knife is what is known as a 'Farmer' knife. The pattern originated in Germany, but was copied all over Europe, including Switzerland. However both Victorinox and Wenger typically only have one bolster (the metal reinforcement on the end of the handle) while your's has two. The fact the knife is unmarked makes me suspect it is French. For some reason a lot of the smaller French makers didn't bother to mark their knives. Lots of others with wide expertise here who may be along in a bit to provide more info.

Below, some older Victorinox horn-handled Farmers knives.

that is AWESOME, thanks greatly ColoSwiss, I appreciate it. Mind if I share the info in my other posts?

also is there a book or resource anyone can recommend about this subject?

thanks everyone for the help and comments, and captain for the push to post here! needless to say i was up until bleary eyed o'clock looking at interesting posts and pictures on this forum, great place!

and I'm happy to see my other posts got noticed to, Curragee! and thanks for the effort

i'm still interested in any other info guys so post it if you've got it, and if I sounds like I'm wrapping up an award speech it's because I was very excited about this knife, and now I'm more so, I think it's very cool, and it will go (once cleaned) into a very small group of old knives I have that constitute my "collection" that see occasional EDC use to.

captain spaulding · **Reply #12 on:** April 18, 2014, 02:40:42 PM

Glad you found some answers.

Hope you stick around, you should like it around here.

enki_ck · **Reply #13 on:** April 18, 2014, 02:47:29 PM

This catalog may be of help to you, Victorinox 1942 Catalog, specifically the Farm knives part of it.

http://www.sakwiki.com/ti...gallery.php?galleryId=116

kyenglish · **Reply #14 on:** April 18, 2014, 05:33:49 PM

I mean to stick around

thanks enki, i'll check it out

ulli · **Reply #15 on:** April 18, 2014, 06:43:38 PM

Thats a cool old knife. Would say beginning of 20th century. Could be swiss made, there were many old swiss knife makers around, not only wenger or elsener, who produced such farmer knives. I think that there was maybe a tang stamp on the mainblade, not on the base, but in the middle of the blade in a 90° angle. But the blade was sharpened many times, so its not visible anymore. The sacking needle was used from the farmers to repair their potato or corn bags. Its not victorinox, not because of the missing bolster i think (there were some victorinox knives with two bolsters at the beginning of the 20th century), but because of the sort of grooves or missing grooves in the bolsters and the sacking needle.

kyenglish · **Reply #16 on:** April 19, 2014, 03:39:12 AM

it just gets more interesting!

Quote from: ulli on April 18, 2014, 06:43:38 PM

Thats a cool old knife. Would say beginning of 20th century. Could be swiss made, there were many old swiss knife makers around, not only wenger or elsener, who produced such farmer knives. I think that there was maybe a tang stamp on the mainblade, not on the base, but in the middle of the blade in a 90° angle. But the blade was sharpened many times, so its not visible anymore. The sacking needle was used from the farmers to repair their potato or corn bags. Its not victorinox, not because of the missing bolster i think (there were some victorinox knives with two bolsters at the beginning of the 20th century), but because of the sort of grooves or missing grooves in the bolsters and the sacking needle.

ColoSwiss · **Reply #17 on:** April 19, 2014, 06:03:28 AM

Quote from: ulli on April 18, 2014, 06:43:38 PM

Thats a cool old knife. Would say beginning of 20th century. Could be swiss made, there were many old swiss knife makers around, not only wenger or elsener, who produced such farmer knives. I think that there was maybe a tang stamp on the mainblade, not on the base, but in the middle of the blade in a 90° angle. But the blade was sharpened many times, so its not visible anymore. The sacking needle was used from the farmers to repair their potato or corn bags. Its not victorinox, not because of the missing bolster i think (there were some victorinox knives with two bolsters at the beginning of the 20th century), but because of the sort of grooves or missing grooves in the bolsters and the sacking needle.

Hi ulli,

I have no info on Vic or Wenger Farmers with two bolsters in my notes. Would you happen to have a picture of one? Recall seeing a picture of a mid-size two-bolster pearl-handled Vic (?) on here recently but apparently forgot to print out a copy for the files.

Thanks,

Karl