Pruning knife

[Marius]

Just got this beautiful pruning knife from Tim.

It has solid hardwood handles, brass liners and rivets, the older style "Victorinox Switzerland Stainless Rostfrei" stamp on the blade tang and is approximately 111 mm in length when closed.

Cuts extremely well. Got it thinking to use it for work duty in the garden. However it's so nice it might end up being spared from heavy use 

Anyone else likes these close SAK relatives? I only have this one and my first impression is  positive, I like it.

Few pics:

[J Mackrel Jones]

I'm thinking it is more like a knife for linoleum or ?
Here is one next to a pruning knife, both old Victorias, from the SAK Owner's Manual.
The background used for this photo of worker's knives is leather.

[ColoSwiss]

Victorinox at one time offered a wide variety of work knives, some of which may still be available. The one Marius has is described as a Pruning Snagging knife (#19300).

Victorinox also once had a wide variety of razors (I believe pre-WWII). They're pretty uncommon. I've only seen a few, and only managed to pick up the one shown.

(All of these are in the same box, so figured I'd throw in the razor.)

[Marius]

Victorinox at one time offered a wide variety of work knives, some of which may still be available. The one Marius has is described as a Pruning Snagging knife (#19300).

Cool! The one in the middle in the group photo looks similar to mine, albeit in a darker wood. Same model?

What is the larger one at the left of the photo with the same kind of pruning blade wrapped in black handles? Is that a more recent variant of this model, or older,..?

Actually, can you list the model names and numbers (if known) or all the knives shown in that first group photo, please?

 

[Marius]

The one at the right/bottom of the group photo is also shown in Martin's gallery (, Martin!) here as a Baumreisser:

https://picasaweb.google.com/114771380811023687526/Baumreisser#

[Marius]

Interesting. Mine seems to be still available for sale, especially in the UK (old stock maybe if not longer in production?)

For example:

http://www.rhsplants.co.uk/product/_/tools-and-equipment/garden-tools/pruning-&-cutting-tools/knives/victorinox-pruning-snagging-knife/itemno.PR30002664/

or:

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=12157

or:

http://www.garden4less.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=19300

It is listed as having a Rosewood handle. May be.

[ColoSwiss]

Here's a link to a 2008 dealers catalog, that gives most of the info I have (page 13). Your knife may be a 1.9200 or 1.9300, very similar.

There are two models of large pruner, very similar in appearance, and both offered with rosewood or black nylon handles. I can't tell them apart from the photos.

The knife on the bottom right with the odd blade is a timber scribe or rase knife, used for marking lumber and wooden crates and barrels.

http://www.sosakonline.com/images/stories/Catalogue/Catalogue_english.pdf

Doing some double-checking. I have a 2006 version of that catalog, which lists a wood handled version of the 1.9703 (1.9700). The catalog list the handles as hardwood, while several downloaded ads say rosewood. Think I'd go with hardwood.

The one with a darker handle is used.

[Marius]

Thanks. I see that the catalog lists it as hardwood and I agree with this. I have both "hardwood" and "rosewood" handled SAKs (the later in few different flavors)  as well as other knives with other rosewood variety handles and this pruning knife of mine does not look (and does not smell  ) rosewood. It is still a quality wood and does not have to be luxurious for this application.

I wonder what year mine was. Probably not that old, possibly just before the stamp change to "Swiss Made". Maybe even the later ones had the old stamp from stock that Vic had. So mine may be not old at all. No ideea.

Also, mine I think is the  .93 model. It has the wide blade that looks more likely that one rather than the .92 one.

I think yours in the darker wood may be rosewood. Does it looks so? And has any aroma left (all Vic rosewood handles I have have odor from the oils in the wood, but tends to get away with the time so for a very old knife may be all gone.. and not all rosewoods smell).

 

[ColoSwiss]

The middle knife may be rosewood but not sure. I have a 'rosewood' Swiss Champ that's dark but with no figure, and a 'hardwood' Swiss Champ that's more attractive. I sometimes suspect that a wide variety of tropical hard woods are sold as whatever market wants at that moment. As for smelling it, not with my nose.

[ColoSwiss]

Swiss-knife lists three of the smaller wood-handled knives, and two large pruners with black nylon handles, so at least some are still around. I think someone on SOSAK checked on the timber scribe and was told it was out of production, though my memory isn't always what it should be.

http://www.swiss-knife.com/en/victorinox-swiss-army-knife/victorinox-swiss-army-knife-grafting-knives.htm?page=1

[Marius]

It looks they might be still current production after all...

It looks that mine and several others (not the cool old ones you have) are all (or most of them) shown in the last Victorinox catalog I have, from 2011 (they used to allow us to download these as PDFs from their website, another cut off  ).

Let me try to show a screenshot image of that page:

[ColoSwiss]

Thanks for the shot. Looks like Swiss-knife has most of the current items in stock. However if you come across a source for the large 1.9900, you might post it here.

[Marius]

For sure! That one caught my eye as well. Very cool blade, it looks. I am wondering how the quality of the current (or later) ones is, if they kept the liners material, the solid scales, etc.

 

[Vemo]

This store has them
http://www.victorinoxstores.com/victorinox/dept.asp?dept_id=3449&
no idea who they are but they only ship to US.
I've always loved those pruning knives!

[Marius]

Thanks for the link! They appear to be a mall store (Victorinox dealer, too it looks) in Connecticut. Unfortunately for me and others they do not accept sales from outside the US.

They have the 1.9900, although for a hefty price (may be MSRP):

http://www.victorinoxstores.com/victorinox/product.asp?s_id=0&prod_name=Victorinox+Pruning+Knife+Hardwood&pf_id=PAAAAAJDPCBFMIOF&dept_id=3449

 

[Waterlander]

Do these blades develope a nice patina?

[Marius]

Mine has the blade and the backspring in what appears standard Victorinox highly polished stainless stell. Very nice finish. Patina could develop on the brass liners and rivets. Don't see much patina developing on that SS blade. Are you asking about the older and some perhaps non SS variants?

[Waterlander]

  I was following one of your links:
http://www.garden4less.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=19300

On this website it say's "high carbon" so I was under the impression these were all carbon steel.
But looking closer it really say's "high carbon stainless steel blade".

Doh, my bad..

edit: on dedicated woodcutters I do prefer carbon steel, takes a finer/thinner (convexed) edge. Not that I don't like Vic stainless!

[ColoSwiss]

Did some checking on rosewood. About a dozen different species of the genus Dalbergia are sold as rosewood, including several that are also sold under other names, such as cocobolo and tulip wood. A number of other non-related tree species are also sold on occasion as rosewood, including bubinga. Seems to be if it looks remotely like rosewood call it rosewood.

With regard to odor there is apparently a wide range in the Dalbergias, both between species and between individual trees.

[Waterlander]

The only way really with wood is to go by it's latin name: Dalbergia

Then you got:

Dalbergia frutescens - Rosewood
Dalbergia cearensis - Brasil Rosewood
Dalbergia stevensonii - Honduras Palissander
Dalbergia nigra - Rio Palissander
Dalbergia retusa - Cocobolo or Granadillo

It's a mistake to mix up Frutescens (common Rosewood) for Tulipifera (american tulipwood, this is no rosewood).

[ColoSwiss]

I'm not an expert on wood, but here are a couple of interesting sites I found while digging around.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-identification/#r

Also from the wood-datbase:

Dalbergia genus: Rosewood
Dalbergia baronii
Dalbergia cearensis
Dalbergia decipularis
Dalbergia frutescens
Dalbergia latifolia
Dalbergia maritima
Dalbergia melanoxylon
Dalbergia nigra
Dalbergia olivera
Dalbergia retusa
Dalbergia sissoo
Dalbergia spruceana
Dalbergia stevensonii
Dalbergia yucatensis

Since this represents the sum of my knowledge, I'll let others hash out the details. 

[Waterlander]

Dalbergia melanoxylon

Better known as African Blackwood. Who would have thought same genus as Rosewood? 

edit: my favourite is Kingwood (Dalbergia cearensis). Beautiful purple streakes.

[Marius]

I am no wood expert but I doubt my poor pruning knife has handles made of any Dalbergia

I suspect one of my Rosewood SwissChamps has handles made of East Indian Rosewood. But I am not 100%. Sealed, pic from the great site quoted by Karl:



 

[Marius]

The other Rosewood SC might be Brazilian Rosewood, it looks like this, but I am even less sure.



The two SCs in discussion, the only two I have in Rosewood:

[Waterlander]

Hard to tell from pictures, but that could well be the same indian rosewood just cut differently.
It sure is nice though! 

[Waterlander]

How do you like my iroko hardwood? This is the lower half of the stairway to heaven.
Very oily wood - lot's of scraps left for chisel handles, and my boat.
I used Swiss made gouches on the curved inner sections (not shown).

[Marius]

Hard to tell from pictures, but that could well be the same indian rosewood just cut differently.
It sure is nice though! 

100% that is not the same wood. Different odors (both quite strong, but distinctly different), different textures looking up closely and also different hardness, one is harder than the other. The two SCs in question are also of different ages, my guesstimate being about 10+ years in between them.

Interesting, these (which are my only two Vic SAKs with Rosewood scales from factory) are my only knives that came with the strong odor (odors, as I said, each is different). I have a cople of other folders also in Rosewood that did not smell one bit when new.

Rosewood and Staghorn are my two top favorites for the SwissChamps. Wish more SAKs were made available in such scales. Least personal preference is for the MOP, one reason why I do not have even one.

Here is my post about my little SC collection:

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,38293.0.html

 

[Marius]

How do you like my iroko hardwood? This is the lower half of the stairway to heaven.
Very oily wood - lot's of scraps left for chisel handles, and my boat.
I used Swiss made gouches on the curved inner sections (not shown).

So I did not know what iroko wood is and looked to read a bit about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroko

Quote:

"They also claim that the spirit of the Iroko can be heard in houses which use Iroko wood, as the spirit of the Iroko is trapped in the wood."

Is the spirit of the Iroko heard in the shop already? 

Is that your shop? The work (and wood) look very nice from these pics. Show us (if we are allowed to see) the finished product and maybe the heaven it goes to (not a problem if the Iroko spirit will show in the photos as well  )

[Marius]

A few more pics. I think I will EDC this thing, too cool Just jk, same about Mr. Iroko, who we know who will haunt (me, if I don't stop these bad jokes)

Here the blade tang inscription is a bit more more visible. Also note how on the back side of the blade the tang and rest of the blade are completely flush.

[Marius]

Together with a friend