Fisherman Solo

[jazzbass]

Got this off eBay a month or so ago (I think there was a thread here about the auction in fact). Yes it was expensive - probably the worse cost-to-utility ratio of any knife I own.



At first I thought it was just some weird custom that someone made after they took apart a knife for the good parts or they broke the main blade. After looking at it a bit more, though, I realized that it had to be a factory original. Why? The rear scale. There's no corkscrew cut-out. The exposed rivets indicate a pre-1957 manufacture date, so if this was a custom made from a Fisherman/Angler/Champion/etc there would be a cut-out in the rear scale (and the front scale for the large awl, too). Here's the interesting part from a knife-geek perspective - this is the only 91mm knife I've ever seen without a corkscrew cut-out on the rear scale.

84mm knives have long been offered in models without rear scale cutouts. Bantam and Lumberjack style celidor models date back into the 1940s up to present day. There's even a corkscrew-less Golfer LNF variant from this time. But 91mm models have never in modern times (post WWII) been offered without a corkscrew or phillips on the blade layer. So finding a solid rear 91mm scale without the corkscrew cut-out to make this custom is basically impossible. Finding a solid front scale is difficult but can be done (there are 91mm Gourmet and Waiter variants from this time that could be used) but the rear scale is special bit that indicates (to me at least) that this is a factory original.

This knife was made c. 1950, around the time they introduced the fish scaler tool. My guess is that this was probably made as a demo model for the the new tool and not something they intended for serious distribution.

[zoidberg]

I like it.      Thanks for the info jazzbass.   

[twiliter]

Unique find JB, good one! 

[LeaF]

Very impressive, thanks for sharing.

[Huntsman]

Hi JB

Yes I remember the thread about this knife - So you decided to go for it - Wow
If anyone could make a call on that - it's you.

Thanks for sharing and reallly great that it looks like it is factory produced.
Shame the seller realised this too - eh ?   
I must say I thought it was some custom/fake or whatever 

I always love your inspired therories as to why these quirky deviations happen
- And the theory re the demo model seems pretty sound - especially given the timing and scales

I did have one query - What does PWAR mean please?
 

[twiliter]

I took it to mean Post WW2, not sure now. 

[jazzbass]

I did have one query - What does PWAR mean please

Hahah sorry, my collection shorthand is leaking.

When it comes to dating a knife, I find it a lot easier to think of knives as being part of "periods" as opposed to specific dates. Any manufacturing date given will almost always be an approximate, so I came up with a set of time periods that each span about 5 yrs on average and allow for a quick and (usually) easy categorization of a knife within that period.

The key thing about these "periods" is that they are feature based, not date based. Each period defines the features a knife should have to be part of it, and knives within a certain period will all be very similar with minor variations. In this case, PWAR = "Post Wartime", and includes knives made from c. 1946 - 1951.  The PWAR period is defined as knives having cellidor scales, crab-claw can openers, 2.7mm main blades, caplifter/screwdriver on the head pin (with the main blade). This Spartan here is a prototypical PWAR knife:



Contrast the PWAR period with the "Late Wartime" or LWAR period. Features of the LWAR period are almost the same as the PWAR period, except they have the original style can opener instead of the crab-claw style. So this is a LWAR Spartan:



If anyone is interested I can post more about this after I finish up my current collection inventory/rearrangement.

[twiliter]

As good a categorization as any! 

Yes, I for one would be interested in more info anytime, fwiw. 

[Myron]

Yes, I for one would be interested in more info anytime, fwiw. 

Yes, me too.  Great post and very useful information for fellow collectors.  Thanks!

[jaya_man]

That’s an awesome score jazzbass


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Reinier]

Wow!

[Syph007]

I never thought I'd see a back scale with no cutout in a 91. 

[Simyo]

Have there been variations in the fish scaler to help narrow down the date of the fish scaler?

[LeaF]

Have there been variations in the fish scaler to help narrow down the date of the fish scaler?

At least 4 variations of fish-scaler exists. Current looks like  first one from this list

[Reinier]

Is it in fact a front scale used as a back scale? I'm guessing it's just a matter of drilling the holes for the exposed rivets in a different location.
Very very unusual and cool knife!

[ThePeacent]

awesome score, great info, always learning things with you!
THANKS!!   

[MiniChamp]

These are very interesting SAK and posts, JB. Thanks!

Can you please explain with more details why you think that this SAK is from the PWAR period? As explained below, I tend to be a bit skeptic of that.

Have there been variations in the fish scaler to help narrow down the date of the fish scaler?

At least 4 variations of fish-scaler exists. Current looks like  first one from this list

Actually, while I didn't really study this very thoroughly, it has been my impression that the very first generation of Victorinox fish scalers (for roughly the first 2-4 years of their existence, say) had a "rounded shape" with curved surfaces that lack any angles along lines. While it is often very difficult to tell such things from pictures, it seems to me that the scaler on the SAK in this thread actually has an "angled shape" which is the consequence of an area near the teeth that is sharpened at a (roughly) fixed angle. (This may be easier to tell from the eBay pictures than from the ones in this thread.) Hence, this fish scaler looks to me more like what I tend to think of as being a second generation fish scaler, which should date the SAK to roughly the 1953-57 time frame.

The attached image attempts to demonstrate what I think may be two different fish scaler variants. The early-1950's model 136faU is identified as such by having a +Pat can opener along with a 27 teeth wood saw (what I called type SW1 saw on another thread).

I should point out that the final shaping of the fish scalers in the 1950's seems to have been a manual process and there are many production variations in their shapes. Hence, it is certainly possible that I'm wrong here and that the differences that I identified as different variants of fish scalers are, in fact, just coincidental production variations. Still, as far as I can recall, I have seen only the "rounded shape" scalers on SAKs from the very early 1950's and only the "angled shape" ones on SAKs from the second half of the 1950's and later, so, if this is just a coincidence, I would greatly appreciate seeing counter-examples.

[MiniChamp]

It seems that taking pictures that would emphasize subtle differences in the shape of polished metal surfaces is not so simple. Since I wasn't really happy with the previous image, I tried reflecting a millimetric paper background, thinking that it should be the best thing. While I doubt if it really works any better, I had some fun playing with it, so I figured I should post the result.

[jazzbass]

These are very interesting SAK and posts, JB. Thanks!

Can you please explain with more details why you think that this SAK is from the PWAR period? As explained below, I tend to be a bit skeptic of that.

Has nothing to do with the shape of the scaler. Rivet spacing on 91mm knives changes at the end of the PWAR period. It's actually the main defining feature between PWAR knives and the next (Early Vintage) period.

This knife has the rivet spacing consistent with PWAR knives.

[MiniChamp]

These are very interesting SAK and posts, JB. Thanks!

Can you please explain with more details why you think that this SAK is from the PWAR period? As explained below, I tend to be a bit skeptic of that.

Has nothing to do with the shape of the scaler. Rivet spacing on 91mm knives changes at the end of the PWAR period. It's actually the main defining feature between PWAR knives and the next (Early Vintage) period.

This knife has the rivet spacing consistent with PWAR knives.

Thanks a lot for this info! This is very interesting. I guess it says that this SAK must have a PWAR era spring that is different from the fish scaler springs on post-PWAR SAKs. Is that right? Since the post-PWAR fish scaler springs that I am familiar with are narrower than any other 91mm SAK backspring (about 1.5mm, I think), it makes me wonder what is going on here. Are you familiar with other PWAR era SAKs with fish scalers? Is the fish scaler on this SAK unusually thick? Did they make a special spring to make this SAK?

Can you say what are the thicknesses of the fish scaler shank and its spring? Thanks!