folding handle multitool .. leatherman not first.. by a long shot..

[ausjulius]

i have seen several old multitools that were  quite old.. that use the exsact same  mechnical  system as leathermans design.. ..
both scissor and plier tools based on this  form of function ,

what then did leatherman base his patent on.. or,, even then is his patent valid or was it only ever  based on a patent based on itmes produced in the u.s.a.  ?

[Poncho65]

That's a good question ausjulius do you happen to have any pics of said MTs? I really have no answer for you so maybe someone in the know will come along in a few minutes

[Poncho65]

I just read you other post I guess those are the pics of said MTs Guess I need to read more and type less

[american lockpicker]

Hmm wasn't the owner in Europe when he thought of the multitool?

[Poncho65]

Hmm wasn't the owner in Europe when he thought of the multitool?

I believe that your right ALP

[ausjulius]

I just read you other post I guess those are the pics of said MTs Guess I need to read more and type less

hehe no no they are newly made russian tools, ive seen are  english   folding  tools with shear ,scissor and various prier heads,

ive seen a very lice little plier with pearl handles that fold around the head and have   blades folding in the handles, ive seen several rather old multitools with  the exsact style as leatherman but  with much less tools.

ill get fotos  later when i can find them..

im shure several others would have pictures like this aswell.


actualy speeking of multitool pliers..   you all know the small plier on the   victorinox..  well ive seen the exsact pliers on old pocket knives from befroe ww2, american made ones,, has anyone  else seen these.. exsact same style and construction..

[american lockpicker]

I know that there is a tool used in world war II (great patriotic war) that had pliers or wire cutters in it it was use by either the OSS or SOE.

[ausjulius]

I know that there is a tool used in world war II (great patriotic war) that had pliers or wire cutters in it it was use by either the OSS or SOE.

ah ye s, but this didnt fold.. it was a old design  dating from the middle of the 19th century .!!!

[Anthony]

There's a thread here somewhere with a Roman multitool from like 2000 years ago!

[duckman1975]

If I remember it correctly Mr. Tim Leatherman got the idea when we vacationed in Europe with his wife around 1984, so the patent might be during that time.

[Neil]

Here's a thread where we discussed the old folding scissors from early last century, along with the patent for that mechanism.

Neil

[J-sews]

actualy speeking of multitool pliers..   you all know the small plier on the   victorinox..  well ive seen the exsact pliers on old pocket knives from befroe ww2, american made ones,, has anyone  else seen these.. exsact same style and construction..

Sounds like you are talking about an old "radio knife" ausjulius. According to Bernard Levine this design was patented in 1923...





After that they were made and sold under the Boker logo, as well as W.R. Case

[Poncho65]

 

I really need 1 of those knives

[ausjulius]

actualy speeking of multitool pliers..   you all know the small plier on the   victorinox..  well ive seen the exsact pliers on old pocket knives from befroe ww2, american made ones,, has anyone  else seen these.. exsact same style and construction..

Sounds like you are talking about an old "radio knife" ausjulius. According to Bernard Levine this design was patented in 1923...


(Image removed from quote.)


After that they were made and sold under the Boker logo, as well as W.R. Case

(Image removed from quote.)

ahar, yes, i was talking about just that tool..... interesting little thing seems the vic pliers and all that came after it were copied from this??


ah but back to the folding handled multitools,, i have one around some place.. folds up just like the leatherman,, nothing special about the quality of it though, appears to be about 50 years old.. carbon steel  chromed ..
but ive seen others......... and with the exsact same  workings as the leatherman..

[ausjulius]

Here's a thread where we discussed the old folding scissors from early last century, along with the patent for that mechanism.

Neil

thanks neil. interesting veiwing.. ah ive seen  older  folding scissor.. but  yes i a corrected they were not folding in the leatherman style.. also seen some very old ones  which didnt fold but had a silver sheath for the head.. had tools in the handle....

[J-sews]

Here's a thread where we discussed the old folding scissors from early last century, along with the patent for that mechanism.

Neil

thanks neil. interesting veiwing.. ah ive seen  older  folding scissor.. but  yes i a corrected they were not folding in the leatherman style.. also seen some very old ones  which didnt fold but had a silver sheath for the head.. had tools in the handle....

Hmmm, silver sheath for the scissor head eh?   Now it sounds like you are describing this one made in Sheffield England in the late 1800's:





This particular one was stamped Henry Toothill, a small cutlery firm from Sheffield. There's more pictures of it in the Multitool Encyclopedia HERE 

[ausjulius]

 thanks , nice little thing isint it..

oh once i saw a  1900s ladies multitool , realy well designed.. was with  a folding scissor,, and nail cleaning  itmes and knife ,, and it had a  nail file down the spine of the knife.. on the spring,,, was very slim and have a  abilonie  or stone inlay of the  peecock..  handles were silver and gold, thing was realy nice

[J-sews]

thanks , nice little thing isint it..

oh once i saw a  1900s ladies multitool , realy well designed.. was with  a folding scissor,, and nail cleaning  itmes and knife ,, and it had a  nail file down the spine of the knife.. on the spring,,, was very slim and have a  abilonie  or stone inlay of the  peecock..  handles were silver and gold, thing was realy nice

Wow! Where are you seeing all these old tools?

[ausjulius]

knife shows , gun shows..peoples collections.... ect ect.. ive always had a thing for multitools.....
the best place to find old multitools is not knife shows,, as they will be few and far between, best is jumble slaes. flea markets and week end markets.. antique shops are also worth a  look but ushaly rather dissapointing..

i think over all the best places to look are markets and flea markets. proably if you look every week in a few weeks youll find what you want..
sydney .. in australia, when i  visited there wa svery good for it.. markets every week some guys selling nothign else by old tools and most prices quite decent.. ive sene  alot of old  multitools and  old  knives,, aspecial folders and doctors sets..

i was in sydney afew weeks once ,, i have a thing for old machetes,, and so as i was looking at the various markets around the city anyway i keept an eye out for tool sellers with  these..  i found a whole heat maybe 6 or more malitary machetes only in  4 weeks ..  martindales, taylor,, and some australian ones,,

actualy i   remember seeing a whole heap of them for sale , small folding pliers and some minature silver kukri and jambyia knives and such  in a market stall in sydney once.. looked like items from british india..  , crazy hippy woman had is mixed in with heaps of tourist kukris ,  sari's,   incence and other  modern made junk she purchased in india. .., the was a compleat set  of josheph rogers autopsy tools as well. got one or two of the  little mini  multi-function rogers knives.
didnt see markets like this in canada.. i guess in england they are popular in some areas. and i remember in new zaland popular too...
in europe , less so i recall, crusing the antique shops though normaly pays off.. and in europe aspecialy germany  many items that people in .. say north america consider  "antique" are in german ,, uncool old junk (theyev got lots. so dont value it so).. so you can  get them cheaply or for nothing  if the people dot value them (at least with furnature anyway , they throw out 200 year old oak cabnets and   folding tables, and such in fine condition ,  leather sofas..old carved chairs.. lamps , ect ect.. my cousin had always to argue with me not to take all these things..
)

there is antique shops  have plenty of good stuff, in a big city in germany for france or another european city there is 100s of antique shops some with very good collections of tools, same in  central eastern europe , czech, hungary, ect ect.. 
you can see  many interesting things for sale in these places......

well hope this helps ....

ive recently started a collection of old  toold, when i get a chance ill post pictures..

[J-sews]

ive recently started a collection of old  toold, when i get a chance ill post pictures..

Wow, I would very much like to see those pictures someday ausjulius, and thanks for the advice!

[Grant Lamontagne]

For Bob's sake, do you have directions to one of those old markets?  I think I hear the sounds of him booking a trip to Australia as we speak...

Def

[J-sews]

For Bob's sake, do you have directions to one of those old markets?  I think I hear the sounds of him booking a trip to Australia as we speak...

Def

.....by way of Germany of course.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Austria, Australia... it's the same thing, right? 

Def

[Neil]

.., the was a compleat set  of josheph rogers autopsy tools as well.  ...

Please tell me you bought them and are going to post pictures.  Please

Neil

[american lockpicker]

Who is joseph rogers?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Who is joseph rogers?

It's a British knife manufacturer

[J-sews]

Who is joseph rogers?

It's a British knife manufacturer

Joseph Rogers and Sons was THE british knifemaker, the biggest and the best, from the knifemaking capital of the world 100 years ago (Sheffield England) Their motto was "Cutlers to His Majesty" and they provided the entire civilized world with knives, scissors, kitchenware, straight razors, and apparently, medical instruments.

But their fine products were made by hand, the old fashioned way, and were quite labor intensive. Gradually they (and the other knifemakers of Sheffield) lost market share to less expensive mass-produced knives from America and Germany.




It occurs to me...the things said in Britain 100 years ago about cheap American crap imports are probably the same things we say today about stuff made in China.  

[ausjulius]

alas i did not buy the set, i did purchase a scalpel in a case and  some other  knives, i recall a  writers knife for removing mistakes on paper..


ok, well . theyer all over the place in sydney and change all the time the best ones are normal held on school grounds to rase money for the school, people pay afew $$ to put up their table of saturday and then stall all their things,

i went to these mostly to buy tools, like  like taps and dies and wood working tools, and to find old military knives.....
hmmm there is others more slling hippy junk , these are regular like the glebe and   the downtown .. ect., they have mostly  people there selling for  business , not just to sell their old stuff.

haha actualy  my mother  has aquired  a stuffed hayena and  lepoard in these sort of  junk markets..

mostly these is tools.. and  crockery and house items.. ,, pocket watches, books,  ,,  ectect   ..  but as i said there is many markets.. and one can cruse  3 or 4 in one day....... proably each weekend  youll  get a few decent knives every time,, trawling..

my camera died,, .. when i get another ill post pics.....

mos of mine are from the 1950s.. <> some newer , some older,  several are still in the  original packets. i intend to use them hehehe, ah they are mine , why not..

[Neil]

I'm jealous.  Sure you get to see a lot of old Sheffield cutlery at UK car boot sales but its normally later stuff or worn out bread knives, butter knives and spoons.

Neil

[ausjulius]

here  my dear fellows is a 1960's folding tool that is  as the leatherman in all functions, and   is proably a better design,, alas the makers lacked imagination and only put on the 2 blades!!!,
sorry small fotos is all i have .