Remember these old friends? Thanks to The
Old Coral for sharing these great pictures. Take time to visit Chuck
Anderson's wonderful and fun website. It will bring back some fond memories of
old friends.
As
far as I can find out this is a Puma Fish Knife, made sometime in the 1950's. It
has what appears to be dark walnut scales. This knife was modeled after their
popular " Scales knife" which is larger and has the added attribute of
being able to use the extended blade and a leather thong to weigh your catch.
the ball acts as a counter weight and you hang your catch on the open blade in
different places to find the weight of your fish. Occasionally the ball is used
to " calm your catch". Blade is etched " Abercrombie &
Fitch." A & F was a high end equipment or outfitter retailer. People
such as, Earnest Hemmingway wore A & F supplied clothing on safari.
W.R.
Case and award winning custom knife maker Tony bose joint venture produced this
slimline trapper TBose62048. Clip and warncliff blades made from ATS34
stainless. Liners are milled for improved blade fall. Bolsters, springs, and
liners are stainless. Jigged chestnut bone scales with unique propeller shaped
shield. Production limited to only 1000 pieces and produced in 1999. Very nice
piece and " Highly Collectable!" Spots on blades are only lubricant.
Second
collaboration of W.R. Case and legendary custom knife maker Tony Bose produced
this 622000 Millennium Trapper. Once again, clip and skinner blades are ATS34
stainless. Stainless bolsters, springs, and liners. Liners have been milled for
improved blade fall. Jigged chestnut bone scales with unique badge shield.
Production was to limited to 1000 pieces, but Case threw in another version with
different scales. Pulling another rabbit out for more profit from the
unsuspecting knife collectors.
Here
is something I bet a bunch of folds can't figure out. Growing up I remember my
Grandpa was like most of the people where I grew up, in the fact that he was
" tight " when it came to the number of wires he used on all the
fencing around our place. We only had three strands of barbwire on all our
fences that were suppose to keep our stock on our side. Most generally this
worked, but occasionally there was one old hide that always wanted to go over to
the neighbors pasture and it didn't take long for her to train the others to
follow suit. Most of the time Grandpa would find a willow tree or bois d'arc
that had a big forked limb that he would cut and wire around the problem cows
neck and that would keep her from walking through the fence to the neighbors. If
she was a real problem this device is what he used. This item was factory made
and had sharp prongs on top and bottom that stuck the cows neck when she started
pushing on the fence. Instead of selling the problem cow or building the fence
better folks would fasten one of these around the neck of the problem animal and
that would solve the gettin out deal, ( sometimes). I remember hunt for some of
our old cows on many occasions. Poor people have poor ways I guess. This is one
of our old cowyokes and it's at least 50 years old. Neat huh!!!
This
is my small collection of Case 92 pattern stockmen done in stag. I just love
these old knives. I can't seem to pass one by without at least taking a closer
look see. The two on upper left side are XX Mfg 1940-1964. Pair on upper right
side are Mfg 1965-1969. Trio at bottom are 10 dot 1970. The one in the middle is
a rare 5592 Mfg 1985. Only 1000 of these were produced.
These
pictures HERE & HERE
show my very first attempt at making knives. I was fortunate to have a friend in
the knife making business that was willing to share his skills and advice and
the use of his shop for this adventure. I had been contemplating trying this for
some time and bought a couple of books on the subject but didn't have the
necessary equipment to begin such a project. My friend Joe Wheeler was eager to
assist and share his knowledge so I could get my feet wet. I'm positive this
helped me forego many mistakes and maybe even turn it into a bad experience. I
had pretty much figured the pattern and how I wanted the handles to look and the
steel I used was just some old scrap cold rolled mild steel that I
use for minor repairs to my farm equipment. We heat treated and quenched in
motor oil and checked the hardness with a file. It ended up being a little soft
but rather than spend too much time on trial and error I left them the way they
were. The sheath is all hand stitched and oil dyed. I have to say they actually
turned out pretty nice and I gave them to my boys for Christmas. I could write a
bunch more on my learning experience but I don't want to bore you too long with
all the details. I plan to pursue this further and maybe start making knives on
my own. May thanks to Joe Wheeler of Shawnee, OK for all his time and patience.
Dan's words of wisdom!
Don't try to change a
dirty diaper and expect to keep your hands clean"
" Don't run over
anything you can't eat"
"Never borrow
anything. It's much easier to fix something that belongs to you"
"Hold your ground and
never give in to your children You'll be doing it for the rest of your life. (
grandchildren are excluded from this rule )"
