Anyone heard from Hobbs lately? it has been three weeks since he posted. I don't I have ever seen him take that long of a break before.

Ummmm...

Yesterday?

That was March.

D'oh! Sorry.

Anyone reach out to him with his profile email addy?

I fired off an email this AM, no response yet.

Update: Got an email back from him. He is fine, just taking a break for a while.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Herkdriver,

quote:

Originally posted by Herkdriver:
Update: Got an email back from him. He is fine, just taking a break for a while.

Good news!

Just a drive by this evening and saw this thread. Thanks guys !!! Much appreciated.

And here is something somewhat unique that I've acquired since last visit here. Midnight Lace and Red Obsidian Bowie Knife with Black Tail Deer Antler Handle Flint Knapping. While this Bowie is in great working order and fully functional, it really is just a novelty display piece (at the ready) in today's world and this configuration ... and the Obsidian much too brittle to use in most cases where modern steel would not be given a second thought.

It's said that with proper knapping, Obsidian (basically volcanic glass) is 50-500 times sharper than any steel edge. Obsidian just won't stand up to the use and abuse of modern steel. Too brittle ... kinda like glass. Didn't really matter to cave dwellers and later forests and plains folks. If their knife broke down, they just picked up another rock and got to knapping LOL. That worked out just fine, long before they could even spell "Obsidian".

Damn, Hobbs! That's quite a show piece you got there.

Obsidian is still in use today. In the lasik eye procedure, they have to slice the cornea and peel it back so they can use the laser without damaging the cornea. The blade is obsidian, and they use it because it cuts on the cellular level, slicing between cells rather than disrupting them the way steel blades do. Makes for much faster healing with less trauma to the tissue. At least, this is what I was taught in college two years ago, so that information may be dated, but I doubt it. A quick search shows it may be used in other surgical procedures where scarring is meant to be minimal.

I've read that Obsidian is used in some surgical procedures. It really is quite the cutting tool.

Another interesting find since last visit is this 1800's spear point/dagger. The stamp on the ricasso is B4 * ANY F.WARD & Cos CUTLERY SHEFFIELD.

It may have been somebody's G.G.G. grandmother's garter knife or high class "prostitute's dagger", but to me it evokes smokey pool rooms, dance halls and gamblers. I found this knife in the southern California area but have no idea how it got there or for how long.

With smooth natural bone handle and gold gilded red leather, it must have made quite a visual statement in its time. Beneath the leather of this original sheath is a thin wooden liner.

Frederick Ward & Company
Frederick Ward was born on 5 November 1825, the second son of Sheffield merchant and man of letters, Thomas Asline Ward (Broomhead & Ward). Frederick’s older brother was Asline Ward (1821-1905), who was the agent of George Wostenholm. By 1849, Asline and Frederick were ‘American merchants’ in Howard Street, and living with their father at Park House. In 1850, Frederick partnered Benjamin James Eyre (and Asline Ward and Peter Brownell) in Eyre, Ward & Co, Sheaf Works. The firm sold razors, pocket knives, dagger and Bowie knives, scissors, and edge tools. They had a New York agency in Cliff Street and then Beekman Street. When that partnership ended in 1857, Ward began a solo career as an American merchant and manufacturer, based in Norfolk Street. In 1858, it was reported that Ward had started manufacturing table cutlery by machinery to compete with the Americans (Sheffield Independent, 9 January 1858).

He was also one of the first traders to recognize the extent of the market in China and in 1857 helped organize an exhibition of Chinese hardware for the benefit of Sheffield manufacturers. In the early 1860s, Ward moved to George Street and by 1879 had established Frederick Ward & Co, merchants and manufacturers of pocket knives and table cutlery. In 1884, the address was Tudor Place. Ward’s trademark was B4*ANY, and two pistol marks (picture), one with the letter ‘L’ and diamond, the other with a letter ‘A’. Sheffield Museums has a large exhibition pair of scissors in gilt steel made by Frederick Ward & Co for the International Exhibition of 1862. Ward had apparently retired by 1900, with the B4*ANY mark sold to John Watts. Ward died on 15 June 1908, aged 82, at Esplanade Road, Scarborough. His estate was valued at £11,344. He was buried in Ecclesall churchyard.

https://hawleysheffieldknives....s.php?val=wA&kel=438





The polished finish of the blade reveals reflections and shadows. There are no large areas of discoloration.







Antique 1800's mine cut diamond that once belonged to my step father (born in 1899), his father before him and is said to have been won in a poker game with a paddle wheel steam boat captain ... a gambler.

Another find, this one out of Ohio and came to me without an original sheath. I'm, at this time, having a period correct sheath made for this Bowie by a guy in New York.

Stamp on the ricasso is CAMBRIDGE CUTLERY WORKS SHEFFIELD. The interesting thing about this knife is that while it MAY have been carried and lightly used long long ago, it still had an apparent factory edge when I received it and appeared to have been in storage for decades+ a few years and some. I've since done preservation and put a keen edge on it. To me, it was remarkable that for so many generations, no one used abused or cared for this old knife and the last man to sharpen it was a cutler in Sheffield England 130+yrs ago. Buy that man a beer !!!

In some of the pictures (before cleaning and preserving with Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish) you can actually still see factory (bee's?) wax around the handle pins and a little just above the German silver finger guard. There are no chips or cracks in the stag and anything that might appear so is lighting and/or a camera anomaly.

~ MANSON'S BOWIE KNIFE ~

This knife I found in Elmira New York and with original sheath. The stamp on the ricasso simple states MANSON SHEFFIELD. It has been used and abused. The tip was slightly bent. I managed to straighten it pretty good. It had also been crudely sharpened and any patina it may have had was crudely removed for the most part. I cleaned it up, sharpened and preserved it. This old warrior rises, able and ready to do work again.

I've only been able to find scant information concerning MANSON SHEFFIELD. Apparently he was a short lived cutler. Production dates appear to be from the late 1840's to the early to mid 1860's. Probably a small time cutler, American tariffs placed on English goods in 1860 may have eventually done him in.

This is truly an American Civil War era Bowie and despite all the subsequent use and abuse, the original sheath is in remarkable condition.







Cleaned, sharpened, preserved ...



Pictured with a modern G.WINES SHEFFIELD ENGLAND Rosewood Lambfoot ...

Again, thank you very much for your thoughts, concerns and checking up on me. I'm humbled and greatly appreciative. Thank you.

I really like that Fredrick Ward knife. Stuff like that really stirs the imagination. Where's it been, what has it seen and done?

quote:

Originally posted by Hobbs:
Antique 1800's mine cut diamond that once belonged to my step father (born in 1899), his father before him and is said to have been won in a poker game with a paddle wheel steam boat captain ... a gambler.

That ring looks familiar. This is my great-grandfather's ring. He was wearing it when he was murdered in 1949, then my grandfather wore it and now it's mine. I took it in to a local jeweler after I inherited it to see if it was real and the lady got really excited and said she'd never seen a diamond that clear. I know nothing about the history beyond that.

The mount on my ring is from the early 40's. My step dad remounted the old mine cut diamond at that time. I have no idea what the original mount looked like.

Nice picture of yours !!! I can never get that kind of detail to show up.

quote:

Originally posted by Hobbs:
The mount on my ring is from the early 40's. My step dad remounted the old mine cut diamond at that time. I have no idea what the original mount looked like.

I guess that must have been a popular style ring in the 40's.

quote:

Originally posted by Hobbs:
Nice picture of yours !!! I can never get that kind of detail to show up.

Thank you! I got lucky, I guess. Just an iphone and the window sill with the setting sun.