I was looking at a thread on here about Colt 1911's because I recently bought a new one and noticed the handle of a familiar looking knife sticking out of a sheath in the background. It turned out to be a Marbles. I was just kind of wondering just how many there are around being used. I do use mine for deer season because it holds an edge pretty good. It belonged to my Grand Father and was passed down to me when I was about 50 or so. I did a little research and found a few old M.S.A. C.C. like mine in various conditions for sale for very high prices. Blade is 5 7/8" and the knife is 10 1/2" overall. I will use it till I can't use it anymore the give it to my Son.
Anyways, If you have one, post a picture. I had no idea that they were once a popular brand.
Thanks a lot,
Gordon

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better have that checked

Here is a small Marbles hunting knife. I bought it from a buddy when I saw it rattling around in a box of motorcycle tire repair tools. I didn't know much about Marbles knives, but had heard of them and thought it looked like an interesting addition to my accumulation.

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Not in jail.

The old Marbles knives, and those built when Mike Stewart was in charge there, were very highly thought of and have lots of fans today. I've heard pretty mixed reports about the ones after Stewart left.

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Oh well, what the hell.

The small "MSA" stamp transitioned to the "Marble's" stamps around 1910 when the Company changed its name. As you would expect, any knife with an "MSA" stamp is of special interest to collectors.

I've collected Marble's products for a number of years as I accept them as a hallmark of the Country's sporting and outer heritage.

The Ideal model was Marble's premium belt knife line. It was available with 4 1/4", 5", 6", 7" and 8" blades with 4 handle/pommel combinations until WW II. These were the 4 combinations of a stag or stacked leather handle and a stag or aluminum pommel (Not counting pommels made over limited periods in gutta percha and bakelite). Each of the handle/pommel combinations was available with either a full or Half guard. So for a collector there are 8 variations of the Ideal model to collect.

Handles and pommels also varied in shape over the knife's production period creating great interest for collectors. Production of stag/stag full guard model ceased in about 1928.

Here are some of my full guard, stag/stag vintage Ideal knives.






I'm still looking for a good full blade 4 1/4 " knife to complete the set. These in my experience are the hardest ideal knife to find. Easy for fakers to try to make by grinding down 5" blade. Relatively easy to spot if the blood groove is not proportionately shortened. Also, many 5" knives have been shortened through use and sharpening.

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Rush

Original Marbles are old school cool, IMO. They made some of the official Boy Scout blades.
Once back in my puppy dog days was attending a survival school. We were issued kind of beat up Marble knives. We spent afternoons working on projects in a Quonset hut. I sharpened my knife, then all the knives in my group of about 10. The instructor was amazed as he had never seen them that sharp. I told him these are Marbles. You take care of them, they will last longer than you.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

In 1966, the first year I went deer hunting, we stopped at the Marble factory in Gladstone, MI. We were on our way to my wife's cousin's farm on the Stonington Peninsula, that separates Big Bay de Noc and Little Bay de Noc. They had factory second survival knives, for $6. I bought one for myself, and one for my FIL. Five years ago, I sold them to a collector/dealer for $175 each. I'll say they hold their value! Because it was a local firm, all my wife's relatives, in Rapid River, Gladstone, and Escanaba had Marble knives.

Is it true that Marble would make longer handles on request?

Before I ever read about Webster Marble inventing his Ideal knife, I had seen ads for them in an old Boy Scout handbook from the 1950's.

These and the old line of Remington knives from the 1920's to about 1940 were probably the best American hunting knives until Randall began business in 1938. But his were all hand made at much higher prices.

My only Marble's knife, with a Heiser sheath.
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

Doesn't look like there are a lot of Marbles knives here. How about some Marble's Safety Axes? Here are a few early ones.

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Rush

A nice Woodcraft I picked up the other day, internet research tells me it dates to 1999, in the middle of Mike Stewart's tenure at the company, as per the spacers arrangement. Apparently it's one of the last "good ones" with the full Gladstone stamp, made with 52100 steel with a convex grind and the blade without the match striker grooves, eliminated in '99, earlier models featured, which were apparently resulting in stress cracks with this particular steel (all of this according to Stewart).

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SWHF #448

I have a Marble folding Hunter that was my grandpap's. Last
Christmas I ordered one from Smokey Mtn. Long story short
it's a piece of Chinese junk. So beware on the new Marble's on
the market. All the ones I've seen at shows are made in China.

It is not a glamorous model, but the Marble's bird and trout knife is considered a real classic design. It is very handy for cleaning small game, and easy to keep clean.

Also a good knife for enjoying a steak dinner.

Those Remington knives usually marked PAL, have always been my favorite. My Dad had a Navy MKI Pal, deck knife that held an amazing edge. I have since collected more of the models. I also have a Randall on order, I'll let you know how it stacks up in a couple more years.

Real Remigton knives are marked as such. Those PAL ones were made after PAL bought the knife business from Remingon and made some changes in the line.

I have heard (seen) it said on a well-known knife forum that the Chinese-made Marbles folding knives aren't all that bad. Same goes for the Chinese Schrades. I have a Chinese Schrade that says otherwise: poor fit and finish, and steel with unknown provenance.

The Rough Rider brand, also made in China, have some surprisingly good quality, however.

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Not in jail.

I tend to run and hide from responsibility. While growing up, my dad had his Marbles skinner. It was his hunting knife, and I was told to never even touch it because it might cut my arm off. He used it for all manner of cleaning fish and game. We're talking decades. So all was going pretty well and then dad up and croaked in 1980. No a happy event at all, but for once my mother favored me (because my brother had no interest in outdoors things). I accepted the hallowed knife and took it home. Note I didn't look at it until I was alone. I'd seen it hundreds of times when out with my dad, but never touched it. So once home I sat down at the dining room table and removed it from its sheath. It was really old by then, and all we could do was guess but mid 1920s was a good one. The sheath might have been OK when new, but years of carrying out doors in sometimes bad weather and decades of use made the sheath pretty bad. Worse, one of the leather washers had just gone away.

I don't know why one washer had rotted out, but it made the handle less than perfect. Notice to this day I haven't bought a stacked leather handle knife. Dad's only lasted 50+ years, just can't depend on them!

But when I tested the blade, it was what I class as dull. No shaving of hair on my left arm, maybe no as bad as a butter knife, but not working sharp by any means. It confused and dismayed me. I'd been lied to again! But the blade had decades of discoloration, probably blood bluing (don't know if that's a correct term). So I got out a stone and took a few strokes. It came right up. Its soft steel, sharpened well, dulled down I guess about as quickly.

So I did what I always did with responsibility. I gave the knife to my oldest son. He knows its history so he'll keep it. I wonder if he'll try to replace the washer that's gone bad. He can if he wants to. I've given him a few Randalls, so he's much more likely to use them. Note all have stag handles.

And about 30 years ago I was a man on a mission. I was trying to kill off all the poison ivy in a 67 acre gravel pit/campground. I'd been using a pretty lousy machete for the task. So wandering through a flea market I noticed a Marbles hand axe. It was in nice shape and grossly underpriced. The guy wanted $30 or so for it. So I paid up and took it home. Then transferred it to the jeep and began using it regularly. It took a edge really fast (I cut myself even). Might have had a chisel shape, but it was really sharp too. So I used it for a few years. It was really handy but someone pointed out the folly of leaving it in an open jeep. So I brought it in the house and retired it, the fate of so many of my expensive toys. Then I noticed one just like it at a gun show. It had a $300 price on it, and that was maybe 1990. I saw it not too long ago. It had filtered down to the bottom of the big plastic tub of knives. Now I can see it anytime I want. The tub is semi transparent, and by holding the tub up in the air, I can easily make out the hand axe.

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Dick Burg

I have my Dad's 5 inch Marble that he got in 1938 and carried thru out WW2.
I carried it for my 18 months in Vietnam. It's a bit worse for wear,
but still holds a great edge.

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990