Neat old Butcher Knife

[Lee Barner]

marked ECKO forge USA with a stamp that resembles a German company stamp meaning twins.(zwilling) maybe? got it from my late MIL's house last night. very sharp and probably very old. touched up the edge and you can almost shave with it. blade is 8 1/2". Lee

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Nice. Most old stuff is good stuff.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

That knife has character.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Velle]

The ones with carbon steel blades are good knives on a par with Old Hickory. The stainless blades are ****.

 

[sodacan]

Here's one that belonged to my wife's grandfather. He had a country store in Delaware. During the depression, he helped feed a lot of people, sometines for little or no money. He was a great guy, and a WWI combat vet. This knife is a family treasure. Very well used as you can see, and still used on occasion.

 

[29aholic]

I have a similar one made by Green River. Bought it from an online auction. Paid 8.00 plus 7.00 shipping. Pictures weren't very good and had very little information other than the brand. It turned out to be about a 12 inch blade. Wife loves it. It will shave

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

 

[Marshwheeling]

That is a very cool old knife. It looks ready to give more decades of service. You might be able to date it on Bladeforums. Look for a thread with a title like “Bernard Levine’s knife identification and dating”.

The Zwilling and logo depicting the twins are trademarks of Henckels, the German manufacturer. ECKO FORGE USA is probably a manufacturer who made the knife under licence from Henckels, or was owned by Henckels. Someone with real knowledge could probably get the details a little straighter.*

The Green River trademark, and many of the associated designs go back at least as far as the 1830’s in this country, where it appeared on trade knives used by the mountain men of that era and as trade goods for commerce with the natives. Dexter-Russell currently makes butcher knives and other old patterns using the Green River trademark.

Ontario is the other major US manufacturer that makes carbon steel, wood-handled butcher knives. Their Old Hickory dates back to around 1924, but the patterns date back at least to the early 19th century.


*see, S&W Chad’s post below.

 

[Justin T]

Here’s a handmade one that was last used in the 1960’s by a 95-yr old woman to kill a bull snake that had gotten in her house. She had to move some heavy furniture to get to it. She said she would have just shooed it out the door, but it bit her on the hand and pissed her off.

 

[Buick]

I love old butcher knives and have been to many an auction or sale just to view them. Old Hickory brand is my personal favorite.

 

[parsonbw]

Here’s a handmade one that was last used in the 1960’s by a 95-yr old woman to kill a bull snake that had gotten in her house. She had to move some heavy furniture to get to it. She said she would have just shooed it out the door, but it bit her on the hand and pissed her off.

That's why they call them the "greatest generation." Tough as nails.

 

[Squarebutt]

Love the old carbon steel blades. My wife's all time favorite kitchen knife is the 6" Sabatier chef's knife I gave her decades ago. Hadn't seen another original in years until I stopped at a yard sale and saw an eight-inch chef's knife that looked familiar. The blade was black so the name wasn't visible, but the handle looked good. After a cleanup, the Sabatier name and "France" appeared on the blade, it took a great edge and it's been a joy to use.
We inherited a carving set made in England. Along the blade is engraved "Joseph Rodgers & Sons, Cutlers to His Majesty", along with symbols of the crown and G R, initials of King George, father of the current queen.

 

[garddogg56]

I here Old Hickory a lot,here is an Old Forge by Case XX Quite like the Hickorys were.

 

[Justin T]

That's why they call them the "greatest generation." Tough as nails.

She was a mother to the greatest generation and raised cowboys and ranchers. Her family moved from Junction to Sonora TX in the mid-1890’s. She scouted for the wagon along the way.

After she made my dad move her furniture back, she made him hang the snake out on a branch. It rained for three days straight.

 

[bdGreen]

These three knives were given to me by my grandmother. One was hers and the other two were my great uncles.

The LL BEAN knife was ordered by my uncle back in the 40's and shipped to Seattle and then boated out to Cordova, Alaska where my uncle lived. He traded back and forth with the cannery in Cordova and Seattle for all his 'goods'.

I am very happy to have these.
And, they are a joy to sharpen and use.

enjoy,

bdGreen

Tap on the images to expand.

 

[Chukar60]

Blind squirrels finding nuts

I clicked on this thread last night and was enjoying it when i remembered the I had an old butcher knife my FIL gave me when he quit hunting.
It is a huge knife that he used for processing big game and helping a friend of his butcher lambs.
I have occasionally used for processing elk.
So thought I would dig it out of the hunting cabinet and take a picture or two to share.Curiosity kicked in and I started looking for markings that would identify the maker. Nothing on the blade at all. But the handle / scales are stamped RUSSELL.
So is this a legit Russell?
Blade is a 13”. It holds an edge better than any other knife i own.
I am not trying to pull anyone‘s leg here. If this is a legit Russell, I had no idea.
If this is a real Russell would anyone know the model?
Thanks in advance for any information that is shared with me.

 

[Marshwheeling]

The construction of your knife, with a wooden handle secured to a carbon steel tang with brass pins, is consistent with the knives produced by John Russell in Greenfield, MA since 1834. These knives were known as Green River knives, and were often branded as such by a stamp or etch on the blade. The trailing point blade is a traditional pattern, but I have not seen it in any current or older catalog of J. Russell or Green River blades. That does not rule it out as a John Russell knife, nor does the absence of any stamp or etch on the blade. You might try the knife identification section of Bladeforums.com for a more definitive answer.

I don’t know if anyone ever had a reason to produce a fake Russell knife. Your knife looks to be well made. If it holds an edge, it is probably made of something like 1095 steel, decently heat treated. There may be a collector’s market which could make your knife valuable enough to be worthwhile creating a counterfeit.

It is an interesting knife. At 13”, the blade is pretty large, probably 18 or 19 inches overall. The only thing comparable that I have seen is the Old Hickory 14” butcher knife, which is sometimes marketed as a machete.

 

[s&wchad]

Those old forged carbon steel blades really take an edge and have a strong following. Ecko later merged with Flint (Arrowhead).

The clean up really nice and make great users. You can use BonAmi or Barkeepers Friend and a scrubby pad to knock the corrosion off the blade. Put some vegetable oil on it afterwards to keep it from rusting. If the handles need it, I lightly sand them with fine grit paper and apply spoon butter (blend of beeswax and mineral oil). If you don’t want to make your own, it’s sold as butcher block conditioner.

marked ECKO forge USA with a stamp that resembles a German company stamp meaning twins.(zwilling) maybe?

Henckels Zwilling is a German company. Their logo is kinda similar, but yours has an early Ecko Forge logo and was made in the USA. The logo is a representation of two guys pounding away with hammers, which represents hammer forging. I’m sure they were actually machine forged with drop hammers.

Here's an earlier Henckel's logo:

 

[steelslaver]

Used to be a lot of kitchens around eastern Montana that had butcher knives made from beet knives. Originally used to harvest and top sugar beets, they were great in the kitchen. Some still had the squarish tip and holes for the tooth rivets and some had been re profiled. Once mechanical diggers came along lots of these went to the kitchen.

 

[s&wchad]

It is a huge knife that he used for processing big game and helping a friend of his butcher lambs.
I have occasionally used for processing elk. Nothing on the blade at all. But the handle / scales are stamped RUSSELL.
So is this a legit Russell?
Blade is a 13”. It holds an edge better than any other knife i own.

If this is a real Russell would anyone know the model?

Bummer, yours is bigger than mine!

Yes, it’s a real Russel. A number of the early manufacturers built adjacent to a river and powered their factories with the current. Your pattern is called a Scimitar, which is used for separating large cuts of meat.

A little history...
Harrington cutlery was one of the first commercial knife makers in the country and was established around 1818 in Massachusetts. His son was named Dexter and the old man used his sons name on a lot of knives. John Russel Cutlery was established in the 1830’s and were also located in MA, on the Green River. Both were highly respected. Harrington merged with Russel in the 1930’s and I suspect your knife was made after the merger. Some of their knives carried both names, others did not.

Here’s a Harrington Cutlery “Dexter” Scimitar, but mine only has a 10” blade. It’s razor sharp and nicely turns whole pork loins into thick chops! You can click on the images to get a better view.

Here are two Russel marked knives. The top is a Harrington Russel (pre-2000) Chinese vegetable cleaver. The lower knife is a Dexter - Russel Beef Skinner made after 2000. Dexter Russel still produces quality knives that are used throughout the industry, but the older carbon steel knives take a better edge. It may not last as long as some of the newer stainless blades, but they’re a lot easier to get razor sharp.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Here’s my old GI Boning Knife.
It just got Pickled.