WRCA's Hubertus

         Most of us are familiar with the Hubertus lever lock automatic knife.  I own several, and I think they have great quality and style.

Hubertus Lever Lock   Total icey!

It’s a company with a complicated history.  Why complicated?  WWII in Germany threw a lot of companies into the dumpster of history.  Some survived and had Nazi associations which still haunts them to this day.  Ask Degussa, now Evonik, about that.

On March 1, 1932, Kuno Ritter started a knife company in Solingen, Germany, and concentrated on fixed blades called hiking knives.  We might call them camping or bush craft knives.

Due to the Second World War, business operations were discontinued in 1941 but resumed in 1946.  I found a report claiming Kino Ritter Co. made Boy Scout knives during the war.  I also saw reports that German Boy Scouting was closed and their members had to join the Hitler Youth organizations.  Draw your own conclusion.

Following the war, Kuno Ritter Co acquired several trademarks, including Hubertus, a brand registered for cutlery since 1899.  For those wondering, Hubertus is the patron saint of hunters.

An unknown Solinger cutler received a utility pattern in 1897 for a folding lever release, making the knife safer to carry in your pocket.  We call it a lever lock.

Around 1950, the company was renamed Hubertus Schneidwarenfabrik Kuno Ritter KG and is now run by the third-generation Ritter.

The Hubertus I recently ran across was a Western Reserve Cutlery Association (WRCA) club knife.  The date etched into the blade is 1985.  This appears to be part of the Golden Era of WRCA club knives when style and uniqueness trumped price.

WRCA's 1985 Club Knife

The bolster has tiny numbers stamped into it, indicating it was 7 of 65 knives ordered.  The top edge of the blade has some simple but nice file work, and the blade is etched.  WRCA can be seen in the middle of the blade.  The knife shows minor wear, but it is almost 40 years old.

I’m told this knife was offered to WRCA club members in three different styles.  One was gold-filled, and the other was silver-filled, but my source couldn’t recall the third option.  I suspect it was just the plain etched.

The stag looks a little worn  and I like the file work on the blade spine

To my surprise, the knife was ordered from Hubertus factory and then etched.  The etching was done by Shaw Leibowitz.  I dug into the name and found out our master etcher was really a husband-and-wife team composed of Sherill Shaw and Leonard Leibowitz.  You can find an interesting article about them by Bill Karsten in the December 1981 issue of Knife World and a better article by Sherrill Shaw in its Sept 2011 issue.  Knife World is now known as Knife Magazine, an excellent publication for any knife fancier.

Hubertus from 1985 direct to WRCA

I discussed the price with the owner but decided not to purchase it.  I'm not terribly interested in club knives.  https://knifesearch.blogspot.com/2023/03/not-huge-fan-of-club-knives.html  It has to be really special.  Plus, it is my opinion, shared by several dealers, that club knives don't hold their value.  That's sad, but it is the way it is.

My Thanks to Ian for lending me the knife for some quick photos!

 

Club Knives

 I’m not a huge fan of club knives.  Most club knives have a simple engraved blade and little else to recommend them.  However, I do occasionally purchase them.  My local club, Western Reserve Cutlery Association, had a swing guard with an ivory handle from Keen Kutter that I bought.  By comparison, most current club knives seem ordinary.

WRCA Club Knife...They forgot to have the year engraved.

Recently I found a Gerber NKCA knife from 1986.  It was number 3013 of 6200.  The raised NKCA shield over the blade pivot caught my eye, as did the excellent brown jigging and engraved blade.

NKCA stands for National Knife Collectors Association.

1986 NKCA Club Knife  one of 6200.  That number amazes me!

You don’t hear much about the NKCA anymore.  I googled their name and found a website selling cheap chewtoy holsters.  You take the metal parts off, if any, and give the holster to your dog to chew on.

NKCA started in 1972 when a group of collectors/dealers working at knife shows in Kentucky and Tennessee realized there was a growing market of knife enthusiasts and collectors.  They decided to form an association to grow a hobby into a profitable (keyword profitable) business.

It shouldn’t surprise you to discover the original name was the National Knife Collectors & Dealers Association.  After a couple of years, the dealer part was dropped.  Too much honesty, I guess.

James F. Parker was the first elected president in 1972.  He was a leading knife dealer at the time.  Parker was an interesting fellow.  James F. Parker founded Parker Knife Company as a sideline to his employment as a paint sales rep.  He was one of the first to effectively utilize direct mail services to buy and sell collectible knives in the 1970s.  Parker helped start Frost Cutlery by partnering with James Frost in a short-lived partnership and owned Case knife for a short time.

Parker guided the development of the NKC&DA to include enrolling members nationwide with a yearly membership fee.  They received a small monthly newsletter which developed into a monthly magazine.

1974 was two years into his presidency and Parker thought outside the box.  He proposed a "Collector's Knife" to be made exclusively for members.  Essentially, Parker originated the almost universal club knife, primarily to promote membership and a degree of eliteness.  Only members could buy a limited-edition knife from the NKC&DA.  This was unheard of at the time!  That factor drove the desire to be able to own one of these knives to high demand!

Parker chose an Anglo-Saxon whittler pocket knife with the most desired Case XX pattern 6391.  But Parker had difficulty finding a U.S. manufacturers willing to make the 1200 knives. 

Howard Rabin of Star Sales in Knoxville, TN, stepped up.  Rabin was the U.S. importer of German-made Kissing Crane knives.  His company wanted to be part of this new venture and eagerly made the 1200 knives Parker asked for.

For fun, I've converted the prices to 2023 dollars in parentheses.  The days of buying a new quality pocket knife for under $20 are gone.

NKC&AD sold their first club knives for $12 ($73) and only one knife per member.  They didn’t sell out as anticipated.  Being savvy or perhaps desperate businessmen, they created a second offer to their members.  Each member could now order up to three knives each at $15 ($83). 

Thus began club knives being used for promotion and as fundraisers.

Sold in 1986 for the equivalent of $106

In 1975, the desire for these limited edition NKC&AD club knives pushed the knife price to a staggering resale price of $600 ($3336).  The 1976 club knife, a Case XX 4380 whittler with a production of 5,000, would sell out!  The price of $15 ($83) would peak at a resale value of $250 ($1390).  The 1977 club knife was a Kissing Crane stag handled gunboat canoe knife and 6,000 were produced, followed in 1978 by 8,000 IXL Wostenholm green bone handled three blade canoes.  The peak number of knives produced for NKCA was in 1981 with an issue of 12,000 made by Queen.

That was high point of NKCA club knives.  NKCA membership started to decline as did the number of annual club knives produced. 

Regional clubs wanted their own club knives, and the uniqueness and potential for up-market sales decreased.  Soon, various regional clubs had copied all the rare vintage and unusual patterns.  Clubs would try many variations by changing the handle materials, shifting blades around, adding blades to existing patterns, etc.  Nothing worked as well as the early revival of long discontinued vintage patterns originated by Parker and the NKCA.

There were so many club knives that it made it almost impossible to collect them all.  The oversupply had affected the value of the knives. 

Soon the resale value of a club knife was the same as the knife without the club markings.

In the end, the NKCA folded.  The exact date seems hard to determine.

There are still more than enough hard feelings to go around.  In 2010 an NKCA life member posted on Blade Forum:

“The NKCA became a slick scam by a series of office managers and presidents and sgt. at arms and various other 'officials' who helped to bankrupt what was a 3,500-member organization with a brick-and-mortar, state-of-the-art museum that I am grateful to have visited once.  Jim Parker, bless his soul, bought the land for 50 thousand and built the museum.  The thieves and scoundrels; yes, you heard right, going back to the thief who never delivered the pearl-handled 'club' knife forced the closure of the museum and the sale of the museum property for 1 million, all of which went to pay the NKCA's debts.  They should all have been 'hung'; both men and women!"

So, club knives?  Are they a scam?  A gimmick to make money and attract members?

Maybe, but I suggest you buy based on what you like and not a financial investment.  The 1986 NKCA knife was sold for $39.00 or $106 in 2023 dollars.  I found my knife for around $50, but I see others trying to sell at $125 and they collect dust. 

Will the WRCA club knife increase in value or just get lost of the ubiquitousness of club knives?

Spike Knife

The WRCA annual knife show ran May 19 and 20, 2018.  There were amazing knives and my friend, Skip gave me spike knife.  I’m still smiling when I look at it.

Skip's Spike

Skip does some amazing blacksmithing and like almost every blacksmith he has made more than a few railroad spike knives.  RR spikes are described as “…the most widely recognized pieces of railroad equipment by the general public.”  They were invented by Colonel Stevens who was also the inventor of the current rail configuration.  You’ll find them in different lengths, widths and thicknesses depending on the manufacturer, installation location as well as the type of wood the ties are made of. 

I was surprised, but I should have realized it, there are many collectors of RR spikes.  Some spikes have the year they were made molded into their head,  Historically different manufactures used different dimensions that changed over time, all of which makes them collectable.

Standardization came with the mechanical age and American Society of Testing and Materials was a big part of it.  ASTM 65-07 (2013) currently regulates the quality of railroad spikes.  ASTM is a for-profit organization and not being a member, I can’t access the standard.  However, I was able to find out that there are two types of RR spikes: soft and high carbon.

As carbon levels increase, strength increases but so does brittleness.  It would be a poor spike that cracked every time a train rode over a section of track.  The soft spike should contain no more than 0.12% carbon and the high carbon has a wopping 0.3%.  To put this in perspective, 1095 steel has 0.95% carbon and many super stainless steels have very high carbon levels.  For example, the super steel CPM S90V steel has 2.3% carbon. 

So, a RR spike might be able to be sharpened, but the low carbon levels prevent it from retaining its edge.  Fear not, you can change that, but you better be fearless.  You can case harden your spike knife.  Case hardening introduces increased levels of carbon to a thin layer of steel, essentially creating a sheath of high hardness material.  One relatively straight forward method is cyaniding.

Cyaniding is a case-hardening process that is fast and efficient; it is mainly used on low-carbon steels like RR spike knives. The part is heated for 20 to 30 minutes at a temperature of 1600-1750 °F in a bath of sodium cyanide and then is quenched.

This process produces a thin, hard shell (0.01 and 0.03 inches thick) which is harder than the layer produced by carburizing.  Magazine lips on early Colt semi-automatics were treated this way in the early 1900’s.  The major drawback of cyaniding is that cyanide salts (and I’m speaking as a chemist here) are very poisonous.  I told you that you needed to be fearless. 



No, I’m just going to enjoy my spike knife just as Skip made it.  You can find Skip at Airedale Custom Blades on Facebook.

Around and About

The Western Reserve Cutlery Association had Wayne Hensley custom make a sub-hilt fighter to celebrate their 40^th anniversary.

Wayne never meant for us to carry this one, it didn't come with a sheath.

I have to admit 40 years is a funny anniversary.  It’s a multiple of the 10th celebration, but it’s not 4 times more fun than the 10^th anniversary.  Still, an anniversary is a good reason to buy a custom knife.

I’ve always been interested in sub-hilt fighters.  The most noticeable feature is the extra hilt or “trigger” as some people call it.  I understand this design was developed by Bob Loveless in his “Big Bear Classic.”  I suspect other people had previously devised this type of handle/hilt, but for whatever reason it never took off.  The last really “new” thing I ever heard of was logarithms and that’s way off topic.

The upper edge of the Hensley sub-hilt is semi-sharp.  As I think of a sub-hilt fighter, the upper edge should be razor sharp, making the knife more of a dagger.  For me that makes the knife a little less useful as I often find myself pressing on the back edge to get more force into the cutting stroke.  Try that with a dagger and you’ll get more get more cutting all right, but not where you want it.

The Hensley sub-hilt blade is 4.5 inches of sharpened ATS34 steel and an ebony hard wood handle with bird head butt.  The stainless steel guard was to be stamped/engraved/etched with series number.  WRCA had ordered 15 for their members, but through some mishap all the knives got marked “1/15”.  I guess that is true enough, any one of these knives is one of the 15 made for the club.

We had requested a plaque or shield in the side of the ebony handle, but somehow that too fell through the cracks.

We’re also in the process of selecting a club knife for 2017.  These are often, but not always folders.  They are, almost exclusively, boring “old man knives.”  That of course is my opinion.  Two and three bladed friction folders don’t really ring my bell, but other club members love them.  Frankly, I think it’s more of a cost function.

I understand it.  I remember when I could by a Spyderco for half the current cost.  What I also remember is I used to buy gasoline for a half a buck and I was making $2.57 an hour then.  Scale the cost of that folder you bought in 1953 by fuel cost and you’ll find modern knives are still a bargain.

WRCA is also getting ready to launch the 2017 Knife Expo at the Knights of Columbus in Massillon, Ohio.  The show will be May 20 and 21, 2017.  I drove out there to see the building and found it in the middle of a residential neighborhood.  I was depending on my GPS to get out of there, so I followed its instructions and after a couple of blocks it informed me I was off roading.  Well, I was making such good time I didn’t want to stop.  Fortunately, I got to a major intersection, rebooted the darn thing and it showed me the way to go home.

  

I wish we could find a nice stable place to hold our show, but it doesn’t look like it will happen any time soon.

At the last gun show in Medina (that’s a local community not too far from me) I picked up an Arno Bernard fixed blade with sheath.  Arno Bernard is from Bethlehem, South Africa, and he uses some rather interesting and exotic materials for handles and sheaths.

It's a classy knife and it's never been used.

This knife is one of his more plebeian issues.  It’s from his Scavenger series called the Wild Dog.  It available in several interesting handles, but mine is G-10.  His website is a little apologetic about using G-10 but as he claims, customers ask for it and it’s damn near indestructible.  The sheath is water buffalo leather and very interesting.

I like the deep sheath which retains the knife in brush.  There is more than one American manufacturer who could make deeper sheaths.

He uses N690 steel which is similar to VG-10, but with a bit more chromium and cobalt and a little less vanadium.  My research indicates N690 can be hardened and tempered to 58-60 HRc. 

Bernard started making knives in 1979 and it’s a family run operation with the kids and their wives involved.  I’m always impressed with how one person can start something that grows to supports their family as well as other families in their community. 

I’m not going to keep this knife and you’ll find it on my table next year. 

Making a New Cut

My favorite knife club, WRCA, has gotten a new website.

They want to be a gateway to interesting and useful links for the knife community.   It looks like they up-graded their photography and writing.  My spies tell me they are looking for source material from their members, always a dangerous proposition.  What do you say to an active club member who can’t write but has been asked to contribute?

Will I contribute?  I don't know.  Maybe on tactical knives.

So, with the old one still up,  running like an abandoned steam engine on a downhill grade (they can’t find the password to get in and take it down) and the new site, struggling to get it’s feet, we’ll see what happens.

You can find their new website at WWW.WRCA-knives.org!

If you find any interesting knife related links, pass them onto me and I’ll give ‘em to the boys!

knife club

Most of us belong to a knife club of some sort.  It may be local or a national organization like the Kershaw Collectors.  If you collect a specific type of knife or brand you will find a club that caters to your refined taste.

I’m a generalist and the best fit I could find was Western Reserve Cutlery Association.  We just had our November meeting and the topic was carving knives.   Before I go any further I’d like point out I’m this year’s vice-president, so I have a bit of a bias.

I will say the best part of the monthly topic is not the knives, but the personalized translation of the topic.  One member changed carving knives into carved knives and brought out a pile of knives carved out of wood.  Denny also a nice collection of pliers carved out of wood by Mooney Warther. 

You're right the knife at 12 o'clock is real, but the rest are wooden.

You can still find them on EBay.  They are rather simple, but Mooney used to sit and with nothing but a pre-cut length of bass wood (I think it was bass) and a carving knife make these pliers to the delight of visitors to his shop.

We’re also getting ready for our Knife Expo May 16 and 17 2015 at the Buckeye Event Center off of route 30 in Dalton, Ohio.  It’s a nice place.  I’ve been there for gun shows and have always been impressed with the clean facilities, wide aisles, large parking area and general professionalism of the staff.

Here’s a link to the form.  Just fill it out and mail it in.  We’ll do the rest.

If you’re a knife maker or dealer, you should attend this show.  An 8-foot table for two days with optional setup on Friday evening costs just $50.  I’ll be there with my knives.  If you’re a collector this is also the show for you.  It’s $5 to get in and the food service is worth the price of admittance.

At the Show

It was a pretty good knife gun show.  I ran a sale on most of my fixed blades hoping to sell the Buck gut hook, the two knives from TOPS and Benchmade’s Bone Collector caping knife.  I even entertained ideas of selling the damascus blade from Mr Maan.  No luck.  Finland’s Marttiinis sold well and quite a few of the folders hitched rides to new homes, so it was a good weekend.

My goal is to help each customer find the right knife for them, even if I don’t have it or carry it.  Your knife should meet several personal criteria.  It should feel good in your hand and deploy from your pocket or sheath the way you want it to.  It should be able to provide the all the performance you are capable of demanding of it.  Your knife should be a quality product, but I know that quality is handmaiden to purpose.

 

If you’re heading for a two-week, self-guided Alaskan hunting trip, you might want something better than the knife you found in the '2 for $3' bucket.  But if you’re looking for gag gifts (heavy on the gag) those knives might be right for you.

At this show I thought I’d try to have a little fun with some customers.  Sellers attempt to qualify potential customers into: tire kickers, buyers and circus audience.  Tire kickers might become customers if treated right, but circus audience will always be interested only in entertainment.  I firmly believe their spouse gave them a fiver and told them “Don’t come back until suppertime.”

There are a few subgroups not represented by the above big three.

I exclude most children from the above categories.  I like talking to kids about knives.  They aren’t buying unless dad has more money than sense.  Who would buy a fifth-grader a $200 Benchmade?  But I do enjoy showing them how a knife works and asking about their fledgling knife collection.  

If I had started putting away nice pocket knives when I was in fifth grade, I could have a very nice, and perhaps impossible to duplicate, collection now.  But even then I carried, used and eventually lost everything I bought.

I also enjoy the quirky, but harmless fellows that frequent these shows.  One of my favorite is the guy (women have more sense) who opens every knife on the table.  I had some spectacular openers this weekend.  They would politely and quietly pick up every knife and with two hands open the blade on each knife to about 45°, stare at it for 10-15 seconds, close it, put it down and move to the next.  I like to ask if they're looking for anything particular and the answer is always the same, “Nope, just looking.”  

It makes me wonder if there is a knife watching society somewhere and members are making a life list of blades seen.

Someone from the circus audience asked about American made knives.  I showed him the Bucks, a few Gerbers, lots of Benchmades and a couple of Kershaws.  He almost beamed with pride and then he said, “These are pretty expensive knives.”

“Yes, sir,” I said.  “They’re American knives made by American workers paid an American living wage.”

He walked away strangely deflated.  I guess he thought companies had American workers accepting Chinese wages.

Another audience member worked his way down the line and stopped at the Benchmade knives.  He had indicated he was a knife collector but he looked at the blue Benchmade boxes and said, “I’ve never heard of Benchmade.”

Usually that statement is a tell that a purchase of any knife will not be made today.

“That’s because they are too much knife for you,”  I said.

That answer seemed to make a lot of sense to him and he left the table smiling.

I often regret I’m not a sociologist.  I think there is room for a ground-breaking study of the knife shopping segment of the gun show culture.  At the very least there’s a lifetime of potential grants here.

First Peek.
Every year the Western Reserve Cutlery Association (in Ohio) holds a big knife show/expo and they sell an Expo knife. Each year a different knife is selected.  Here's this years. 

Two-bladed pen knife 

  The Expo will be April 26 and 27 at Breitenbach Winery.

Adventures in Knife Land

It was a knifie kind of weekend for me.  I was selling knives at the Dalton, Ohio gun show.  
 

The Dalton show is a very nice venue.  It's a large open structure, well-heated with clean, well taken care of restrooms, wide aisles, excellent and reasonably priced food.  I don’t know why WRCA doesn’t want to move our show there.  We can’t stay at the Dover Armory with its tight space, limited parking and unpredictable schedule shuffling.  WRCA just doesn’t like Dalton.  It’s not Dover.

I had a conversation with a young fellow that was very enlightening, but I found him to be a bit of a dim bulb.

Him:       “How come nobody at the show carries Kershaw?”

Me:        “Kershaw is a great knife but the knives are a little expensive.  Walmart sells them and it’s hard to compete on price against them.”

He takes out his Kershaw Blur and flicks out the black, partially serrated tanto blade.  I have the identical one on the table marked at $88.00.

Him:       “You’re right about that.  I just bought this one at Walmart for $66.00.”

Me:        “So you’re the answer to why nobody at the show carries Kershaw.”

Him:       “Huh?”

I also had a left-handed M-21 from CRKT on my table.  It’s in the reduced inventory pile.  I know about 10% of the population is left-handed.  I’d sure buy a knife designed specifically for me if I was a lefty.  I would have snatched it up in a New York minute.  (This reference in no way signifies any recommendation or suggestion you should visit NY.)

I just rotated the clip.  I like 'tip up carry' even for my left-handed knives.

I was explaining to a second rocket scientist that it was left-handed.

Him:       “Are all your knives left handed (including the fixed blades)?

Me:        “Yes, we are from a mirror image universe.  That’s why I’m talking backwards to you.”

What makes it left-handed?  Easy.  The liner lock pushes to the right.  Go ahead.  Check your knife to see which way the liner lock pushes.

I sometimes speculate on used knives, oh excuse me,  previously owned knives.  It’s an expensive activity.  Mis-guess the potential resale or take in a knock-off and you could be waving good-bye to your cash.  It’s worse than Vegas.  At least at Vegas you know you’re going to lose all your money.

I had a chance to purchase a classic Italian switchblade in mint condition.  It was a limited edition production (no. 1 of 100) with polished mammoth ivory handles.  It was incredible.  It was also $500.

Pass. 

I sent him to my friends Dale and Mike.  They took a pass too.  If you want to make money buying and selling you need to remember the golden rule, “Buy low and sell higher.”  It’s very hard to do that above the 500 bucks range.  The owner needed to find a collector, not a seller.

But it wasn’t a completely wasted weekend.  I settled on keeping the left-handed knife for my left pocket.  It was my best deal of the show!

Dover Knife Show Postponed!

The March 2 and 3, 2013 Knife Expo hosted by Western Reserve Cutlery Association has been canceled. 

 

Fear not.  

We will be holding the Knife Expo later this year, April 6th and 7th at the Dover National Guard headquarters.  Same place as before, same times, different calendar page, that’s all.

I don’t know what happened.  It was suggested that the National Guard’s plans changed, or the old business manager forgot to tell the new business manager, or maybe somebody with rank just wanted to throw their weight around.  It doesn’t matter.  

The new show will be April 6 and 7.  The weather should be nice and everyone will have a good time.

If you show up in March, I'm not sure what you'll find, but it will not be the knife show!