ID of knife maker

[bruce johnson]

I picked up a pretty cool looking knife yesterday. Looking at some old catalogs I can see the pattern is the same as the Enchancree knife that Vergez Blanchard makes. The maker stamp on this one has an "M" on the left side of a hammer silhouette and an "F" to the right. It rings a bell with me that someone mentioned who this maker was in the past, but not finding it right now. Any help is appreciated is appreciated as to maker. Also, any personal experience with this style of knife is a bonus to us all.

[Kevin]

That is nice, I have a Blanchard and a Don Carlos, but they aren't quite as curvey and sexy as your's. Is that inside curve sharpened or just tapered? My Blanchard (old) is sharpened, but my Don Carlos (new) is just tapered. Since they are sort of similar to the knife in a plough guage, I've always ASSUMED, but of course never actually tried, it is to straighten an edge. If you could control it, that point would cut a pretty sharp curve. Maybe it's not even for leather work, who among us hasn't tried a linoleum knife only to find you can't even get it sharp, much less cut anything with it?

I hope someone has some answers, I only have guesses.

Kevin

A friend of mine has a 12" round knife, what is that for?

[MADMAX22]

That is nice, I have a Blanchard and a Don Carlos, but they aren't quite as curvey and sexy as your's. Is that inside curve sharpened or just tapered? My Blanchard (old) is sharpened, but my Don Carlos (new) is just tapered. Since they are sort of similar to the knife in a plough guage, I've always ASSUMED, but of course never actually tried, it is to straighten an edge. If you could control it, that point would cut a pretty sharp curve. Maybe it's not even for leather work, who among us hasn't tried a linoleum knife only to find you can't even get it sharp, much less cut anything with it?

I hope someone has some answers, I only have guesses.

Kevin

A friend of mine has a 12" round knife, what is that for?

Dinosaur hide

[bruce johnson]

That is nice, I have a Blanchard and a Don Carlos, but they aren't quite as curvey and sexy as your's. Is that inside curve sharpened or just tapered? My Blanchard (old) is sharpened, but my Don Carlos (new) is just tapered. Since they are sort of similar to the knife in a plough guage, I've always ASSUMED, but of course never actually tried, it is to straighten an edge. If you could control it, that point would cut a pretty sharp curve. Maybe it's not even for leather work, who among us hasn't tried a linoleum knife only to find you can't even get it sharp, much less cut anything with it?

I hope someone has some answers, I only have guesses.

Kevin

A friend of mine has a 12" round knife, what is that for?

Kevin,

I assume this is a knife used for leather. It is hard to tell if the top edge has been sharpened. In fact hard to tell if the whole knife has ever been really sharpened. I would think with the long belly of the blade it will track pretty straight and would be a strap cutting or straightening knife. Turn it over and it would cut curves. I had one email from someone who saw a whipmaker use a knife like this. I had another email that it was a variation of a bridle cutters knife. Nobody has ID'd the maker yet. I am pretty sure someone mentioned the M/hammer/F logo here sometime in the past, but I am not finding it.

Regarding the lino knife. I haven't tried that, but my favorite hook blade knife is $5 grape cutters knife from the surplus store. It holds an edge like nobody's business. I haven't seen a 12" round knife yet, I think the biggest was just a bit over 7".

[Skip Smith]

That is a Don Carlos knife. They still sell that knife on the Weaver Wholesale website. It is quite the unusual knife shape that is for sure. I have to admit to being a bit of a guess, but it sure looks similar to the Don Carlos on the website.

Edited December 18, 2009 by Skip Smith

[Vikti]

I remember posting while back about a knife that looks exactly like that. The web site that I found it on said that it was a carpet trimming knife and was told that it would not do any good for leather work in the manner that I was asking about that is, I think I asked if it could replace a round knife or something.

[Art]

This Design of knife is called a "French Pattern Knife", Dixon and Don Carlos still make them. It IS a leathercraft knife.

http://www.josephdixon.co.uk/products/Chisels_.html?pmode=1&page=3

I don't recognize the Makers mark.

Art

I picked up a pretty cool looking knife yesterday. Looking at some old catalogs I can see the pattern is the same as the Enchancree knife that Vergez Blanchard makes. The maker stamp on this one has an "M" on the left side of a hammer silhouette and an "F" to the right. It rings a bell with me that someone mentioned who this maker was in the past, but not finding it right now. Any help is appreciated is appreciated as to maker. Also, any personal experience with this style of knife is a bonus to us all.

[oldtimer]

That is a Don Carlos knife. They still sell that knife on the Weaver Wholesale website. It is quite the unusual knife shape that is for sure. I have to admit to being a bit of a guess, but it sure looks similar to the Don Carlos on the website.

It looks similar to a Don carlos knife but I don´t think it is a Don Carlos, as it looks old and the Don carlos knives has not been on the market so many years. The shape is found in other brands, Blanchard for example. This style of knives is also used when working with linoleum flooring. My 2 cents worth of info.

I have a similar Blanchard leather knife and I have rounded off the tip and I use it for skiving.

/ Knut

Edited December 18, 2009 by oldtimer

[bruce johnson]

Update on the knife. It is listed as an Enchancree pattern knife by Blanchard. Art is right, it is shown a couple places in Salaman's book as a french pattern knife. I am still hunting the logo and maker, but no joy yet. A bonus of a card case to anyone who can tell me who made M (Hammer silhouette) F knives and when.

I have sharpened it up. I did not sharpen the top, just the front and belly. It looks maybe handy to have the top sharp if a guy only had one knife, but I have hooks, rounds, a Philly, and a few other knives to use where I would maybe use the top of this one. As a user, it tracks like a laser. You better be on line to start, cause it ain't gonna jump the tracks. Good and bad. Lay it sideways and skive. It tracks like a laser. It stays on line. The amount of trailing blade is just like a big rudder. All you have to deal with is set the angle and push. Pretty cool.

[Art]

Similar to a plough gauge knife in looks, but the edge on the plough gauge has a teardrop taper on one side and is flat on the other, nothing really sharp on the bottom, just the front and belly. The 12" is for amputations, you never know when someone will get their hand in the splitter. Actually, I have seen a picture of a worker at a tannery with one at least that big in his hand, I think circa 1900s.

Art

That is nice, I have a Blanchard and a Don Carlos, but they aren't quite as curvey and sexy as your's. Is that inside curve sharpened or just tapered? My Blanchard (old) is sharpened, but my Don Carlos (new) is just tapered. Since they are sort of similar to the knife in a plough guage, I've always ASSUMED, but of course never actually tried, it is to straighten an edge. If you could control it, that point would cut a pretty sharp curve. Maybe it's not even for leather work, who among us hasn't tried a linoleum knife only to find you can't even get it sharp, much less cut anything with it?

I hope someone has some answers, I only have guesses.

Kevin

A friend of mine has a 12" round knife, what is that for?