Old carver and steel (Putnam Cutlery)

[Dennis Morland]

I acquired this old carving knife and steel from an estate. It is a cool old carver and steel set. I had to reshape the tip as it had about 1/4 inch broken off of it. Appears to have stag handles and sterling silver throats. The knife is stamped "Putnam Cutlery" and "New Britain, Conn." It also has a cannon and a stack of cannon balls. I could not take a very good picture of the stamp and I apologize.

I did a little bit of internet scouting and came up with the following from a couple of the articles. I also found several good sets for sale on e-bay that were very similar. Pretty neat stuff.

DeMo

"PutnamCutlery Company was organized in 1886, with a capital stock of $5,000, for themanufacture of knives of every description excepting table and pocket cutlery.A patented support to the blade, owned by this company, is very valuable,making it impossible to break or pull the blade from the shank. The late JohnO. Fox was the first president; G. D. Bates, secretary and treasurer."
"Putnam Cutlery Co was bought by Landers,Frary, Clark in early 1900's, who produced home goods. They kept the namePutnam Cutlery on some items through World War I.
Putnam Cutlery Company was organized in 1886for the manufacture of knives of every description except table and pocketcutlery. A patented support to the blade, owned by this company, is veryvaluable, making it impossible to break or pull the blade from the shank.Company was bought by Landers, Frary, Clark in the early 1900's where they madecutlery until 1950 but continued to produce other household items under thename Universal until they were sold to G.E."

 

[Oldnretired]

I know this is an old thread but anyway.....I love old carving knives. I own a few Putnam Cutlery as well as Landers Frary & Clark knives. Their claim of "making it impossible to break or pull the blade from the shank" seems to be well founded. I recently aquired a stag handled Putnam Cutlery carving knife with 3 deep cracks on one side and 1 long hairline on the other. Just as with my other ones the blade/tang connection seems to be rock solid. I mean rock solid with no wiggle or looseness whatsoever in a knife probably near 150 years old. I pulled and twisted the blade to see what I would need to do to restore it. Not necessary. Since the handle is very pale I think someone probably ran it through a dishwasher hence the cracks and bleached out handle. Blade has a nice patina though.
All I'm going to do is fill the cracks with epoxy to prevent bacteria from breeding in there and wash and oil it with mineral oil. I'm not going to try and hide them or darken the stag as they are just another chapter in the history of this fine old knife.
I do use these old knives to carve meat regardless of others advice. Any patina I add is just another chapter in it's history the way I see it.
With their thin flexible carbon steel blades they slice a roast or turkey like butter and are a joy to use.
Here's a pic. and I think I picked it up on fleabay for around 25 bucks or so including shipping.

 

[soundmind]

I have something that looks just like these; maybe I better take another look at them now.