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TurtleCreek

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vintage draw knife find
« on: June 25, 2011, 03:06:55 am »
  I picked up two draw knives at an antique store in the Wisconsin Dells area and was wondering if any of you out there might know any kind of history on what I found.  The blades are 9 and 10 inches, both are slightly curved.  The first one is marked"Simmons Keen Kutter" and the second is marked "Reliance".  The finish on the steel of the keen is nice and smooth, while the steel on the reliance has the texture similar to that of a cast iron skillet.  Both are in excellent shape.  I just thought I would see if anybody knew anything about them. 
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Offline dwardo

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2011, 09:58:23 am »
The darker looking steel one is probably a good quality high carbon tool steel. My pride and joy is around the 100 years old mark and still peeling wood almost daily. Smaller curved blade seems to give me a whole load more control.
here is my baby.

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Offline sadiejane

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2011, 12:25:50 pm »
morning! have one of the reliances. its short, about 8 inches, and curved nicely. tho i have numerous others, this is the one i like the most. like that its narrower, gives me more control. and the curve lets me take wood off right where i want to. the keen kutter is a nice draw knife also. have had a few but traded em. nothing like good old american steel. no matter how much you pay, no one makes em that good anymore. nice finds!
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Offline Pat B

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2011, 01:00:45 pm »
Most of the old drawknives you find are made with better steel than what most of us can afford today. I prefer the older ones the best. As long as the edge is not pitted they make great bow building tools and even with pitted edge they are good for removing bark and sapwood.
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Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2011, 03:37:21 pm »
Here's the deal, Turtle.  I'll send you the postage, you send'em to me and I'll do some extensive research into their history.  I'll even put a good sharp edge on 'em for you.

Mind you, it might take me a few years to finish the research, but rest assured it will be thorough.   >:D

I had to go up on the hill and root around the brush to find the cheap piece of chinese crap I threw up there earlier this spring so that I could chase a growthring on my trade bow.  I'm getting ready to throw it even further up into the brush where it belongs, this kinda crap shouldn't even be recycled for fear of the bad ju-ju it will pass along!

Congrats on your excellent find.
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Offline Del the cat

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2011, 04:27:55 pm »
Yeah, you can't beat those old tools, I got one of E-bay, has a little nick dead centre on the blade, but I figure a few years of use and I'll have sharpened it out.
Del
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Offline HoBow

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2011, 09:27:33 pm »
I have an expensive one and an old antique and I rarely use the new one...
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Jeff Utley- Atlanta GA

Offline Dane

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2011, 09:50:22 pm »
Mine was made in MA in the late 1800s, came with a cool old wooden sheath, and cost me about 50 bucks in a local antique store. I'd never give up that knife, and as with all old tools, it has a soul, and a history, and was made by craftsmen who cared about their products in the old day.

Dane
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Offline johnston

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2011, 10:12:17 pm »
Cool thread, made me go look at my knife a little closer. Wood working fellow  gave it to me after he saw my home made version. It belonged to his grand dad and had hung in their shop for decades. It is a 10" straight edge Arpenter. Doesn't tell me much but I will not part with it, fine old tool.

Lane
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Offline Gus

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2011, 11:48:40 pm »
I have a   PS&W CO PECK STOW & WILCOX # 1 FX
The Interweb says P.S&W Co were out of Southington CT from 1870-1950.
8" cutting edge with a slight curve.
Picked it up at a garage sale for $5. Tried to give the nice Lady a $20 but she wouldn't have it.
The blade is in prime condition with a newly mirror polished back.

-Gus
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Offline Young Bowyer

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2011, 12:41:55 am »
 My drawknife I got from a guy at a yard sale for 15 bucks or so. Didn't come with a sheath but ive been so busy
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Offline randman

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2011, 04:52:34 am »
I have an old Reliance #5 hand plane made in 1887 (or there abouts). Stanley bought the company shortly after and came out with their own #5 iron plane which used the same adjustment mechanism and looked very similar. Long story short - If you have a drawknife marked Reliance, its probably over 130 years old. It probably has the cast iron looking side (low carbon softer steel) one one side and a thin strip of high carbon steel
laminated along the cutting edge side (similar to today's Japanese cutting tools). That's so you don't have to sharpen a thick wedge of super hard steel, all the hard stuff is on the very thin edge and the rest of the supporting wedge is softer (not to mention the high carbon steel was much more expensive than the low carbon steel). A lot of the plane blades and cutting tools of the 18th and 19th century were like that but now only the Japanese cutting tools are.
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Offline wildman

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2011, 12:34:47 pm »
Very cool thread. I have an antique "mall" not far from where I live. The KeenKutter axes fetch a premium price, the nice thing is you can pickup drawknives for around $20 and all look very old. I get one or two a year from there.Where are the brand marks as I have never noticed one on any I have looked at?
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Offline Young Bowyer

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2011, 05:15:20 pm »
wildman, my drawknife is a Canadian Champion drawknife, got it from a sale in town for a good price, red wooden handles and takes a razor edge.
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"A man can be destroyed, but not defeated."
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TurtleCreek

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Re: vintage draw knife find
« Reply #14 on: June 28, 2011, 03:46:38 am »
Wildman,  the markings on the two I picked up can be seen on the top of the blade near the back edge in the middle
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