Collectible Knives - Great Investment for the Knife Hobbyist

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By:William Doggett

There are many reasons to purchase a knife; one is for protection and the other is to use it for hunting and camping duties. Another great reason to purchase a knife is for collecting. Collectable knives make a great hobby when you are buying, trading and selling. Collectible knives also make a profitable hobby, creating a little business for yourself if you want to.

Fun in Collectible Knives -

The hunt for just what you want in a knife is what's the most fun for many knife collectors. Often called the chase, they scour magazines and websites for the perfect knife to add to or build upon their existing collection. There are also many knife shows where knife collectors come together to trade, buy and sell there collectible knives.

Sometimes a collection will focus on a certain type of knife for their collection, such as a pocket knife, a dagger or a boot knife. Sometimes it will focus purely on a designer or a specific manufacturer to build onto their collection. For a diversified re-sale value, a wide assortment of knives from a mixture of designers and styles can fill many collectors' cabinets.

Beware of Counterfeits in Knife Collecting -

Unfortunately, counterfeit knives are a booming business for frauds. Counterfeits are a careful copy of a genuine item, intentionally made to deceive the buyer. Even the most studied and experienced of collectors have been duped by a counterfeit knife before.

Knowing about the blade, what it's made of and how it's made is a very important thing to study before purchasing your first knife for your collection. Another part of the knife to pay close attention to is the handle. Not just the detail, but the materials can be faked as well.

The Low Grade Fake Knife -

A reworked knife and a low-grade fake knife are just a couple of the many types of counterfeit knives in circulation today. With a low-grade fake knife, the blades have usually never been heat-treated and their edges were never sharpened. They are clunky, awful and they do, nonetheless fool some people.

The Reworked Knife -

The reworked knife is a knife that has had its parts taken from other knives and put together with another knife to make one whole counterfeit knife. Sometimes the markings have been erased and new, more popular markings have been made on the blade. Epidemics in the knife collecting community, reworking knives are a thorn in the side of collectors. Sometimes, however, a knife made from mismatched parts, may be an authentic old knife. There are many instances of old cutlery firms buying up the parts inventories of defunct competitors, using up the inventories of firms that they had taken over, and re-stamping blades made for contracts that had been canceled. Therefore, every knife must be judged on its own merits.

Imaginary Knives -

Imaginary knives are any knives that are made to look old and historically interesting, but in fact are not based on any real knife out there. One thing to remember about imaginary knives is that the technology to make them was not even around when they were supposedly made.

Imaginary knives have markings or names engraved or etched on the blades. There are many out there with names that never existed in the knife industry. If this is so you can do a little homework on the Internet, in books or in magazines to determine which names are fakes and which are real.

The Old and the New -

Learning the difference between old celluloid and new plastic is also important when protecting your purchases of used, rare or additions to your collections of knives. You will also need to learn the difference between a forged blade with its tapers in every direction and a blanked blade with at most only one taper, which is toward the edge.

Know What to Look For -

The best way to guard against counterfeit and reworks is to learn what proper knives look like. Study the colors of old steel and other metals. Textures and finishes of the old handle materials should also be examined.

By first-hand examination, learn what the standard practice was for the makers and what is not. Study catalogs, illustrations and actual knives you know to be authentic.

How to Clean Your Collectible Knives -

Once you have determined that your knife collection is genuine, you must care for them with patience and work slowly when cleaning them. You can clean too little and always come back to it, but if you clean too much, you risk damaging the knife and the value of the knife.

Use soft, dry rags, wooden toothpicks and cotton swabs to remove loose dirt. Then use non-drying, non-staining oil for shining purposes. Place oil on rust spots and let it sit for a few days, then with the tip of another knife, carefully scrape away the rust only, leaving the original finish intact.

Of course, each knife may require its own way of cleaning, so this would be another area to research.

Start searching and studying today so you can begin your own knife collection!

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Article keywords: knife, knives, pocket knife, knife collecting, collectible knives

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William "Cole" Doggett is a knife expert and owns an Internet knife shop, Knife & Supply Company, LLC at Pocket Knife | Hunting Knife | SOG Knife. His website is devoted to all things pocket knives, swords, kitchen cutlery, sharpeners, machetes and a wealth of information.