Whilst staying with family in Victoria recently, we got to discussing the many ‘thingamies’ my bother-in-law was prone to collect. Amongst those was a huge bagful of bone handled knives.
I grabbed a selection to bring home as mementos. Knowing next to nothing about them, I did a bit of research. I wanted to clean the ageing handles. The one thing I did know was that bone handled knives had to be gently hand washed so as not to damage the bone.
But how does one go about cleaning dirty, old handles without ruining them?
The first thing I discovered is that identifying the handles themselves is a very complicated business, requiring years of experience and practice. And, it seems, even then it is guesswork at best. Ooohkay…I wasn’t that fussed about an accurate identification. More sentimental in value than anything, I just wanted to clean them up a bit. TRH (The Retired Husband) was adamant that the handles were man made.
So I investigated some more. The engraving on most of them was at least partially legible. Stainless steel, made in Sheffield. Good start. I came to the conclusion we had vintage faux handled knives. Cleaning them was not that hard. I sort of followed instructions I had found. First, I soaked them in a 50:50 solution of Peroxide and water. It did remove quite a bit of dirt. But there was still a lot of inground dirt and the handles felt rough to touch. So, at TRH’s suggestion I took to them with wet and dry sandpaper. The purists, I am sure would cringe at that. However, it worked beautifully.
Once I had finished, TRH sharpened them. Although that removed most of the engraving on the blade, we have serviceable knives. Both of the boys have a couple and I have kept the rest.
The other thing I discovered is this –
© Raili Tanska
soulgifts - Telling Tales 
All the way from Sheffield!!
Yep! Probably came here with the convicts 🙂 Wait! They’re too young to be criminals…
I’m about forty minutes from Sheffield 😉
Really!! You could visit the factory to have a gawk 🙂
I’ve seen it actually 😏
And? Was it interesting? Was it worth a visit? Did you like it? Would you recommend others to go and look? Did you buy anything?
I think Ive been in a work capacity, I used to sell logistic options, I only went into the back door. To be honest I don’t find that sort of thing interesting 😬
Thank you for your serious response to my silly questions 🙂 Seriously – I WAS being silly!
Well I didn’t know and I didn’t want to offend you if you had a knife and fork fetish’s 😉
Lol 🙂 I’m pretty thick skinned !!!
Interesting! My aunt has always had these and I knew nothing about them.
Glad to contribute to the education of a teacher 🙂
My daughter took a number of bone-handled knives from my mother’s cutlery drawer when we cleared her house last September. My mother was a Sheffield lass, and my great-grandmother’s first husband (back in 1870) was a “table-knife manager” i.e. he was in charge of the department manufacturing these.
So you are well familiar with them then. The real items are highly sought after I believe. But then, you would know that.
Oh my, please don’t tell your brother-in-law, that we threw out all the bone handled knives when we cleaned up the old family home……
Uh-oh! They are highly sought after vintage tableware, esp if in good condition…. ah well…….
Well knowing how they make them now kind of takes the mystique out of them, doesn’t it? (Love that quote at the bottom, btw!)
Well, yeah, the modern ones. But no video recordings existed ‘back in the days’ when vintage knives were originally made 🙂
Yeah, but instead of being priceless mementos, they’re like NEW MONEY. It doesn’t smell the same!
True that ! People want convenience more than vintage