Welcome to our Knife Glossary, a detailed directory of knife types and terms!
Advertising Knife
A knife with promotional material (company name, slogan, product illustration, etc.) printed or stamped on the handles (more rarely, etched on the blade). Usually intended as a premium or give-away item.
You do not have permission to do that
Arkansas Toothpick
A knife with promotional material (company name, slogan, product illustration, etc.) printed or stamped on the handles (more rarely, etched on the blade). Usually intended as a premium or give-away item.
Assisted Opening (Assisted Opener)
A knife in which the blade is held closed by spring pressure (i.e. it has a “bias toward closing”) but which requires only a few degrees of opening to move the blade past the pressure point so that it opens the remainder of the way by spring pressure alone. Offers the quick opening of a switchblade knife but is legally “friendlier” in most areas. First introduced in 1998, by Kershaw (designed by Ken Onion) and Meyerco (designed by Blackie Collins). Pictured knife is a Kershaw Random Task II which employs the Ken Onion-designed SpeedSafe assisted opening mechanism. The original Random Task was Kershaw’s first assisted opener.
You do not have permission to do that
Automatic (Knife)
aka. Switchblade. A knife with a button, lever, slide, or other mechanism which, when operated, causes the blade to open by spring pressure without being touched by the operator. See; Assisted Opening.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Back Square
Portion of a pocketknife blade’s tang that determines the ‘stop’ position of the blade when fully open. See the illustration of the parts of a blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Balance Knife Pattern
aka Berge Knife. A folding knife with two blades pivoted together but opening from opposite sides of the handle such that when one blade is opened its run-up strikes the run-up of the opposite blade. Therefore, only one blade at a time can be opened fully. Antique balance knives are often premium knives having mother-of-pearl handles, gold bolsters, and sometimes one blade of silver or even gold.
Folding Knife Patterns
Balisong Pattern
See: butterfly knife. (Pictured: classic Balisong knife by Benchmade Knife Co.)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Ballet Knife Pattern
A jack knife in the figural shape of a leg (‘leg knife’), incorporating a bottle cap lifter in the heel of the shoe-shaped bolster at its head end. Originated by Utica Cutlery Co.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Balloon Jack Pattern
The swell-center version of an equal-end Jack knife; always has rounded bolsters.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Barehead or Bare Head
A jack knife with no cap bolster.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Barlow Knife Pattern
1) A barehead regular jack with an extra-long bolster. It is usually a less expensive knife, with plain handles but can occasionally be found with premium handles such as stag or pearl. The common barlow knife is about 3 3/8″ long but “daddy” barlows and “grandaddy” barlows can be five inches long; and “baby” barlows are under 3″.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Benchmade
1) A knife which is individually assembled, fitted, and finished from a set of parts which were made in bulk, by machine. Quality mass-produced knives often have some hand work in them so it’s a matter of degree. 2) The trade name of a modern cutlery manufacturer. See: Hand Made.
Berge Knife Pattern
See: Balance knife
Bias-Cut Horn
Pieces of common cattle horn, shaved at an acute angle to display layers of shading and patterning within; used to make handles. (Illustration from Smith’s Key, 1816)
You do not have permission to do that
Handle Materials
Bistoury
A type of surgical blade most often found on folding medical instruments. It is long, narrow, and curved, with a rounded or pointed end.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Blade
In this context, a cutting tool attached to a handle. In specifying the number of blades in a knife, each tool and attachment counts as a “blade.”
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Blanked Blade
A knife blade stamped, by machine, out of a piece of sheet stock. See: Forged Blade.
Bleeder
The medical tool known as a bleeder, which was used on humans, has a spring-powered fleam blade about 1/4″ wide mounted in a small case with a trigger which releases the blade with force. Multiple spring-powered blades (eight to twelve) set in a metal box with a trigger which releases them all at once are called “scarificators.” See: Fleam, Ink Eraser
Blister Steel
Blister steel is a very old process of hardening iron by forming the iron into thin plates, layering them with charcoal, and re-forging them into a solid mass. Since the charcoal is poorly distributed through the mass it tends to make “blisters” which can leave characteristic voids in the finished product.
Bolo
A heavy brush-chopping knife with a curved blade swelled slightly through the front half. Also, similar military knives with extra-wide blades.
Bolster
The metal tips at the end(s) of a knife’s handles. There are dozens of specialized names for the different styles of bolsters. On a jack knife the bolster opposite the blade-pivot end is called the “top”, or “head”, or “cap” bolster. The bolster at the blade-pivot end is the “bottom” bolster. A jack knife with no cap bolsters is called a “barehead jack.” A knife with no bolsters is called a “shadow.”
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Bone
Usually the shin-bone from cattle. It is very hard and durable. It can be dyed almost any color, scored mechanically (jigged), or polished smooth. One of the earliest handle materials for knives and still a collector’s favorite today.
Handle Materials
Bone Stag
This is an old manufacturer’s term for jigged bone.
Handle Materials
Bottle Opener Knife
A bottle opener knife is any pen or small jack knife which carries a cork screw or has a cap lifter built into the handle or in one of the knife’s blades. See: Champagne Pattern.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Bottom Bolster
The bolster at the bottom end of a jack knife, i.e. where the blade is pivoted. The other end has the “cap,” or “head,” or “top,” bolster.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Bowie Knife
In modern terms, any large hunting or fighting knife supposed to resemble the knife James Bowie used at the Vidalia Sandbar Fight in 1827. Despite myriad claims, nobody really knows what that knife looked like.
Fixed Blade Types
Bowtie (Bolster)
An integral bolster & cross-guard with short quillons, vaguely resembling a bowtie. Usually found on long thin jack knives, stilettos, etc.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Boy’s Knife Pattern
A small (3 1/2″ or less) usually single-bladed regular or curved regular jack knife intended for youngsters who weren’t ready for a “serious” knife. They can be well- or cheaply-made but tended to be inexpensive. Often originally accompanied by an attached chain to delay the knife’s inevitable loss.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Budding Knife Pattern
See: Grafting Knife and Pecan Budder
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Butt Cap or Butt
See: pommel
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Butterfly Knife Pattern
A springless folding knife with two hollow handles which pivot on opposite sides of the blade’s tang. When closing, each hollow handle rotates 180 degrees completely enclosing the blade. There is a small latch which holds the handles together when open or closed. Butterfly knives are illegal in many jurisdictions. (Pictured: classic Balisong knife by Benchmade Knife Co.)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Candle-End Pattern
When one or both ends of a handle (with or without bolsters) is slightly pointed it is called a “candle-end.” This feature is most often found on lobster patterns. (above, featured image) Candle End Lobster
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Canoe Pattern
An equal-end handle die with the side opposite the backspring relieved toward its center-line, leaving the bolsters nearly full, thus giving the impression of a canoe with its turned-up ends. Traditionally, canoes are usually made as two-blade jacks (single or double ended) or as three blade cattle knives. After the collecting era began some were constructed as whittlers and marketed as “canittlers.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Cap Bolster
On a jack knife, the bolster at the head end, opposite the blade-pivot end. If a jack knife does not have a cap bolster, it is called a “barehead jack.”
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Cast Steel
An early method of turning iron into steel, invented in 1742 and last made in the 1960s, it involves melting iron in a sealed crucible with charcoal. Also called crucible steel.
Blade Materials
Catch Bit
A small piece of metal placed between a liner and a blade, (or between the springs in a whittler pattern) to make extra room for another working part. (Illustration from the Winchester Model Drawings notebook, available in our Digital Library)
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Cattle Knife Pattern
A heavy, knife with rounded ends, two springs, and three, or rarely four, blades. A few have three springs and are called “three-spring” cattle knives. One of the blades will be a spey or sheepfoot, and punch blades are common but not required. Most often made on an equal end frame (above), they can also be found in other patterns. A similar blade configuration on a serpentine frame is a Stockman or Stock Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Cellarman’s Knife Pattern
A type of fixed-blade rase knife used to mark wine and spirits barrels. See Rase Knife.
Fixed Blade Types
Celluloid
Invented ca. 1870, a tough man-made thermoplastic material, composed of cellulose nitrate and camphor. It can be made transparent and in endless varieties of colors and patterns and has been used to imitate genuine ivory, tortoise shell, and mother of pearl. However, it is highly flammable and poor quality-control in its manufacture can cause it to ramdomly begin to decompose releasing nitric acid vapor. (Therefore, celluloid handled knives should be inspected periodically and never stored in the same area with other knives which can be rusted by the vapor.) It was largely replaced by more stable materials by the mid-20th century but was revived in the 1970s due to collector demand. It is still made today and still has the same problems.
Handle Materials
Chamfer
A beveled area on the edges of the spine of a blade. It makes the forward part of the blade more narrow to aid in penetration and on folders allows access to the nail nicks of blades lying beside it. Also called a swedge. Chamfer is not the same as a “clip” point. See the illustration of the parts of a blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Champagne Knife
A champagne knife is a fixed-blade knife with a curved wire breaker blade to aid in opening a bottle of champagne. See: Champagne Pattern.
Fixed Blade Types
Champagne Pattern
The champagne pattern is a multi-blade knife which carries a blade(s), a corkscrew and a short, claw-like “blade” with file teeth on its inner surface, called a “wire breaker.” Before the modern twist-off wire basket used today to retain the cork in a bottle of champagne, it was necessary to break the wire. Later champagne pattern knives (ca. 1900) often had a modified wire breaker which included a crown cap lifting hook. See: Champagne Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Champleve
A decorative technique in which a metal piece is cast with a pattern of small depressions in it. The depressions are filled with colored glass and the entire piece is heated until the glass fuses. See; Cloisonne.
Character Knife
A knife with a picture of a famous person or cartoon character stamped or printed onto a regularly shaped handle. See: Figural Knife
Choil
The choil is a small notch cut into a folding blade just ahead of the kick, where the shoulder meets the cutting edge. See the illustration of the parts of a blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Cigar Box Knife Pattern
A folding- or fixed-blade knife which incorporates a tiny hammer, pry bar, and tack puller. Used to open and re-seal cigar boxes.
Cigar Cutter
Cigars often come with one end completely sealed by the outer tobacco leaf “wrapper” (not the plastic wrapper), which must be cut open or pierced before lighting them. Simply chopping the end off with a blade can crush and split the wrapper and filler making smoking unpleasant due to innumerable bits of loose tobacco getting into the mouth. A cigar cutter is a tool which has a hole into which the cigar’s end is inserted, or other means of supporting the cigar’s end, so as to make a clean cut.
Clasp Jack (Clasp Knife) Pattern
See: Curved Regular Jack
Clasp Knife Pattern
A handle pattern, usually found in large folding hunter sizes, which curves up at the head; the shape may be mostly straight or may swell in its center. The head is sometimes pointed and sometimes bulbous. This is an early pattern derived from the shape of cattle horn and antler used for knife handles. The straighter style is typified by Case’s Buffalo/Bulldog pattern, the swell center style by Case’s xx65 pattern.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Cleaned
A machinist’s term that refers to grinding down the surface of a piece of metal to remove rust and other imperfections. In knife terminology cleaning or “cleaned” refers to re-grinding the surfaces of a blade to remove traces of corrosion and/or improper sharpening. Cleaning removes all the original factory surface, any etching, and sometimes even the original contours of the blade, and substantially de-values the knife for serious collectors. See: Mint.
Clip Point Blade
A blade with a straight or concave slice cut out of the spine at its tip. The cut can be fairly short or extend much of the length of the blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Cloisonné
A decorative technique in which small wires are bent into a pattern, e.g.flowers, animals, geometrics, etc., and soldered onto an underlying material. The areas between the wires are filled with powdered glass of different colors and the piece is heated until the powder fuses into solid glass. See: Champleve
Handle Materials
Closed Back
A knife in which the back spring(s) is concealed by a cover.
Knife Parts
Cockspur Saw
A small saw which looks like a miniature hacksaw; used for cutting the spurs off fighting cocks so as to replace them with long sharpened blades or spikes called “gaffs.”
Blade Shapes
Coined
Said of metal handles, typically aluminum, nickel-silver, or brass, struck with a tool (a “die,” hence the term “die-struck”) which imparts a pattern, picture, and/or text (as with a coin). Usually used on souvenir, commemorative, or advertising knives. See: Engraving, Etch, and Stamp.
Coir Knife
A balance knife of South East Asia used by rug weavers. It consists of a leaf-shaped blade and a spike, on opposirte sides, in a bulbous handle.
Folding Knife Patterns
Compass Joint
A wide, circular joint on a pocket knife which looks like the joint on a draftsman’s compass.
Knife Parts
Congress Jack Pattern
An equal-end jack knife with its handle curved down in a slight arc. The blades are on the convex side.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Corn Knife Pattern
A corn knife is a small jack knife with a hollow-ground blade, used to trim “corns” off one’s feet. Not to be confused with a “maize knife.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Cotton Sampler Pattern
An agricultural-related knife built on a curved jack frame, the cotton knife was used by cotton buyers to cut a sample from a bail of cotton. The blade is distinctive, having a short section near the tang which is unsharpened and a swelled forward part the size of a teaspoon. Alternately, some cotton knives have a very wide and heavy blade like a rope knife, but often wider at the point or with a slightly more acute point, sometimes etched “Cotton Sampler” or “Cotton Knife.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Covers
See: Handle Scales.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Crocus Finish
A mirror-like finish on steel achieved by polishing with crocus powder (iron oxide).
Cross Guard
See “Guard”
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Crown Jack Pattern
A jack knife with the ends more-or-less squared off, wider at the cap end and having a slight swell in the middle. The Gunstock Jack is similar, but more exaggerated.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Crown Pen (Modern) Pattern
Modern crown pens are nearly rectangular and may have octagonal ends (with or without bolsters). This pattern is frequently found with a Closed Back feature.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Crown Pen Pattern
The crown handle die has squared ends and usually looks somewhat like a slender barrel, although it can taper somewhat. It can also be swell-centered.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Crucible Steel
See: cast steel
Curved Jack Pattern
If a regular jack is curved up – with the blade(s) on the concave side – it is a Curved Jack. If the handle curves down – with the blades on the convex side – it becomes a Congress Jack (if symmetrical), or a Swayback Jack (if tapered).
Folding Knife Patterns
Damascening
Inlaying gold or silver wire into steel.
Damascus Steel
Commonly, laminated steel using layers of different metals fused together so that when polished and etched the layers form visible patterns on the surface. Typically this is Pattern Welded Steel in which the layers are manipulated to achieve different visual patterns. Other varieties include Mosaic Damascus Steel, Powder Damascus Steel, and Crucible Damascus Steel (Wootz) the last of which was the original “Damascus Steel”.
Blade Materials
Delrin®
A modern moldable opaque plastic manufactured by DuPont and often used to simulate jigged bone or stag. It was invented in 1952 and first used on factory knives ca. 1960.
Doctor’s Knife Pattern
See: Physician’s Knife
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Dog Stripping (Dog Grooming) Knife Pattern
A knife with a blade or blades which have a very fine, short-toothed comb for the grooming of wiry-coated dogs.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Dogleg Jack Pattern
A serpentine pen knife that is wider and turns down at the cap end. Not to be confused with jacks that turn up at the cap end, referred to as Reverse Dogleg Jacks.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Dog-Leg Pen Pattern
See: Serpentine Pen Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Dolphin Lobster Pattern
An un-equal ended candle-end lobster that looks like it has been pinched close to one end. See: Sunfish Lobster.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Drop Point Blade
A modern blade shape popularized by R.W. “Bob” Loveless, in which the spine slopes slightly as it approaches the tip and the cutting edge curves upward a greater distance than it does with a Spear Point blade. See: Spear Point Blade.
Blade Shapes
Dynamite Knife Pattern
A knife with tools specifically for attaching the fuse or blasting cap to a stick of dynamite, including a spike, a cap crimper, and a wire cutter.
Easy Open (Notch)
A pair of large cut-outs in a knife’s handles that allow a blade to be pinched between the thumb and fore-finger for opening. A knife with such cut-outs is called an “easy opener.” A small groove cut into the inner edge of a liner/handle for access to the pull is called a “nail relief.”
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Electrician’s Knife Pattern
A Jack Knife with a spear-point main blade and an equally long screwdriver / wire-stripper as the second blade. The screwdriver usually has a locking mechanism for safety.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Elephant’s Toe Nail Pattern
See: Sunfish. Often erroneously called “Elephant’s Toe” which is rather unappealing.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Enamel
Enamel, in this context, means fused glass, although it is often applied to hard, glossy paint. Glass powder, sometimes in colors, is poured onto a metal handle which is then heated until the powder melts and fuses into a solid coating. Beautiful patterns can be achieved using additional techniques such as cloissone and guilloche.
Engine turning
A style of decoration on steel created by using a rotating rod and fine grit to grind shallow, overlapping circles on its surface. It is often done to give a pleasing visual effect to an otherwise unfinished surface. It can also be done with an extremely complicated lathe call a “rose engine.” The Warthers of Ohio are famous for producing blades with this finish. Sometimes referred to as a “Jewelled Finish.”
English Jack Pattern
Premium quality slim, regular, and sleeveboard jacks over 4″ long are often called “English” jacks. They may or may not have a blade lock.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Engraving
Marks made on a surface by cutting into it with a tool, traditionally by hand. Also, the act of making such marks. Markings on knife blades are rarely engraved; they are usually stamped or etched. See: Etch and Stamp.
Equal-End
A handle die in which both ends are mirror images of one another. An Equal End Pen is called a “Senator Pen”.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Equal-End Jack Pattern
An equal-end jack has equally-rounded bolsters at both ends and straight, or nearly straight sides. There are wide and very narrow Equal-End Jacks; equal-end pen knives are usually narrow.
Etch
A mark (often a picture or trademark on the face of a blade) made by using acid to dissolve areas of the metal. Also, the act of making such a mark. See Engraving and Stamp.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Eureka Pattern
A swell-center serpentine handle die with the swell on the back-spring side only
You do not have permission to do that
Faca de Ponta
An Indian trade knife of South America.
Little Mesters
In Sheffield, England, a little mester was an independent artisan who had his own shop or rented space in a factory and produced cutlery and other products. Sometimes they formed associations and produced parts for one another. (Lobster knife by Sheffield Little Mester Stan Shaw.)
You do not have permission to do that
Factor
In the cutlery industry a factor was an individual who contracted with outworkers (independent artisans) who made knives to his specifications and bearing his mark.
Farmer’s Clasp Knife
A large, light-weight folding knife with no bolsters, a pattern of Germanic origin. Typified by Case’s “Sodbuster” pattern. Occasionally produced with a locking device.
Folding Knife Patterns
Farmer’s Jack
A double-end jack knife similar to a large Wharncliffe handle pattern. It always carries a pruning blade and a spey blade. Sometimes known as a “Rooster Comb.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Farrier’s Knife
A farrier’s knife (often miss-spelled “ferrier” or “furrier”) is a fixed-blade knife with a stout blade the flat tip of which is rolled down into a small gouge for scraping debris from a horse’s hoof prior to shoeing. Folding knives having a hooked tool for that purpose are called “horseman’s knives.”
Fixed Blade Types
Fascine Knife
A short-handled bill-hook, or brush hook, formerly used for cutting fasces, or bundles of sticks used to re-inforce earthworks and ditches.
Fixed Blade Types
Ferrier’s Knife
Mis-spelling of farrier’s knife.
Figural Pattern
Said of a knife that has a handle that is actually shaped like a familiar object, e.g. the popular “shoe” knives that have the shape of an old shoe. The handles may be stamped or cast in a mold, with realistic details. A knife with regularly shaped handles which have an image cast, stamped, or printed onto them is not a figural knife.
Folding Knife Patterns
Filework (Fileworked)
Decorative marks usually cut (usually by hand) into a knife’s backspring and/or the spine of the blade. See: Milled.[caption id=”attachment_77531″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Fish Gaff Knife Pattern
A specialty pattern for fishermen, made with a long clip blade, a hook disgorger, and a curved gaff hook about 1 1/4″ across, for lifting a fish into the net. The gaff knife has a thick, nearly ninety degree curve at the head end to aid in gripping and pulling.
Folding Knife Patterns
Fish Jack Pattern
A Jack Knife with the blade end rounded and the opposite end slightly flaired and convex; it vaguely resembles a fish. See: Fishtail Jack.
Fish Knife Pattern
The fish knife is a toothpick or tickler frame with a fish scaler, either on the spine of the single blade or as a second blade incorporating a notch at the tip as a hook disgorger. A bottle opener is sometimes built into an extended area of the tang on one of the blades.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Fish Scaler
Typically the spine of a blade in a fish knife having an unshapened “saw-tooth” edge used for de-scaling fish. Sometimes it is a separate blade incorporating a hook disgorger at the tip.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Fish Slice (Knife)
A knife with a wide, usually heavily decorated, silver-plated blade; formerly used in England to serve fish.
Fishtail Jack Pattern
A long, narrow knife with a flaring cap bolster which resembles a fish’s tail. The bottom bolster often has an integral crossguard. With a guard, the pattern is usually referred to as a Bowtie.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Fixed Blade (knife)
A knife that has a blade which does not fold.
Flat Ground
A blade that has a flat surface from the spine to the cutting edge; i.e. the grind extends all the way to the spine. When there is more than one surface or grind, the blade is Saber/Sabre Ground.
You do not have permission to do that
Fleam
A veterinary tool with one to three or more springless blades pivoting in a handle that is essentially a small custom case. The short, double-edged blade is made as an extention on the side of a long tang. Fleam blades 1/2″ wide or more are veterinary instruments. They were struck, on the blade’s spine, with a “bloodstick.” Single, folding fleams are sometimes found mounted next to a liner, and without a spring, in horseman’s knives. Smaller 1/4″ wide “fleams” were for humans. They were usually Spring Lancets: small, spring-powered devices that were cocked and released by a trigger, inflicting the wound suddenly (because nobody would sit still while a blade was hammered into their arm.) See also: Spring Lancet, Scarificator. Do not confuse Ink Erasers with fleams or scalpels.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Flick (or Wrist Flick) Knife
A knife which can be opened by snapping the wrist outward. In the UK, “Flick Knife” is a more popular term for a switchblade or automatic knife.
Flipper
An assisted-opening knife which has an extension of the tang protruding from the back of the knife’s handle, which when pulled back (“flipped” – like a light switch), moves the blade outward past its bias point causing it to open fully.
Fly Fisherman’s Knife
A special pattern of multi-blade knife for fly fishermen with tools to aid in tying flies, changing one’s tackle set-up and other fishing-related chores. This knife, 4″ long, more or less, is built like a lobster pattern with a long spear or clip main blade, a hook disgorger/file, a thin spike, and a pair of scissors. There is even an extension of the center liner to be used as a screwdriver for adjusting a fishing reel.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Folding Bowie or Folding Dirk
A larger (4 1/2″ or more) extra-fancy jack knife made with premium materials and workmanship; usually with a locking blade. While they bear no resemblance to the original Bowie knife (whatever it actually looked like), in the 19th century they were a gentleman’s folding self-defence weapon. See: German Bowie
German Bowie Knife
A folding knife, typically with a locking blade which is longer than the handle, so that when folded, the blade’s unguarded edge protrudes, up to several inches, beyond the end of the handle. Typically carried in a holster, it can be used folded or unfolded.
Folding Hunter
Any large (5″ or greater) jack knife rugged enough to be suitable for serious use by a hunter for field-dressing larger game.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Forged Knife
A blade which has been formed by hammering a piece of heated steel into the desired shape, as opposed to a “ground” or “stock removal” blade.
Frame
The assembled liners and bolsters of a folding knife.
Knife Parts
Friend Knife
A 19th century, or older, slot knife with two identical halves. Usually French.
Fruit Knife
Before the use of stainless steel for knife blades (ca. 1920), knives specially made for cutting fruit had blades made of (or plated with) silver, which will not react with the acid in the fruit juice, as a steel blade does, and cause the fruit to discolor. These knives often have fancy handles made of decorated silver and/or mother of pearl however, those features alone do not a fruit knife make. True fruit knives have silver or silver-plated blades. Some (usually American ones) have an additional folding “seed pick” beside the blade. Fruit knives can be entirely made of ivory or bone – even the spring. (Note: Small (2 1/2″ +/-) metal handled knives, with a bail for attaching them to a watch chain, are not fruit knives. They are commonly referred to as “gentlemen’s knives.”) Fruit knives should not be confused with melon sampler knives.
Full (blade)
A blade that has not lost any of its original size or shape due to sharpening is said to be “full.” However, if you don’t know what the original shape was it is dangerous to claim that a blade is full. Carefully sharpened blades can lose 10% or more of their profile and appear “original” to the untrained eye.
Furrier’s Knife
A specially shaped knife, which is usually just a single piece of steel with a long straight edge and an acute point, used in the garmet industry to patch fur pieces together.
G-10®
A high-pressure fiberglass laminate, created by stacking multiple layers of glass cloth, soaking in epoxy resin, and compressing the resulting material under heat until the epoxy cures.
Handle Materials
Gadget Knife
A term loosely applied to any handle with a folding blade and some other tool(s), or gadget, not covered by a specific tool-knife name. Examples include a tape measure or folding rule, fingernail clipper, cigarette lighter, removable pen or pencil, etc.
Gaucho Knife
A Punal. A fixed blade knife with all metal mounts and sheath. The traditional knife of the cowboys of southern South America.
Glaze Finish
A satin-like finish on steel accomplished by using extremely fine grit. The last grinding step before giving it a “crocus,” or mirror, finish.
Guard (or Cross-Guard, Crossguard)
The wide part of a knife’s handle, at the place where the blade joins it, which prevents one’s hand from slipping onto the blade if the knife meets resistance while being pushed forward. Some folding knives have large T-shaped bolsters as guards; others have a “folding guard” pivoted on the blade such that it folds flat against the handle when the blade is closed.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Guilloché
A decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is engraved onto a material. For knife handles the decorated metal is usually covered with tinted, transparent enamel.
Gunboat
A large (over 4″) cattle pattern knife made on a canoe handle pattern.
Folding Knife Patterns
Gunstock Pen
A pen knife which has a pronounced narrowing of its width near one or both ends.
Gunstock Premium Jack
A square-ended premium (serpentine) jack with a small widening of the handle’s head end.
You do not have permission to do that
Half-Whatever
Half-whittler, half-trapper, half congress, etc. Years ago a knife manufacturer (Case) took a pattern they produced as a whittler and sold it with only two blades (pattern # 6208 1/2 – i.e. an ordinary penknife). To make it sound desireable they called it a “half-whittler.” (Whittlers are defined as having three blades. Likewise, a trapper with only one blade is an ordinary jack knife. Congress pattern knives can have any number of blades starting with one. Ergo, these half-designations are bogus, but online sellers love them.)
Hand Made
A knife in which the parts are all literally produced and fitted together individually, i.e.”by hand.” Many modern knives advertised as “hand made” are only hand assembled from mass produced parts. See: Benchmade.
Handle Die
The shape or sillhouette of a knife’s handle. Probably named after the cutting tool (the “die”) used to punch out the liners of the knife. The handle die’s name can be the name of the knife’s pattern but not necessarily.
Handle Scales or Covers
The material which covers the outside surface of a knife, where it is gripped.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Handle
The outer covering of the knife where one grips it. Handles are typically made of stag (deer antler), horn (cattle), bone (jigged or smooth), wood, mother-of-pearl (genuine marine oyster-shell), various metals, tortoise (sea turtle) and many different synthetic materials.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Hanger
A large sheath knife or short sword, typically German, used by hunters to dispatch wounded game.
Hernia Blade
A type of surgical blade found on folding medical instruments. A long curved blade with a rounded tip having only the last third sharpened.
Hicks Knife
A Bowie-style, fixed blade knife produced by Andrew Hicks of Cleveland, Ohio, with a brass-bound handle and usually a 10″ blade. It was once thought to have been produced c.1840, perhaps the first official U.S. military knife (supposedly issued by the US government to US Army riflemen). It has since been shown to date from 1861, produced for sale to private soldiers. (See the November 2015 edition of KNIFE Magazine for proof.)
Higonokami Knife
A penny knife from Japan consisting of a one-piece, folded, sheet metal handle and a blade formed from a thin piece of steel sandwiched between two pieces of iron (See: San Mai).
Hilt
The handle and guard of a fixed-blade knife. More commonly used with swords, its use with knives is discouraged.
Knife Parts
Hinge Pin / Pivot Pin
The pin on which the blade(s) of a folding knife rotates. Generically, “pin” can also refer to one of the rivets which hold the handle scales or shield onto the knife’s liners.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Hobo Knife
Originally, a camping set with a handle and inter-changeable knife blade and hatchet, by Case and Ka-Bar. Today the term is commonly applied to slot knives and folding knives with a fork and/or spoon. See: Slot Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Hollow Ground
A blade that has a concave surface from the spine toward the cutting edge, or in some cases, the beginning of the grind to the edge.
Horn
The material from the horns of the family bovidae – cattle, buffalo, bison, etc., used as handle material for knives. Horn from sheep and exotic African animals is used primarily by custom knife makers.See: Stag
Horseman’s Knife
A sportsman’s knife that includes a stout folding hook which is used to clean out the underside of a horse’s hooves. Sometimes it will have a “hidden” fleam blade next to one liner.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Hospital Corps Knife
Any of several U.S. military bolos.
Sowbelly Jack
A jack knife made on a sowbelly handle die.
Folding Knife Patterns
Hyper-extend
When a blade is opened it usually rotates about 180 degrees before it is stopped by the spring. If it opens noticeably further is it said to be hyper-extended.
Ink Eraser
A short, double-edged, (usually) non-folding blade on the end of a long tang in a wood or ivory handle, used to “erase” ink by scraping it from parchment, vellum, and paper. Often sold as “Civil War scalpels.” The style that is like a short dagger is, without its handle, sometimes sold to the unsuspecting as a “trade arrowhead”. Caveat emptor.
You do not have permission to do that
Fixed Blade Types
Integral Bolster-Liner
If a bolsters and liner of a knife are a single piece this construction detail is called an “integral bolster-liner.”
Interframe
A modern style of knife with solid metal handles having a recess for a decorative inlay. Patented in 1973 by Ron Lake, but often used in the 19th century for inexpensive knives.
Ivory
A creamy-white dentine material that composes most of the tusk of the elephant, walrus, hippopotamus, etc. Elephant ivory is the most often encountered. Also fossilized tusk from mastodon, mammoth, and walrus. It is a traditional material on custom knives and fine cutlery. Ivory is being increasingly restricted due to environmental and animal poaching concerns.
Jenny Lind Pattern (also Buttercup, Tuxedo)
A slender and dainty balloon pen knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Jigging
The grooves or patterns cut into (usually bone) handle material to simulate the appearance of stag. Old knife catalogues refer to jigged bone as “bone stag.”
Jumbo Jack
A regular or equal end jack that is extra long (3 5/8″ or longer) and fat is a jumbo jack.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Junior Premium Stock Knife
A premium stock knife under 3 1/2″ long.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Kick
If the bottom edge of a blade’s tang has a pronounced widening or a protrusion next to the choil, this is called the “kick.” The kick is what strikes the backspring, inside the handle, when the blade is closed, preventing the blade’s edge from striking the spring. See the illustration of the parts of a blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Knife
Often called the first tool made by humans, it must be remembered that knapping a blade from a piece of stone requires hitting the stone with something, so the hammer was the first tool used by humans – to make the first knife.
Knife-Fork-Spoon / Combination Knife
As the name implies, these tools have a knife, fork, and spoon which can be separated into individual pieces to be used for eating. A stud, or formed button, on one part fits into a keyhole-shaped slot in its companion and slides to lock the two pieces together, hence the name “slot knife.” Sometimes called a “Picnic Knife.” See also: Slot Knife
Knuckle Bow
a.k.a. D-guard. A curved metal finger-guard attached to the handle of a fighting knife. Not to be confused with a “sub-hilt.”
Knuckle Duster
A combination knife and brass knuckles.
Ladies Knife
Occasionally you may find a knife (usually a diminutive pen knife) with “Ladies Knife” marked on its side. This was a marketing ploy. Just because a knife is small (even the tiny “charm” sized miniature knives), or very fancy, or made of precious materials, does not mean it was specifically made for women to carry. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the well dressed gentlemen often carried a small, elaborately decorated knife in a vest pocket or on his watch chain. Very fancy knives with silver (or silver plated) blades are fruit knives, often given as a love token, but used by men and women.
Laguiole
A style of clasp knife originally made by Calmels in the Laguiole reqion of France. A Laguiole typically has the business end of the spring carved in the shape of a bee. It will sometimes have a corkscrew.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Lambfoot Blade
Similar to a sheepfoot blade which has a spine parallel to its edge, the lambfoot has a slight taper and the rounding at the tip makes a slightly more acute point. See: Sheepfoot, Wharncliffe blades.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Lancet
A type of surgical blade found on folding medical instruments. The head on some types of lancets (like the Gum Lancet pictured here) looks like a tiny axe. Thumb lancets may look more like a wide dagger, or other wide form.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Lazy
A blade that does not “walk and talk.”
Leg Knife
A knife, usually a small, single-bladed jack knife shaped like a leg having a foot or shoe. See: Ballet Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Letter Opener Knife
A jack knife with a long non-folding letter-opening “blade” at its head end. Letter-opener knives were often advertising premiums. A “Desk Knife” may or may not incorporate a folding knife blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Liner (Lining)
One of the metal plates onto which a knife’s bolsters and handles are attached or which separate the springs in a multi-springed knife. (Also, “Lining”).
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Liner Lock
A blade locking mechanism in which a section of one liner is tensioned in such a way that when a blade is fully opened the section moves inward, behind the tang, preventing the blade from closing.
Lobster
A pen knife with blades pivoting from both sides, and perhaps both ends. Lobsters can be any shape and there are several pattern names unique to lobsters. (Pictured: Oval Lobster)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Lock
A safety device; any of a variety of mechanisms that prevent a blade, once opened, from closing without the user taking an additional action to un-lock it.
Lock Back (Lockback, Back Lock)
A knife with a blade lock which is operated by depressing a lever somewhere on the back of the handle.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Long Square Kick
On very old knives: a kick which is not simply a widening of the tang but a pronounced, nearly square, extension of it. When assembling the knife, the kick would be slowly ground down until, when closed, the blade rested in the desired position inside the handle. (Illustration of jack knives with long square kicks from Smith’s Key, 1816)
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Loom Fixer
A commercial name given by Case to their #6217, a swayback jack pattern with sheepfoot and pen blades that was apparently popular in the weaving industry. Ka-Bar used this term as well and even registered it as a trademark.[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.knifemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/Glossary/other_stuff/Union-Cut-Loom-Fixer.pdf” title=”Union Cut Loom Fixer”]From the Goins’ Encyclopedia files — an example of the sort of thing you can access with a Premium Subscription to this website!
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Machete
A fixed blade knife with a long, thin, somewhat flexible blade (typically 12″ to 24″) used primarily for chopping brush or harvesting tropical plants such as sugar cane. A few folding machetes have also been produced over the years.
You do not have permission to do that
Fixed Blade Types
Magician’s Knife
Also called a “sleight of hand knife.” Any knife, usually having contrasting handles or another special feature, used by magicians to create an illusion.
Maize Knife
A knife used in the farming of sorghum, the maize knife is a jack with a short blade having a rounded end, much like a spey blade. A worn or broken pruner can easily be mistaken for a maize knife. Sometimes called a “corn topper.” See: Corn Knife
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Mark Side (Obverse, Front Side)
When you hold a knife horizontally, with a blade on the right and pointing upward, you are looking at the mark side of that blade. The opposite side is the pile side.
You do not have permission to do that
Master Blade
Generally, the largest blade in a multiple-blade knife, but not a tool such as a saw blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Mastercraft (Robeson)
Robeson sold a line of knives with a shield stamped “Mastercraft.” These knives had a piece of bronze attached to the tang of the blade(s) so that it rode on the spring rather than having steel-on-steel contact. Most Mastercraft knives encountered today are missing that piece of bronze. When the bronze cap is missing, the tang shows three lobes and the blade stops at four positions as it opens.
Match Safe Knife
A small knife-shaped device with one or more folding blades and one handle formed as a container with a hinged lid, designed to hold snuff.
Mechanical Pen Knife
A knife with any device which actuates or assists in opening its blade(s) without necessitating touching the blade itself. (Illustration of knives with slide-out blades from Smith’s Key, 1816.)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Melon Tester
Most often a regular jack, which is long (4 1/2″ to 6″) and thin (about 1/2″ wide) with a single spear point blade. They are used to cut a plug out of melons to display the ripeness of the fruit. Also used in the meat packing industry, most melon testers have a vendor’s name or advertising slogan inscribed on the handle. Some melon testers are double-ended, having a second pen blade or small fork. They can have a pocket clip. Do not confuse these inexpensive knives with “Fruit Knives.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Micarta®
Westinghouse’s trademarked name for a phenolic plastic laminated with other materials such as linen, paper, or canvas. Invented in 1937 for the electronics industry, it is tough and chemically resistant and is used for factory as well as custom knives.
Milled (Liners)
A decorative effect similar to the edge of a dime, on the edges of the liners of a knife. Loosely, a similar zig-zag effect made by mechanically crimping the liner’s edge. See Filework.
Miniature
(A philosophical definition) A tiny, yet fully functional knife, having all the same parts and materials, and functioning in the same way as a full-size knife; but being too small to be used for practical purposes. Most small knives are just small knives; miniatures are novelties primarily intended as charms or to display a knifemaker’s skill. Generally, a folding knife should be about one and one-half inches long or less to qualify. If it is so small that it is difficult to use, it is probably a miniature. Fully functional folding knives can be found which are less than 1/2″ long when closed! A small knife-shaped item that does not have a working spring or a steel blade is just a “toy.”
Mint
“Mint” does not mean “shiny.” Read that again! The description “mint” only applies to a knife when it remains exactly as it came from the factory. It can not have any use, or wear, period, although, poor finishing and manufacturing defects which were present when the knife was produced do not disqualify it from being mint. Once a knife is no longer mint it can never be mint again. A knife cannot be “cleaned to mint.” See; Cleaned.
Mokume
A decorative material made by fusing layers of different metals to produce pleasing layers of color. Do not confuse with damascus.
Mother of Pearl (MOP)
Usually (incorrectly) referred to simply as “pearl”, it is the nacreous material an oyster deposits on the inside of it’s shell, which can be cut and polished to a glass-like luster. It often displays iridescent colors and fascinating patterns that have tremendous “eye appeal.” Through the ages it has been the premier handle material on high quality knives. It is brittle, easily damaged, and breathing the dust generated by cutting it causes lung disease. As a result there have been many attempts to create synthetic substitutes for MOP. Many of the knives advertised as having MOP handles are in fact handled with some form of plastic. Abalone and green sea snail are types of mother-of-pearl. See: Pearl
Multi-Blade Knife
Technically, any knife with over one blade, the multi-blade term is a catch-all for knives, such as a “Swiss Army Knife” that don’t have a specific pattern name. Often such knives have many blades and special tools, such as a corkscrew, saw, gimlet, leather punch, hoof pick, scissors, etc. folding out of the handle. Six- to twenty-blade versions are not uncommon (see: Sportsman’s Knife). These knives’ handles can be almost any shape and do not easily fall into any one category. Some, such as horseman’s knives, champagne patterns, etc have a special feature which gives them their name. Large exhibition knives can have fifty to two hundred various blades and tools but they are not intended to be used.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Muskrat Pattern
A serpentine, double-ended jack knife with two very narrow blades having extra-long clips. It was designed for trappers.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Nail Nick (Nail Mark, Nail Pull)
See Pull.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Navaja
The Spanish name for a clasp knife.
New England Whaler Pattern
A smaller version of the rope knife for lighter work. Whalers do not have a bail.
Nickel Silver (German Silver)
An alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel, contains no silver. The usual nickel content is 18%, but in some cases lower percentages were used.
Handle Materials
Norfolk Whittler Pattern
A large eureka pattern whittler with a pronounced swell and a unique blade shape. The heavy main blade is saber-ground with an exaggerated clip and swedge.
Folding Knife Patterns
Office Knife
A equal-end, double-ended jack knife with a spear or clip point master blade and a spey as the second blade. They usually have celluloid handles and the words “Office Knife” pressed onto one side with fancy scroll-work decoration.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
One-Armed Man’s Knife
Popular after the Civil War and beyond; a dinner knife with a curved blade sharpened on the outside edge and ending in fork tines, for one-hand eating. Usually a fixed-blade but switchblade versions were produced. Newer knives having blades with a semi-circular cut-out at the tip (such as many straight razors do) are said to be designed to be opened one-handed by hooking the hollow on a pants pocket. That might work, but they are not one-armed man’s knives.
You do not have permission to do that
Orange Blossom Pattern
A gunstock pattern lobster knife with a whittler configuration on its upper side and a long manicure file folded flush into the bottom side.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Oval (Pen Knife)
An equal-end pattern with a more pronounced convex arc to the handle’s edges than a ciger pattern. Generally small (2 1/2″) pen knives.
Palette Knife
A handle with a long and very flexible, but not sharpened, folding spatula blade which is used by artists to apply paint to canvas (impasto technique) and by pharmacists to count or group pills on a platform. This type of spatula blade is sometimes found as the second blade in a physician’s pattern knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Paper Knife
Antique books were made by printing multiple pages on both sides of one large sheet of paper, folding it repeatedly down to single-page size, and trimming the edges. When you received a book it was not uncommon to find some un-trimmed pages. Paper knives had dull blades with which to split the fold in order to open the pages. Folding knives made with ivory handles and blades are sometimes marked “Paper Knife” but can also be marked “Fruit Knife.”
Paring Knife
A small kitchen knife for general peeling and slicing.
Patch Knife
Used with muzzleloading rifles: any knife used to trim excess patch cloth from around the bullet after is is pushed slightly into the barrel and before it is pushed all the way down to the powder. Many old riflemen simply used their regular sheath knife.
Fixed Blade Types
Peanut Pattern
A small (under 3″) reverse dogleg jack knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Pearl (Laminated)
Thin slices of exotic pearl species such as abalone and green sea snail, too small for use in knife handles, can be laminated into slabs much larger than can be found in nature. This material is very popular in collector knives.
Pearl
Technically, only the loose pieces of nacreous material produced by certain shellfish, to surround irritants inside their shells, are referred to as “pearls.” However, the term is often substituted for “mother-of-pearl” when referring to anything made from mother-of-pearl; as in “pearl-handled knife.” Sometimes referred to as “marine pearl.” See: Mother of Pearl
Pecan Budder Pattern
A form of grafting known as “patch budding” is used with pecan trees. It requires placing a precisely cut “patch”, containing a bud, into an identically cut hole in the bark of the host tree. To make the cuts exactly the same size requires a knife with two parallel blades approximately one inch apart. The pecan budder looks like two single-bladed jack knives assembled with a thick spacer between them.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Pellett Lifts
Small buttons attached the spine of some small pen knives to make it easier to pull the blade open. Invented by – wait for it – W. W. Pellett in 1893.
Pen Blade
A small spear point blade, so-called if it is a secondary blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Pen Knife
A smallish knife that has blades that pivot from both ends. See: Jack Knife and Multi-blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Pen Machine
Back when writing pens were actually made from bird’s feathers a device called a pen machine, basically a set of cutting dies in a wooden or ivory handle, was used to cut the end of the feather to shape. Usually a small folding blade was included at the opposite end of the handle.
Penny Knife
A very basic springless folding knife with the blade pivoted in a slot cut into the one-piece handle (usually wood). Upon opening, the blade’s back-square stops against a simple wrap-around bolster or a pin fixed crosswise through the handle.
Phurbu
A Tibetan ritual knife, usually with a tri-radial, unsharpened blade and fancy, cast brass handle. Used to symbolically “kill” the demons thought to be inhabiting a person who is ill.
Picture Handles
Traditionally, clear, celluloid plastic handle scales with photographs and/or printed matter sealed under, and visible through, them.
You do not have permission to do that
Handle Materials
Pig Sticker
(Slang) Specifically, a slang term for a sharp-pointed bayonet, the term is romantically applied to any virtually any knife designed for thrusting.
Pile Side
The rear side of a blade. See: Mark Side
Pin
Any of the thin metal rods, or rivets, that form the pivot for the blade, hold handles onto the liners, or hold the entire knife together. The often encountered term “pin knife” is a misspelling of “pen” knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Pinched Bolster
If a bolster look as though a someone squeezed its tip making a small indentation it is said to be “pinched.” See” Grooved Bolster, Threaded Bolster.
Grooved Bolster
If a bolster has a single, half-round channel running across it, it is said to be grooved. See: Threaded Bolster, Pinched Bolster.
Threaded Bolster
If a bolster has a fine groove running across it, it is said to be “threaded”. See: Grooved Bolster, Pinched Bolster.
Knife Parts
Pistol Knife
See: Knife Pistol
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Plier Knife Pattern (Pliers Knife)
Any knife which contains a pair of pliers, either incorporated as part of the knife’s frame or which fold out, like a blade. Before the Leatherman tool became popular these knives were somewhat unusual; today they are ubiquitous.
Pocket Blade
The main, or master blade of a knife. See: Master blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Pommel / Pommel Cap
The cap or finishing piece at the end of a fixed-blade knife’s handle.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Powderhorn Pattern
A “tickler” pattern.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Pradel
A historical knife-making family in Europe; generically applied to the European version (usually having six blades) of the “utility” pattern.
Premium Jack Pattern
A serpentine, equal-end or slightly tapered, jack knife. Older ones were round-ended: newer ones are usually square-ended. The blades pivot at the fatter end.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Premium Pen
A small serpentine pen knife such as Case’s xx33 pattern is sometimes referred to as a “premium” pen.
Folding Knife Patterns
Premium Stock Knife Pattern
The premium stock knife is basically a cattle knife except that it is built on a serpentine handle die. Premium stock knives can have up to six blades. Their main blade is a clip. Like cattle knives they will have a spey or sheepfoot blade. If they are under 3 1/2″ they are called “junior” premium stock knives.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Pruning Knife Pattern (Pruner)
A large curved jack with a hawkbill blade. Older ones often came with a saw blade. Some have rounded heads, some have flat heads, sometimes with a seal-cap. Until recently pruning knives were not considered valuable; today the best names are bringing prices similar to other jack knives. Often called simply a “Pruner.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Pull
The indentation in a blade that allows the user to open the blade with a fingernail. The variations are: Common pull, regular pull, short pull, or “nail nick” – a short crescent-shaped indentation (pictured above); Long, or “French” pull – a long straight channel, up to half the length of the blade, and ending at the tang; Match-striker, matchstriker, or “dentate” pull – a long pull with the appearance of saw-teeth within the channel.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Punal
See Gaucho Knife
Punch Blade
A gouge-shaped cutting blade or triangular awl/reamer (but not a gimlet) for making holes in leather and other materials.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Push Dagger
A dagger blade in a “T”-shaped handle; when held the tang usually protrudes between the second and third fingers. Historically called a “gimlet knife” due to its similarity to traditional gimlets.
Puukko
The traditional general-purpose outdoor knife of Finland.
Quadrangular Knife (Barrel Knife)
A radially symetrical knife with blades on four sides. Typically made as quill knives, most quadrangular knives also have blades at both ends so they can be found with 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, and more, blades. I once saw a quadrangular knife with 48 blades.
Folding Knife Patterns
Quill Knife Pattern
Quill knives were used until the end of the 19th Century to cut and shape the end of a large feather (the quill is the hollow shaft at the base of the feather) to form a writing pen. Most quill knives are single-bladed but they can have any number of blades. However, not all small knives are quill knives. A quill blade is usually much shorter than its handle and on the single-bladed ones the spring usually wraps around the head end and partially fills the blade cavity. Ironically, while most quill knives are jack knives, most “pen” knives are not quill knives.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Quillon
One branch of a guard. “Quillion” is a common misspelling.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Rase Knife Pattern
aka Raze Knife. Usually a jack knife with a blade which is rolled over forming a gouge, similar to a hoof knife, at its tip. It is used to cut identifying marks (letters, numerals, etc.) into wood; e.g. beams when house-building or an owner’s names on barrels. There are a few rase knives with a “T”-shaped head having a gouge at either end. Frequently used in ship building, rase knives often have bronze handles. A fixed-blade version with a gouge and a pointed tip, to facilitate making circles, is called a cellarman’s knife and is used to mark wine barrels. Interestingly, to re-use shipping crates a scraper was used to “e-rase” marks previously made with a rase knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Red Cross Knife Pattern
A large wood-handled folding knife made during WWI which has a blade and a folding spoon but does not come apart into two pieces. They were distributed by the Red Cross to our troops and were not government issued items.
Regular Jack Pattern
A regular jack has straight sides which taper and are more narrow at the bottom, or blade-pivot, end. The bottom bolster is somewhat squared off.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Ricasso
Some fixed-blade knives have a flat, unsharpened area between the end of the sharpened edge and the guard and/or handle. This area is the ricasso and often has the manufacturer’s information stamped on it. See: Tang
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Marlin Spike
A robust (up to 3/8″ thick and as long as the knife), pointed spike which folds out of a rope knife and is used by sailors to tie and untie knots aboard ship. See: Rope Knife
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Riggers Knife Pattern (Rigging Knife, Yachtsman’s Knife, Sailors Knife)
A type of rope knife having a locking “marlin spike.” See also: Yachtsman’s Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Ring Opener / Ring Turn Pattern
A knife in which the pivot pin of a blade extends out from one side of the handle and has a ring passing through it which is turned to open the blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Rooster Nutter Pattern
See: Spey Knife
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Rope Knife
A large curved jack, or curved regular jack having a heavy sheepfoot blade. It is used by sailors to cut rope by laying the rope on a solid surface and driving the blade through it with a belaying pin. Rope knives usually have a bail for securing them to one’s belt. Some rope knives have a thick folding spike, called a “marlin spike” attached next to the blade or on the knife’s back. It is used for splicing ropes together and loosening tightened knots. If the marlin spike locks the knife is called a “rigger’s knife.” If it does not lock the knife is a “yachtsman’s knife.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Ruler Knife
A knife with measuring increments marked on the handle, blade, or on a folding attachment.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Run Up
That part of the back-square of a folding blade’s tang which contacts the backspring when the blade is open. See the illustration of the parts of a blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Saber Ground (Sabre Ground, Saber Grind, Sabre Grind)
A blade that has an area (usually about 1/3 to 1/2 the width of the blade) along the spine which has a uniform thickness. The beveling toward the blade’s edge starts below this flat area. Saber ground blades usually have a clip point and pronounced swedges (pictured above) but these features, no matter how radical, are not what defines a saber-ground blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Saddlehorn Pattern
A curved regular jack with a pronounced upsweep at its head end and a bulbous head area is called a “saddlehorn.” It is an old and fairly scarce pattern, only found in larger sizes (around 4-1/2″).
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Saddler’s Knife
A fixed blade knife having a semi-circular blade, 4″ to 6″ wide, attached to a short, bulbous handle. Used by saddlers, harness makers, shoemakers, etc. to cut leather.
Salesman’s Sample Knife
A salesman’s demonstration knife with the manufacturer’s identifying number’s, etc. marked on a blade with acidic cutler’s ink. Sometimes it will have handle scales of different materials.
You do not have permission to do that
Sambar Stag
Antler material from the Sambar deer of India and South East Asia. Sambar deer are protected, but shed their large antlers annually, and the shed antlers are collected by local people and sold for use by craftsmen. See: Stag
San Mai
A laminated blade with hard steel sandwiched between two layers of softer steel/iron.
Satanic Dagger
A European ritual dagger having an elaborately crafted handle in the form of a demon.
Sausage Knife (Sausage Sampler)
See: Melon Tester.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Scabbard
In use, folding knives are carried in the pocket, hung on a pocket or belt by a clip, or carried in a belt pouch, sometimes called a holster (not, as so many eBay users insist, in a “case”). Fixed blade knives and swords are carried in a scabbard or sheath. Scabbard is the term preferred in military circles.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Scalpel (Blade)
A type of surgical blade found on both fixed and folding medical instruments. It is leaf-shaped with an acute point. Note: ink erasers are frequently mis-identitifed as scalpels.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Scalping Knife
A North American Indian trade knife with a 7″ (more or less) flat ground blade and a wooden handle, diamond-shaped in cross section. (Illustration from Smith’s Key, 1816)
You do not have permission to do that
Fixed Blade Types
Scarificator
A type of mechanical fleam used on humans. It looks like a brass cube, approximately 1 1/2″ across, with a “trigger” protruding from the top and eight to twelve small blades, powered by an internal spring, on the bottom. The spring is cocked by a lever and when released by the trigger the blades rotate making multiple cuts simultaneously.
Scout Knife
Any knife, usually a utility pattern, made specifically for the official scouting organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc. A utility pattern that is NOT one authorized by the scouts is not a scout knife – it is simply a utility pattern knife. (Do not confuse utility “pattern” with “utility knife” which is hollow-handled with a replaceable, sliding blade that is used for slicing up boxes, carpet, and other rough work.)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Scrimshaw
Engraving or carving on natural materials such as ivory, bone, horn, etc. The engraving is filled with pigment to bring out the detail. Mass-production modern knives advertised as “scrimshaw” are plastic with molded or pressed detail.Featured photo: Color scrimshaw by Sandra Brady on a Randall Made knife (SharpByCoop photo)
You do not have permission to do that
Seal Cap
Physician’s pattern knives, and many older pruners, have a metal cap opposite the blade end, which covers the entire end of the knife preventing dust and dirt from becoming packed between the spring, liners, and scales of the handle.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Second-cut Stag
After the outside, textured layer (sometimes called the “bark”) is sliced from a thick antler a “second cut” can be taken and jigged like bone, for making handle scales. See: Stag.
Secret Knife
Any knife which has a concealed or “secret” mechanism for opening its blade(s).
Seed Pick
Some fruit knives have a short tool with a blunt end as a second blade. It is for digging seeds or pits out of the fruit. It should not be confused with the similar manicure tool, on some lobster patterns and gentlemen’s knives, which has a file on its inner surface.
Senator Pattern
An Equal-End Pen knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Serpentine (Handles, Pattern)
A handle which has a slight “S” curve. The extreme variations are the sowbelly and the saddlehorn. (“Serpentine”= snakelike)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Seton Needle
A needle used to introduce a bristle (seta), or silk thread, under the skin to cause irritation; thought to “distract” the body from some other area of distress. The large ones found on folding knives are for use on cattle.
Sgian Dubh
(Pronounced “Ski’-ain DOO”) – A small single edged knife typically worn in the stocking with traditional Scottish dress.
You do not have permission to do that
Shear Steel
Shear steel is made by breaking up pieces of cast steel and forging them into a solid mass.
Sheath Knife
Any fixed blade knife which is intended to be carried in or with a blade covering device, sometimes highly decorative, and designed to protect the owner from being cut.
You do not have permission to do that
Fixed Blade Types
Sheepfoot Blade (Sheepsfoot Blade)
A blade with a straight cutting edge, and a spine that is parallel to the edge and curves almost ninety degrees downward at the blade’s end. See also: Lamb Foot, Wharncliffe.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Sheffield Pattern Lobster (Sheffield Lobster)
A sleeveboard lobster which has the back edges of it handles cut away down to the backspring and a long, full-width manicure tool lying in the recess.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Shield
A small metal plate attached to a knife handle for decoration or as a place for an inscription. Shields come in many different named shapes. See chart of shield shapes. On a fixed blade knife, the shield is called an “Escutcheon.”
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Shoulder
The place where the blade’s grinding stops and the tang begins is called the shoulder. See the illustration of the parts of a blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Skeleton Knife
An incomplete knife which includes the assembled liners, blades, and spring(s), and is sold to jewelers who design and attach their own handle scales.
Sleeveboard Pattern
A handle die with rounded ends and straight sides which taper slightly. It looks like the little ironing boards that used to be used to iron shirt sleeves.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Slot Knife
A folding knife, fork, and/or spoon combination which can be taken apart into two or three pieces for use. Typically there are studs or extensions of the liner on one part that fit into “slots” in the liner of the other part(s), holding the pieces together for carrying. See: Hobo.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Sloyd Knife
A fixed blade, manual training knife of Sweden. Sloyd means “dexterity” in Swedish.
You do not have permission to do that
Fixed Blade Types
Smatchet
A combat knife with a large, leaf-shaped, double-edged blade.
Smoker’s Knife
A multi-bladed knife which includes tools useful to the smoker, such as a pipe tamper, pipe cleaning tool, cigar fork, cigar cutter, or a long thin punch which is pushed down the center of a cigar to make as airway. Read about: Cigar Cutter.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Snap
See: Walk & Talk
Sowbelly
A larger serpentine knife with a very pronounced curvature is called a Sowbelly. Misuse of this term has become popular in recent years due to the Sowbelly’s popularity, a Sowbelly is ONLY in the pictured handle shape, and no other.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Spear Point Blade
A folding knife blade where the edge and spine are nearly parallel and each curves equally toward the tip.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Spey Blade
A blade with a parallel spine and edge terminating with the edge sweeping up almost to the spine and having a short, clipped-off end. Used in cattle castration applications as well as plant budding and as an ink eraser, but the same term is used for each. (“Spey” = to remove the ovaries of a female animal, but the blade is more intended for castrating males.) “Spay” is common mis-spelling.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Spey Knife (Speying Knife)
A veterinary knife, with one spey blade and one long (2″ or so), thin tang that terminates in a short turned-down portion which is sharpened on the inside; used to convert roosters to capons. For sterilization purposes, the handles are usually made of metal. Small ones with upturned handles (as pictured) are commonly called “Rooster Nutters”.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Split Spring
A forked or branching spring typically found in lobster pattern pen knives. (Illustration from the Winchester Model Drawings notebook, available in our Digital Library)
Knife Parts
Split-Spring Whittler (Split-Backspring Whittler)
See “Whittler” below; this term is a permissible exception to the definition because it is the antecedent technology to modern whittlers. Some whittlers have their springs lying side by side, touching each other. Other whittlers have a tapered divider (See: Whittler, Tapered Divider; also Whittler, Catch Bit) between them so that at the two-blade end the individual springs are held apart. However, a true split-spring whittler has ONE solid spring that is literally split into two parts for about half of its length (from the two-blade end.) True split-backspring whittlers date from the 19th century and are rare.
Lockback Split-Backspring Whittlers actually exist though they are extremely rare, the locking latch is a separate piece but the spring that operates the latch and the two secondary blades is a single piece.
See also: Split-Spring Jack; Whittler, Tapered Divider
Folding Knife Patterns
Sportsman’s Knife
A large multi-blade knife which carries useful tools such as a saw, gimlet, corkscrew, file, toothpick, tweezers, etc. Useful to the outdoorsman. A Sportsman’s Knife with a hoof pick is called a Horseman’s Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Spotted Horn
Translucent cattle horn can be spattered with sulphuric or nitric acid, which turns the horn dark brown, to simulate tortoise shell. Unlike real tortoise shell, the color is only on the surface, not completely through the material. This material is extremely common on older straight razors, which were rarely made of genuine tortoise shell.
You do not have permission to do that
Handle Materials
Springer
A specific type of automatic knife mechanism which releases the blade by means of a lever mounted on one side. Often these knives are German made.
Spud
The thin, blunt section of the handle of a grafting knife which is used to hold the host tree’s bark open while inserting the cutting. Generally fixed and the head end of the handle (as pictured), occasionally it is a folding “blade”. Alternately, a dull, beveled “horn” near the tip of the knife’s blade, for the same purpose.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Square and Clean Joint
Found on early folders: when the tang of the blade is flush with the end of the bolsters while the knife is closed, and half open, it is said to be a square and clean (or clean and square) joint. This geometry positions the hinge pin close to the edge of the bolsters and makes for a weak joint.
Knife Parts
Square Bolsters
When a bolster is flat on top it is called a square bolster, regardless of whether it has corners or bevels. See the illustration of the styles of bolsters.
Stabilized (Wood, Etc.)
Porous materials, such as wood, infused with plastic or epoxy to make them hard and durable for use in knife handles.
Stag
The antlers of the mammals forming the family Cervidae – deer, elk, moose, etc. commonly used as handle material for knives.
Stainless Steel
Any alloy of iron infused with chromium and/or other elements which impart resistance to discoloration and corrosion.
Blade Materials|Handle Materials
Stamp
A mark made in metal by striking it with a pre-cut tool (the “die”). Also, the act of making such a mark. Manufacturer’s information is usually stamped on the tang of a blade. Solid metal handles are sometimes struck with a die (die-stamped or coined) to impart text or pictures. See Etch and Engraving.
Station Knife
An Australian rancher’s knife.
Steak Knife
A long butcher knife used for slicing steaks, called a “steak slicer” or, when curved and pointed, a “scimitar (or cimeter) steak knife.” Starting in the 1930s small, sharp, dinner knives, often serrated, were sold as “steak” knives for use with roasted or broiled meats.
You do not have permission to do that
Steel
An alloy of iron saturated with carbon to allow it to be hardened. Addition of other elements changes the toughness and stain resistance of the metal. Steels are designated by a series of letters and numberrs denoting their specific content, such as 440C, ATS-34, A-2, 5160, CPMS30V, etc.
Sterile Knife (or Blade)
A knife with no identifying or maker’s markings.
Stiletto
A slender dagger. Also, loosely, a pointy folding knife in the Italian style.
Fixed Blade Types|Folding Knife Patterns
Stock Knife (Stockman, Stockman’s Knife)
See: Premium Stock Knife
Folding Knife Patterns
Stone
Both natural and reconstituted stone makes beautiful and unique knife handles. A wide variety is available to factory and custom makers and is used both for single-piece handles and in “mosaic” handles composed of multiple pieces inlaid in patterns.
Strikefire
Some 18th and 19th century folding knives have thick plates covering their backspring(s) for striking a flint to start a fire. Alternately, some large English folding knives with extra-heavy blades were stamped, near the spine of the blade, “Strike Fire Here.”
Sub Hilt
A second single-ended guard on the handle of a fighting knife, mounted just below the main guard, and which fits between the first and second fingers of the user’s hand.
Sunfish Lobster Pattern
An equal-end lobster pinched at its center and with candle ends.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Sunfish Pattern
A large (3 3/4″ long or more and over one inch wide) double-ended jack knife with a massive spearpoint main blade and a secondary blade as large as many main blades in smaller knives. While most often found on an equal end handle die, it is sometimes found as a sleeveboard or swell-center. Also called the “Elephant’s Toe Nail,” “Old English Rope Knife,” and “Vest Pocket Axe”.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Sunk Joint, Fully & Partially
As you trace along the spine of a folding blade, away from the tip, there is a spot where it drops down at a 90 degree angle. This is the “run up.” It is the part of the blade which strikes the spring upon opening. Usually the run up shows above the edge of the knife as a sharp corner, which can tear one’s pocket, when the blade(s) is closed. If, when the blade is closed, there is no part of the run up showing above the handle the knife is said to have fully sunk joints. This is usually considered a sign of a better quality knife. If a very small amount of the run-up shows it is called a “partially” sunk joint.
Swedge
The area along the spine of a blade, starting at the tip and generally extending about one-third of the way toward the tang, which is beveled somewhat creating a “false” (unsharpened) edge. On multiple-bladed knives it allows access to the nail nicks of parallel blades. Not to be confused with a “clip” point. On a fixed blade knife, a swedge is usually called a “False Edge” whether or not it is sharpened/
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Swell-Center
When a handle’s edge has a distinct widening at a point near its center (and then, generally, narrows again) it is called a swell-center. This term can modify almost any pattern name but in some cases this feature changes the pattern name. E.g. there is no “swell-center senator” pattern; it is simply called a swell center pen knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Coke Bottle
A Swell Center Jack that is wider on the cap end than the bottom end; the term is typically associated with folding hunters (0ver 5″ closed). Derived, obviously, from its similarity to an old fashioned bottle of Coca-Cola. See: Swell-Center Jack
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Swiss Army Knife
The first knives made specifically for the Swiss military were made by Wenger & Co. in Germany in 1890. The first Swiss-made knives for the Swiss military were made by Karl Elsener in 1891. His firm eventually became Victorinox. Over the years several court cases have affirmed that only Victorinox and their major competitor, Wenger, could legally use the phrase “Swiss Army Knife” in their advertising. In 2005 Victorinox purchased Wenger.
You do not have permission to do that
Switchblade
Another term for an “automatic knife.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Chisel Grind
A blade made with all the beveling toward its edge done on one side. The opposite side is completely flat.
Tactical Grind
See: Chisel Grind.
Tang Stamp
The information (brand name, trademark, pattern number, etc.) stamped on the tang of a pocket knife.
Tang [Folding Knife]
The flat un-sharpened area of a folding knife’s blade where it pivots in the handle. This area is usually stamped with the maker’s information. Note: On a fixed-blade knife the unsharpened area where the blade meets the guard and/or the handle is called the “ricasso.” The tang of a fixed-blade knife is the part inside the handle. See: Ricasso, Tang [Folding Knife]
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Tanto
A type of Japanese short sword.
You do not have permission to do that
Tenaculum
A “blade” found on folding medical instruments; essentially a thin hook with a needle-like point.
Tenotome
A type of surgical blade found on folding medical instruments. It is a small scalpel at the end of an extended tang.
Texas Toothpick
Another name for the Tickler Pattern.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Thumb Lancet
A small (2″ or so), springless, thin, double-edged blade for phlebotomy (bleeding). Its two covers are not connected and rotate independantly. It is held by the thumb and forefinger and plunged to create the puncture, hence the name.
Tickler
A clasp knife pattern, usually 5″ or more in length, with a pronounced taper at the head end. It carries a single clip point blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Tobacco Knife
A larger congress or whittler pattern that does not have a manicure blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Tool Kit Knife
A knife which is included in a pouch or folding case containing a handle and a variety of interchangeable tools such as a file, screwdriver, chisel, hammer, bottle opener, etc. The handle, typically an equal-end jack, has a large spear point blade at on end and the opposite end has a provision for attachment of any of the tools. Large kits often have two handles and a separate pair of pliers. Some handles can also hold a tool at their middle.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Toothpick
Commonly, a Tickler pattern knife. Also see “Arkansas Toothpick” and “Texas Toothpick”; also an actual toothpick contained in the handle of a folding knife such as a Sportsman’s Pattern.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Tortoise Shell
A beautiful mottled brown and translucent material cut from the shell of sea turtles. Once popular on high-grade cutlery, it had largely been replaced by celluloid by the early 1900s. Tortoise shell slabs were often under-laid with gold foil when used for knife handles. Its use is currently restricted by environmental protection laws.
Trapper, Large (Large Trapper)
See: Jumbo Trapper
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Trapper, Light (Light Trapper)
A trapper built on a 3 3/4″ Slim Reverse Dogleg Jack handle die, it is slightly more slender than the standard trapper. See: Trapper, Standard.
Folding Knife Patterns
Trapper, Standard (Standard Trapper)
A jack knife with two equal-length blades, one being a clip point and the other being a long spey. About 4″ to 4 1/4″ long and built on a long Reverse Dogleg Jack handle die. A single blade knife on the trapper frame is called a Single Blade Trapper or one blade trapper. See: Trapper, Large; Trapper, Double-Ended; Trapper, Light; Trapper Jack
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Trousse
A set of hunting knives and associated tools, carried together in a single sheath. The term is also applied to a Far-Eastern sheath, often highly decorated, holding a single-edged knife for food preparation and a set of chop sticks.
Utility Pattern Knife
A large equal-end knife which traditionally carries four blades/tools: a full-length blade, a can opener, a screwdriver/bottle-cap lifter combination, and a leather awl. The typical official Boy Scouts of America knife is a utility pattern (See: Scout Knife). In Europe this knife usually has two extra blades on the back, one of which is usually a corkscrew. The Europeans refer to these knives generically as “pradels” although there is also a French manufacturer named Pradel; in America we refer to them as Six-Blade Utility Knives
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Vendetta Knife
A folding version of the Mediterranean dagger, popular in Corsica. Typically, the handle tapers from its head toward a single, long bolster which flares dramatically at the pivot point.
Walk & Talk
When a pocket knife blade is approximately 90% open or closed it should quickly “snap” the last 10% or so of the way under the power of its spring, without having to be pushed. Collectors then say the blade “walks and talks.” In recent years this term has been widely replaced by “snap.”
Whaler, New England
A small rope knife. The whaler does not have a bail.
Wharncliffe Blade
A blade with a straight cutting edge and a long, gently arced spine ending in an extremely acute point. The blade is named in honor of Lord Wharncliffe, the man who designed it, and who was a patron of Joseph Rodgers & Sons of Sheffield, England. This term has been misused a lot in recent years as blades with straight and slightly concaved edges have become increasingly popular. See also: Sheepfoot Blade, Lamb Foot Blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Wharncliffe Pen Knife
A serpentine pen knife with a very pronounced taper and curve; in the 19th century it would have had a Wharncliffe blade at its larger end but later examples do not necessarily carry that specific blade. Technically, these later examples with clip or spear point master blades should be classified as Serpentine Pen Knives. See also: Serpentine Pen Knife, Baby Copperhead
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Whittler (all)
A “whittler,” in collector terms, is not necessarily a knife for whittling, but a technical term for a specific style of knife construction. “Whittler” is considered a pattern, but a whittler can be made on any handle die. They can be pen knives, cattle knives, stockmen, lobsters, or other styles, but they always have three blades (four in the case of a lobster whittler.) To some collectors, a whittler must have three cutting blades (no nail files or the like). But here’s one universal truth: the large blade on one end always falls between the two blades on the opposite end when closed.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Wire Jack
A folding knife having the handle formed from bent wire. Invented by George Schrade.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Wood
The most popular woods used on old factory folders are cocobolo, ebony, rosewood, and walnut. Custom knifemakers use a wide variety of more exotic woods with dramatic colors and grain patterns. Wood can be dyed and/or cut into thin slabs and laminated for dramatic effect. See: Stabilized
Wootz
The original damascus steel, also known as crucible damascus steel. This is not a welded damascus steel, its patterning comes from its structure as initially formed in the crucible.
Blade Materials
Worm Groove (Bone)
Some manufacturers cut long, extra-wide grooves into their bone handles in addition the basic jigging. These grooves are thought to represent channels made in the bone by “worms” (or insects), and are supposedly a desirable aesthetic characteristic. Cattaraugus initiated this design element calling it “Indian Trail.”[caption id=”attachment_77960″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]
You do not have permission to do that
Handle Materials
Wrench Knife
Similar to the plier knife but having a wrench attached to or integral to the handle.
Zytel®
DuPont’s trademarked name for a modern plastic material made of fiberglass-reinforced nylon, introduced in 1985. It is usually black but can be made in other colors. Zytel and similar FRN products have become the de-facto standard handle material for less expensive hard-use knives of modern construction.
Handle Materials
Pattern
A word about knife shapes: The specific names that are given to the different shapes and styles of knives are called “patterns.” A knife’s pattern name can be based on the handle die, or shape of the handle (e.g. fishtail jacks), a specific function of the knife (e.g. pruners), or a specific design feature (e.g.whittlers). There are dozens of these terms and descriptive modifiers. A handle die can have its own pattern name but with a particular blade, or combination of blades, be given a different pattern name.
Equal-End Jack
An equal-end jack has equally-rounded bolsters at both ends and straight, or nearly straight sides. There are wide and very narrow Equal-End Jacks, whearas equal-end pen knives are usually narrow.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Slim Jack
A slim jack is a regular jack that is more narrow, relative to its length, than a regular jack.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Sleeveboard Jack
Jack knife employing a handle die with straight sides which taper slightly and is widest at the pivot end. It looks like the diminutive ironing board used to press shirt sleeves.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Jack Knife
A knife with all its blades pivoting at the same end and on the same side (a single-bladed knife is automatically a jack knife). See: Pen Knife and Multi-blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Swayback Jack
A jack with a pronounced downward curve and often a pronounced, rounded end. The blade folds into the convex portion of the handle shape.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Swell-End Jack (Teardrop Jack)
A Regular or Sleeveboard jack which has a pronounced swell or “pear” shape opposite the blade end. Sometimes called a “teardrop.” Commonly confused with the Regular Jack, which has a straight taper to the handle. See: Regular Jack.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Easy Opener Pattern
Any pattern of knife with a half-round notch cut into the handle top allow grasping the blade with a thumb and finger. Easy openers are often built on Swell End Jack frames but can be built as other patterns, such as Regular Jacks. Not to be confused with “Nail Reliefs.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Teardrop Jack
See: Swell-End Jack
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Swell-Center Jack
If you take a jack knife and widen the center of the handle, so that it swells out and then narrows again, it becomes a Swell-Center jack. If wider at the head end, the shape is commonly referred to as a “Coke Bottle” knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Stabber Jack
A single-bladed (sometimes double bladed) jack knife with a false edge along the spine of the blade used to be called a “Stabber Jack.” Usually built on a Swell Center or Coke Bottle shaped Frame. “Stabber Pattern” was used long ago to denote very inexpensive Regular Jacks.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Gunstock Jack
A (usually, fairly small) Swell-Center Jack variant on which the swell on the blade side does not narrow toward the non-blade end. The handle resembles a rifle stock. See: Crown Jack (similar pattern).
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Serpentine Jack
A jack knife with a serpentine shape (aka Premium Jack). This pattern does NOT taper significantly from one end to the other. If there is a pronounced taper to the handles, and the blades pivot at the small end, the pattern is called a “Dogleg” or “Reverse Dogleg” depending on which way the cap end curves.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Wharncliffe Jack
A Serpentine Jack with an even more pronounced taper and the blades pivoted at the wide end. The Wharncliffe is usually a smaller knife and should have a Wharncliffe blade although most made since the 19th Century do not. Named in honor of Lord Wharncliffe, a patron of Joseph Rodgers & Sons of Sheffield, England.
Folding Knife Patterns
Slim Serpentine Jack
A long (around four inches) and narrow Serpentine Jack with a clip blade and a pen secondary blade.
Eureka Jack
This pattern is a Swell-Center Serpentine with the blades pivoted at the narrow end and round cap bolsters. Western States called it the “Eureka” pattern.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Surveyor Pattern
Essentially a Swell-Center Canoe Pattern, though the shaping is usually more subtle.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Bowtie
See: Fishtail Jack
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Double-End Jack
Some knives with blades at both ends are too large and robust to be called “pen” knives. These are referred to a “Double-End Jacks.” Many knives that are technically double end jacks are referred to by specific names: e.g. Sunfish, Muskrat, Moose, Jumbo Sleeveboard, etc.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Moose
A Double-end Jack knife with two large, equally long blades.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Texas Jack
Another name for the “Moose” Pattern.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Harness Jack (Harness Knife)
A Jack Knife, in any of several patterns, which carries a large main blade and a punch as the second blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Janitor’s Knife
An Electrician’s Knife with the addition of a Pruning, or Hawkbill blade.
Grafting Knife
A grafting knife is used in the process of attaching a small, living limb (the “cutting”) of one species of tree onto a limb or the trunk (the “stock”) of another species by making an incision into the bark of the host tree and inserting and sealing the cutting in it so that the cutting becomes part of the host tree. Budding is the same process using a bud rather than a cutting. The blade of a grafting knife is usually a spey and a specialized, non-metallic tool called a “spud” is often attached to, or folds out of, or is integral to the opposite end of the handle. Some grafting knives have a beveled hump, near the blade’s tip, which serves as the spud. The spud is used to hold open the incision while placing the cutting.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Florist’s Knife
A slim serpentine, or double-ended jack knife, with “Say It With Flowers” inscribed on the plastic handles. Florist’s knives have a sheepfoot, or sheepfoot and spey, blade(s).
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Yachtsman’s Knife
A type of rope knife with a non-locking “marlin spike.” See also: Riggers knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Sailor’s Knife
See: Rope Knife; Rigging Knife; New England Whaler; Yachtsman’s Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Timber Scribe
See: Rase Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Spatula Knife
A barehead slim or sleeveboard jack which carries a flexible spatula as its only blade. They were used by pharmacists for working with pills and powders and by artists as palette knives.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Barlow
1) A barehead regular jack with an extra-long bolster. It is usually a less expensive knife, with plain handles but can occasionally be found with premium handles such as stag or pearl. The common barlow knife is about 3 3/8″ long but “daddy” barlows and “grandaddy” barlows can be five inches long. 2) The name of a 17th and 18th century family of cutlers from Sheffield, England, credited with developing the pattern. 3) Currently the name of a Japanese manufacturer of inexpensive, all-metal, promotional knives.
You do not have permission to do that
Trapper, Double-Ended
An exception to the “jack knife” rule (see: trapper, standard); an equal-end handle-die trapper with the clip and spey blades at opposite ends. Typified by the Remington R4353 Bullet Pattern and its smaller brother, the R4466 Baby Bullet. Commonly called a “Large Muskrat” pattern, which is incorrect as the blade configuration does NOT follow the Muskrat knife’s standard of having two pointy clip blades.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Sleeveboard Pen
Pen knife with a handle die having straight sides which taper slightly.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Wharncliffe Knife
Generally, a Wharncliffe Pen Knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Blade Lifts
Small extensions out of, or tiny knobs attached to, the spine of a pen knife’s blade to facilitate grasping and opening the blade.
Knife Parts
Feist Knife
An antique spelling of “feast” knife. Before forks came into popular use people often used their knife to scoop food from their plate. A feast knife (usually a springless knife with a curved handle) had a wide blade which could flare to over an inch at the tip, which served as a blade and a “spoon” for eating.
Physician’s Knife
A long, thin, regular jack knife which has a flat, one-piece, “seal cap” covering the entire head-end of the knife. The sealed end was used by old-time physicians as an emergency pestle to grind up pills, making them easier to swallow when mixed with water. If the bolsters, liners, and springs are exposed at the knife’s head the medicine could get impacted between those parts and/or oil from the knife could mix into the medication. Some doctor’s knives also have a folding spatula as one of the blades. A long, slim, jack without a seal cap is a “slim jack.”
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Half Stop
If a knife’s tang is flat at the back end the blade stops distinctly when it is opened or closed half-way (90 degrees). This is called a half-stop. The tang of the above blade features a half-stop.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Slipjoint
A slipjoint is one of the most common types of folding knife. It consists of a handle with one or more blades held in position by a back spring which biases them in the open or closed position.
You do not have permission to do that
Fish Gaff Blade
A blade usually found in a specialized Fish Gaff Pattern, pointed on the end and with a U-curved shape about 1 1/4″ across, for lifting a fish into the net.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Fleam Blade
A short, double-edged blade is made as an extension on the side of a long tang. Fleam blades 1/2″ wide or more are veterinary instruments. They were struck, on the blade’s spine, with a “bloodstick.” Single, folding fleams are sometimes found mounted next to a liner, and without a spring, in horseman’s knives. Do not confuse Ink Erasers with fleams or scalpels.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Ink Eraser Blade
A short, double-edged blade used to “erase” ink by scraping it from parchment, vellum, and paper.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Spay
Common misspelling of “Spey” (the knife term). See Spey Blade, Spey Knife.
Budding Blade
Blade with a dull, beveled “horn” near its tip, to serve as a spud in a budding knife.
You do not have permission to do that
Blade Shapes
Tang [Fixed Blade Knife]
The Tang of a fixed-blade knife is the part inside the handle. On a fixed-blade knife, the unsharpened area where the blade meets the guard and/or the handle is called the “Ricasso.” See: Ricasso, Tang [Folding Knife]
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Jumbo Trapper (Mountain Man Pattern, Bullet Pattern)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Utility Knife, Six-Blade (Six-Blade Utility Knife)
A more European-styled version of the American Utility Knife with two extra blades on the back, one of which is usually a corkscrew. This pattern may or may not be equal ended. The Europeans refer to these knives generically as “pradels” although there is also a French manufacturer named Pradel; in America we refer to them as Six-Blade Utility Knives.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Baby Copperhead Pattern
A Serpentine Pen Knife that narrows towards one end, then swells wider at the very tip. (The ‘Copperhead” characteristic is that widening, see also: Copperhead Pattern)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Serpentine Pen Knife
A pen knife pattern having a handle which has a slight “S” curve. The handle may be tapered or untapered from end to end.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Copperhead Pattern
A jack knife with bolsters that widen significantly at the pivot end, typified by Case’s 6249 pattern (pictured). The Case C61050 is a Copperhead version of a Coke Bottle Folding Hunter (61050).
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Folding Guard [Folding Knives]
A folding guard is a guard that folds flat when the blade is closed, but moves into position when the blade is opened. Generally knives with this feature are rather large and have locking blades. A popular pattern with this feature is the Case 61011-1/2, commonly known as the “Cheetah”.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Folding Guard [Fixed Blade Knives]
Guards that fold into the handle are rarely found on fixed blade knives, but examples (usually European-made) do exist.
Knife Parts
Split-Spring Jack
A Split-Spring Jack has ONE hand forged solid spring that is literally split into two parts for about half of its length (from the two-blade end.) These date from the 19th century and are rare. See: Split-Spring Whittler
Folding Knife Patterns
Whittler, Lobster (Lobster Whittler)
A Lobster Whittler is a lobster pattern knife constructed as a whittler on ‘top’ but with the two springs working against both the master blade on top and the manicure blade on ‘bottom’. The two secondary blades are each worked against a single spring as is the case with a standard whittler. See also: Whittler
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Whittler, Three-Backspring (Three-Backspring Whittler)
Technically, a knife with three blades and three backsprings cannot be a whittler because it violates the basic principle of the master blade riding simultaneously on two backsprings. However, because collectors like whittlers and want as many as they can get, the “three backspring whittler” has become a ‘thing.’ These do, at least, fulfill the criteria of the master blade falling between the smaller two blades, but they use a separate “cap-end” (single-ended) backspring for each blade. These were often made in larger patterns and as such are very collectible. See also: WhittlerIf one were to take a three backspring whittler and place blades on both ends of the outer springs – a “five bladed whittler” has been created. See: Whittler, Five Blade.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Whittler, Five Blade (Five Blade Whittler, Five Bladed Whittler)
If you don’t think three-backspring whittlers are true whittlers, you’re really not going to like this one.Technically, a knife with five blades cannot be a whittler, and a knife with three backsprings cannot be a whittler. But since the “three backspring whitter” is a ‘thing’, some extend the concept by taking a three backspring whittler and placing blades on both ends of the outer springs. Voila, a five-bladed whittler!Essentially, this is the same thing as taking a four-blade knife with two springs, and putting another blade in the middle (riding on a single cap spring).Whatever you may call them (maybe just a five-blade penknife), these knives are rare and generally of very fine quality. See also: Whittler
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Whittler, Catch Bit (Catch Bit Whittler)
A type of whittler that uses a small spacer to separate the two smaller blades but does NOT separate the backsprings, allowing them to run parallel the length of the knife. The spacer is called a “catch bit,” so “catch bit whittler” seems like a good name for this type.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Whittler, Tapered Divider (Tapered Divider Whittler)
This view of a whittler’s backsprings shows the center liner that separates the two smaller blades at one end, and tapers down to nothing so both springs can apply tension to the master blade. It has become popular to use the modern (and misleading) term “Split Backspring Whittler” for this, but a better term would be “Tapered Liner” or “Tapered Divider” whittler. The reason why “Split Backspring Whittler” is a poor term for this is because a few early 19th century English whittlers actually used a single hand forged backspring that was split halfway up so as to operate all three blades. See: Split-Spring (Whittler)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Muskrat, Large (Large Muskrat)
See: Trapper, Double-Ended
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Trapper Jack
A jack knife that utilizes the same 4″ to 4 1/4″ long Reverse Dogleg Jack handle die as a trapper, but with a clip point master blade and secondary pen blade. (Center knife in photo) See: Trapper, Standard
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
FRN
See: Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon
Handle Materials
Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon
More commonly known by the trademarked name originated by its developer, DuPont, fiberglass-reinforced nylon was introduced in 1985 and has become the de-facto standard handle material for less expensive hard-use knives of modern construction. It is usually black but can be made in other colors. See also: Zytel®
Handle Materials
Sheath
A blade covering device, sometimes highly decorative, and designed to protect the owner from being cut while the knife is being stored or transported.
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Pistol
Any knife with a pistol built into it or a pistol with a knife blade attached or folding out of it. In the first case it is considered a “disguised weapon” and a Federal Tax Stamp is required to legally own it. (Pictured, Sheffield made Unwin & Rodgers knife pistol, percussion model, mid-19th century; from the cover story of the December 2016 edition of KNIFE Magazine)
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Quillion
Common mis-spelling of Quillon, popularized by its accidental use in Harold Petersen’s influential book “American Knives” (1958).
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Cap Lifter Knife
See: Bottle Opener Knife
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Notch Hollow
See: Nail Relief
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Nail Relief
A small groove cut into the inner edge of a liner/handle for access to the pull. Also referred to as a Notch Hollow. (Illustration from the Winchester Model Drawings notebook, available in our Digital Library)
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Scale
See: Handle Scale
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Shackle
See: Bail
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Bail
A metal loop on one end of a knife’s handle, used to secure the knife to a lanyard, chain or other means of retention. (Illustration from the Winchester Model Drawings notebook, available in our Digital Library)
You do not have permission to do that
Knife Parts
Bale
Bail, mis-spelled.
Chiropodist Knife
See: Corn Knife
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Church Window Pattern
A distinctly English pattern which is similar to the American Trapper, the Church Window is a 3-1/2″ t0 4″ Reverse Dogleg Jack or Curved Jack with an extra long bolster that is usually decorated with threading, a step down, etc. See also: Trapper, Standard.
You do not have permission to do that
Folding Knife Patterns
Cuticle Knife
A specialized manicure knife with a tiny blade, intended for maintenance of the cuticle and the proximal nail fold.
You do not have permission to do that
Fixed Blade Types
Spring Lancet
A small, spring-powered lancet that is cocked and released by a trigger, inflicting the wound suddenly (because nobody would sit still while a blade was hammered into their arm.)
You do not have permission to do that