[empofuniv]

About 20 yrs ago I was moved to a different work station at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego. As I tried to clean up the work area I found this tool stuck in the back of one of the drawers.

None of the folks working there could tell me what it was called or what it was used for. No telling how long it had been in that drawer as that hangar was in use from at least the 20's as per some aerial photos I saw of the base dated 1921.

It is 5 3/4" long total. Nice flat wood handle almost 3 1/2" long. Blade is only 2 1/4" long, but the cutting edge of the blade is only 1 3/4" long.

The cutting edge rounds up to the point of the curved front of the blade and the heart shaped raised area on the top of the blade seems to me to be a finger guard of some sort.

There is no identifying marks on the tool except the 4 lines of very small text on the handle end of the blade: Utica, Cutlery CO, Utica NY, Made in USA.

I'm not very conversant in woods, but the handle seems to be walnut or rosewood. I used it for yrs cutting tape and opening boxes and since it didn't seem to be government issue when I retired I took it with me. Have always wondered about it and would like to know what it was really supposed to be used for.

I have emailed to the Utica Cutlery Co, but no response yet.

 

[hawgsquatch]

It actually looks a little like a veterinary fleem used for bleeding animals. Perhaps it was a gasket scraper ?

 

[Terri in WV]

http://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-...utlery-ink-scraper-knife-rosewood-handle.html

 

[soulsurvivor]

http://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-...utlery-ink-scraper-knife-rosewood-handle.html

I guessed a letter opener but yes, that makes perfect sense to find an ink scraper in that type of work setting during that time. Really neat and thanks for sharing!

 

[empofuniv]

Oh TY Terri in WV...that is my little knife! When I 1st saw the description of ink scraper I thought it meant scraping dried ink to grind to make liquid ink. But then I saw the same knife listed as an eraser and as I thought about it I bet it was used to scrape ink off of things such as parts or crates etc. I know that there were some very old stencil forms in the same hangar turned warehouse, so at one time that might have been a labeling station of some sort.

I was interested to read the the handles described as walnut or rosewood...guess all that time spent watching Antiques Roadshow hasn't been a total waste of my time as those are the woods that came to my mind when trying to describe the handle!

Now I'm thinking that I need to send Utica Cutlery another email and tell them it is an ink scraper knife.

Thanks folks...what a wealth of knowledge is on this site, and the generosity to shape that knowledge is nothing short of terrific!

 

[Trixie]

It also looks a lot like an antique bloodletting knife. I have one that looks just like it, the blade does, but the handle is some sort of older plastic - maybe bone.