Cattaraugus Knives

So at Son's suggestion I picked one up on the bay to start increasing my ODC collection.

Fascinating knife. Sort of a 8" chef/suji blend. All the chef's knives I saw on the bay are like this so I guess they never made anything with any belly whatsoever or with anything approaching a forgie profile.

Is chrome plated(!) over what they describes as carbon/vanadium steel with the usual cautions to dry after use. Seems to sharpen up really easily and really well.

Can anyone tell me more about this steel and the company??

TIA

The Cattaraugus Cutlery Company began as the New York distribution company J.B.F. Champlin and Son, founded by John Champlin and his son Tint in 1882. The Champlins expanded into knife production, and along with William R. Case and his brothers, they formed Cattaraugus Cutlery in 1886, based in Little Valley. The company hired expert cutlers from Germany, England, and other U.S. manufacturers, to produce high quality cutlery. Admiral Byrd selected Cattaraugus knives to take on his expedition to the South Pole.

Over time, the Case family separated from Cattaraugus to form W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co., incorporated in 1905. Cattaraugus closed business in 1963. The building still stands in Little Valley, abandoned for decades and in an effectively unusable condition, with its roof partially collapsed.

here is a little blurb on the company I found. They also had contracts with the military. The knives are tough and durable. They take a keen edge. During the 50's a lot cutlery companies had chrome lines, It was the jet age after all.lol The chrome acted as an anti corrosion coating before the mass production of stainless steel.

Chrome knives tend to chip at the edge when sharpening them UNLESS you sharpen edge trailing but that's no guarantee. When the chrome chips at the edge it usually lifts up a section and allows moisture underneath which then leads to rust and even more chipping and pealing. The collector market searches for unused/unsharpened chrome versions for this reason.

Just got a 150mm petty by Cattaraugus. Very thin overall, but not tapered so relatively chunky at the tip...was thin enough at the spine that I struggled a little to get a shaving edge on it. Not bad, but not quite what I was hoping for.

So Dave, maybe the best way to sharpen these is sandpaper on a mousepad??

gic said:

So Dave, maybe the best way to sharpen these is sandpaper on a mousepad??

Click to expand...

Stones would work just fine.