Description
WW2 Knife Crafters fighting knife made from old cavalry saber, engraved blade, original leather scabbard; identified to US Navy Research Lieutenant Calvin R. Kemerer. Rare one-of-a-kind type in excellent overall condition, considering the age. FREE EXPEDITED SHIPPING WITHIN THE U.S. FOR THIS ITEM.
Rare and certainly one-of-a-kind WW2 era fighting knife made by Knife Crafters of Philadelphia of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA, from on old American Civil-War era cavalry saber. The knife has the original owner’s name, serial, and service branch finely engraved on one side. Original scabbard is also stamped with the owner’s initials on the back. After some digging, I was able to identify the original owner as Calvin R. Kemerer (1905-1970), who held the rank of Lieutenant; Signal Corps Radio, US Navy Research (USNR) – see a copy of the Register of Commissioned & Warrant Officers of the US Navy record with his name and serial (attached in the photos).
This WW2 era fighting knife has a particularly interesting story of origin. During the first couple of years of WW2 the US servicemen had no standard-issue fighting knife and the military was desperately looking for a quick way to satisfy the demand for the much-needed fighting knives early in the War. After the Great War most of the cavalry sabers were just sitting on storage, collecting dust in the government arsenals. So someone came up with the idea of re-purposing these old (and by than obsolete weapons anyway) info fighting knives and daggers. A large quantity of WW1 era M1913 Patton Swords and older Civil War sabers were converted into somewhat crude, but very practical fighting knives and trench daggers such as this WW1 era M1913 Patton Saver conversion or another “Knife Crafters” fighter I have available for sale. The “Knife Crafters” fighting knives are some of the best known examples of such side arms. This exact “Knife Crafters” fighting knife type is illustrated on page 224 of the KNIVES OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY WORLD WAR II book by Michael W Silvey – a well-established expert and the author of a number of books on the subject of the US military edged weapons (see book’s scans attached).
This attractive fighting knife is about 12-1/8” / 30.8 cm overall; the blade is about 7” / 17.7 cm; the edge is razor-sharp still; original tip is intact. Knife Crafters had this labor-intensive but solid technique of welding a semi-curved handle to a piece of a blade and than brass-brazing the up-swept steel guard to the blade. The result was an excellent quality fighting knife with a superior balance and control. One side of the blade is finely engraved C.R. Kemerer, USNR in fine gothic font; the other side is engraved with his personal record number 275322, which is matching the number on the corresponding page of the Register of Commissioned & Warrant Officers of the US Navy I was able to find – see it attached in photos. The lower part of the handle is covered with the original cowhide leather; the handle is in excellent overall condition, considering the age. The handle is solid; all parts are tight with no play. Original brown leather scabbard is extremely well-done; most of the original stitching is intact; the leather is soft and supple; original keeper and the lower tip piece intended for a tiedown lanyard are MIA, unfortunately. The back panel is stamped with the owner’s initials C.R.K. in large bold letters.
Knife Crafters had always made a superior product; their knives and scabbards are always of high quality so their knives were quite popular with the GIs. Most of these handy fighting knives were used in the field as intended; finding a fine Knife Crafters specimen in such a great shape is pretty hard nowadays. This WW2 Knife Crafters fighting knife is a great find – today most of the surviving Knife Crafters fighting knives are in private collections and are off the market. This is one of the best WW2 era “non-regulation” US fighting knives with a lot of character AND in better-than-average condition for the type. Don’t miss your chance to add this rare WW2 Knife Crafters fighting knife to your collection!
This original WW-II era WW2 Knife Crafters fighting knife has not been cleaned or tampered with in any way, it is in 100% original “as is” condition. These are the actual photos; Garand clips are not included with the lot 😉 I have several fighting knives made from converted sabers, as well as some scarce WW1 and WW2 fighting daggers and trench knives available for sale – please take a look in our Militaria section.
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FREE EXPEDITED USPS PRIORITY MAIL SHIPPING WITHIN THE U.S. FOR THIS ITEM
International shipping for this item will be $55 and up to most countries on our “ship-to” list.
