The Wilkinson Etched Blade

A Study Of F-S Etchings & Wilkinson’s Long History Of Applying Acid Etchings To Their Knife Blades

By

Robert Wilkinson-Latham & Roy Shadbolt

Introduction

Makers of fine edged weapons have throughout history chosen to add their personal details in some way to their creations. From Japanese swordsmiths more than a thousand years ago to our contemporary bladesmiths, this tradition is well established and as prominent as ever. The marking of bladed weaponry can take many forms; hand engraving the tang of Tachi, Katana or Wakizashi was the preferred method of the Japanese master swordsmith, while stamping a makers logo (or other ordnance mark) became popular during the 19th Century in Europe and remained so throughout the next century - a quick study of the official markings on any British bayonet from any major conflict will testify to this. But it is acid-etching that when applied to a utilitarian tool or weapon can truly elevate it to a work of art. Using a pre-made wax paper pattern and a chemical process to adorn a blade with designs as elaborate or as simple as one chooses can elevate a weapon into a treasured work of art or status symbol occasionally suitable even for royalty. Up until the end of the 20th Century when the reigning British Monarch taps a newly appointed Knight on each shoulder have you ever considered who made that elaborately decorated sword? Well ‘yes’ Wilkinson’s of course. From the early years of the Victorian era and their pioneering work in the advancement of sword blades, Wilkinsons would set the benchmark for etching blades. In this article we will look back at Wilkinson’s long heritage of blade etching but understandably focus on their extraordinary undertaking in choosing to employ their master craftsmen in applying their skills to the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.

Wilkinson Sword’s long history in fine sword and edged weapon making is well documented and arguably for its time unsurpassed in the area of supplying the very best military swords, bayonets and knives to sportsmen, officers and fighting men throughout the world.  One of the many characteristics that has helped to cement this enviable reputation was Wilkinson’s desire to proudly mark their blades with ornate and high quality acid-etchings.  For many years this has been of great benefit and enjoyment to those who collect and research military swords.  Wilkinson, however, did not confine this highly-skilled and time-consuming addition to just their high quality swords, as many fine knives can also be found with their blades skillfully etched and on very rare occasions even the ubiquitous bayonets too.

From the very beginnings of their bespoke knife making during the Victorian era, through the Second World War and into modern times, Wilkinsons continued their tradition of etching knife blades and importantly for the F-S collector the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife was not left out (some Ministry of Supply contract knives being the exception).

Throughout its production many Wilkinson F-S Knives carried the two standard acid etched panels (the F-S & W-S etchings).  Although exceptions have been recorded, these two etched panels were the mainstay on Wilkinson F-S Knives, especially during the first half of the Second World War, as the demands of wartime production increased official contracted knives would dispense with this unnecessary adornment. 

This by no means is the end of the story as aside from these two ‘standard’ etchings there were many others, some elaborate and unique and others variations on a theme.  This has given us a wide and fascinating variety of beautiful etchings to study and collect.  In this article we are going to look at the etching process employed by Wilkinson and as well as the more common etchings previously mentioned, we will also briefly look at some of those rarer and more unique examples that have been discovered.

The Etching Process

Acid etching a blade, be it sword or knife, was a skilled and complex process that required patience, a steady hand and a sharp eye for quality.  It is quite astonishing when one contemplates the extra effort made by Wilkinson to etch their F-S Fighting Knives, especially with the shear quantity of knives and the war-time constraints placed upon them at that time.  Nevertheless, many Wilkinson F-S knives are indeed etched and the quality appears to have rarely faulted, a credit to the skilled men and women who played their part during a war-torn BritainThe process begins with warming the etching plate and the etcher had to make sure that the red beeswax mixture in the small metal saucepan was at the right consistency and temperature.  The beeswax mixture was spread on the plate with a pallet knife over the required design, ensuring complete coverage.  The plate area that had been 'waxed' was then scraped with a pallet knife to take any excess off the plate and ensure the wax was still firmly in the sunk design.  The plate was then carefully placed in the 'press’ and a thin ‘cigarette style’ paper  placed over the now waxed area.  

A board was then laid down over the etch plate.  The roller of the 'press'  was then moved to the bottom of the etch plate and tightened down evenly.  A lever was then operated to move the bed with etch plate through the rollers and then back.  The board was then removed and the transfers gently peeled off the plate.  The adjacent photograph shows a Wilkinson employee carefully peeling back the paper transfer after going through the press.

These transfers were then cut to be either a more manageable size or in the case of the F-S, the two designs (back and front) were cut to individual transfers.  As can be seen there are a number of each panels and if studied closely enough, minute differences can be seen.  These individual transfers were then placed on the blade in the correct place and rubbed over with a ‘bone’ so the wax design was stuck to the blade.  The transfer paper was then wetted and removed, leaving the wax design in place. 

Any touching up was done by hand with a fine brush and anti-acid  'stopping'.  Stopping was also applied to all areas of the blade that were to remain 'bright' such as around the transfer, top of the blade and bottom of the tang.  The final process was to paint over the blade parts to be etched with nitric acid using a glass rod with cotton wool-soaked acid on one end.  Above right is a post-war photograph of a worker seen during this process working on commemorative F-S blades, note the rack to his left full of F-S blades!  Once the design had ‘bitten’ after being left a predetermined time, the blade was washed off in cold running water to neutralize any remaining acid.

Standard & Non-Standard Etching Explained

When studying the etchings on Wilkinson F-S knives we can normally place them into two groups:  ‘standard’ and ‘non-standard’ (or special order).  Standard etching are those panels that we see on most Wilkinson Sword F-S Knives.  Essentially we are talking about the two small etching panels placed on the ricasso of the blade, namely the ‘F-S’ etching and the ‘Wilkinson Sword’ (or W-S) etching.   ‘Non-standard’ etchings are those that were essentially a special order either by an individual who required a ‘unique’ etching to commemorate something very specific and personal to them (their own name, rank, number, etc) or by Wilkinson Sword (or some other organization or person) who produced a small number of specially-etched knives (for example the ‘Tom Beasley’ or ‘Masonic’ knives).  Whichever group we are looking at there are inevitably variations within that particular group.  This is and will always be a huge topic to cover so what follows is a modest study of both types of etchings and is by no means definitive.  I have tried to look at differences and variations in the ‘standard’ etched panels while also looking at a variety of ‘special order’ etchings.

The Standard F-S Etching

All three patterns of F-S knives normally can be found with etchings on both sides of the blade, although very rarely a knife does turn up with just one etching panel (or none at all).  This is seldom seen and likely no more than an oversight in most cases.  The image shown above is of an original etching transfer paper prior to the individual plates being cut up for application onto the blade.  As we can see there are three different etchings, the simplest being the plate that reads ‘THE F-S FIGHTING KNIFE’.  Although there are two versions of this shown, it appears that just the border is different; the details seem to change little.  In the image at right we can see this standard F-S etching panel clearly.  On this occasion it is applied to a First Pattern knife.

To complete the trio of war-time patterns here is the F-S etching on a Second Pattern (left) and Third Pattern (right).  Unlike the highly polished First Pattern Blade the Second Pattern (at left) is fully blued and has been etched prior to the bluing process.  This has resulted in a very subdued image of the etching details.  The Third Pattern (at right) has a polished blade (although now grey with age.  In comparison this knife has had the etching panel applied after the polishing process resulting in a much more visible rendition.  The latter being much more often encountered.

The Standard Wilkinson Etching

Along with the ‘F-S’ etching most knives are found with Wilkinson’s own manufacture’s etching panel, but unlike the F-S it can be found in two distinct versions; ‘long’ and ‘short’.  The most often encountered Wilkinson etching is clearly the ‘short’ version.  This is the classic-crossed sword logo straddled by ‘WILKINSON SWORD Co Ltd LONDON’,.  The images at left show both types before and after application.

The ‘long’ version of the Wilkinson logo etching is almost identical to the previously mentioned ‘short’ example in that it still retains the traditional and now well-known ‘crossed-swords’ along with the company name.  However on this occasion the foliate design that is seen both top and bottom is now ever so slightly more elaborate and more elongated, hence causing the whole etching panel to appear longer.  This ‘long’ version of the W-S etching is not found on First Pattern knives but has been seen on both Second and Third Patterns.

Special Order Etchings

Non-standard etchings can fall into two sub-categories.  The first being those knives with unique etched panels, ‘one offs’ if you will.  These were knives privately ordered by individuals and for whatever reason had a personal etching panel most commonly seen within a ‘scroll’.  This was an option offered by Wilkinson when visiting their showroom at 53a Pall Mall, London.  If time allowed, this service was offered to anyone visiting to privately purchase or pick up an officially issued knife (via the ‘chit’ system).  The cost for this ‘personal’ etching was 1/6 (one shilling and six pence, around $7.60 or £4.75 in today’s currency).  It was possible to specify some details to be etched onto the blade.  Not all of these ‘scrolled banners’ are identical as a few different versions have been noted.  

For the most part the etched scrolls only contained a few brief personal details, sometimes no more than the owner’s initials but on occasion a knife turns up with a treasure trove of information, i.e. ‘name, rank, number’ and on rare occasion even more.  As we know from the 1943 memo there was an internal issue with some etching orders and it appears that some members of staff were perhaps a little too keen in their desire to accommodate customers wishes.

The Masonic Etching

The second category of ‘special order’ etching is made up of the knives that were not unique ‘one-off’ designs, but made in small quantities for a specific purpose or special order.  A good example of this is a two dozen batch of knives ordered by W.E. Fairbairn for him to give as gifts.  These used the much larger than usual etching which was known in house as the ‘Masonic’ etching.  

It appears that the idea was not lost on Wilkinson who went on to produced a similar knife for the same purpose but unlike the original Type I of Fairbairn’s knives, decided to use the more standard (for that time) Type III.  The reference to the ‘Full Trade Mark and Warrant as Masonic Blades’ is related to pre-war Masonic swords and daggers that were etched in this way, hence this style of etching and by association this Second Pattern F-S being referred to as ‘Masonic’. 

It is known that Wilkinson did keep knives on hand as gifts or for presentation purposes to VIP’s.  Interestingly, Wilkinson Sword were also presenting ‘Flak Jackets’ to the flight officers.  Not only were Wilkinson Sword manufacturers of these lifesaving devices but few now remember their pioneering work in this field!  Note the F-S knife in Colonel Growe’s left hand.  It is not known how many of the Masonic F-S were made but it is believed that the likely number would be no more than a few hundred.

The Tom Beasley Knives

Another example of a small order with specialty-etched blades was the so-called ‘Tom Beasley’ knife.  Of early post WWII production these are interesting examples and worthy of mention here.  These knives were produced in 1946 and 1947 and were specifically made to help promote Wilkinson’s ‘Empire Razor’ campaign.  Intended to be very eye catching, their grip was made of ivorine (a faux ivory) and the blade elaborately etched on both sides.  Complete with gilt fitting and a special sheath they certainly fit the bill.  

There appears to be three versions of this knife.  The first two differ only in the differences seen to banner  side of the etched blade, the earlier ‘three’ banner (first issue) and the later two banner (second issue).  The latter can also be found with a standard Second Pattern grip giving us the third versions.  The side of the blade that remains consistent carries a large version of the Wilkinson trademark and also a small panel which reads ‘COMMANDO FIGHTING KNIFE WORLD WAR 1939 - 1945’.

The other side had either two or three banners.  The original ‘first issue’ knife was a three-banner knife which read ‘HAND FORGED BY TOM BEASLEY’ (first banner), ‘THE FAMOUS SWORD SMITH’ (second banner), ‘OF STALINGRAD SWORD FAME’ (third banner).  However due to the deteriorating relationship between the West and the U.S.S.R. (which would eventually lead to the Cold War) and with anti-Communist feeling growing within the US and UK, it was decided to recall knives from window displays and re-blade them with just the first two banners, dropping any reference to Stalingrad and by association, the U.S.S.R.  This new two-banner knife was the second issue (1948-49).

End Notes

The subject, collecting and studying of Wilkinson etchings, especially pertaining to their F-S Knives is vast and beyond the scope of this article but presented here, is an overview of the topic. Collecting the F-S is a fascinating pastime, only made more enjoyable and interesting by the variety of knives with etching panels. After personally examining thousands of Wilkinson etched blades, I am still surprised at discovering never before seen examples. What do you have in your collection? Take a closer look at those etched blades and enjoy the craftsmanship and uniqueness of the work that has gone into their production. You may even spot something previously overlooked.