Nice Vintage Gerber Legendary Blades Gungnir 11-1/2" Knife Sharpening Steel!

Description

Offered for your consideration is a very nice vintage Gerber "Gungnir" sharpening steel from their "Legendary Blades" series. Gerber's Legendary Blades series dates to the earliest days of the company and the original designs even pre-date Gerber. David Murphy was a Portland, Oregon blacksmith who began making knives in his spare time. He cast aluminum handles onto blades ground from scrap tool steel. The aluminum was mostly recovered from old Ford pistons. Murphy sold his knives door to door and several sets were purchased as gifts for the clients of advertising agent Joseph Gerber. Gerber marketed the knives to retailing giant Abercrombie & Fitch. He paid Murphy about .25 to make the sets which he sold to A & F for . The day after Pearl Harbor Murphy switched all of his production to his famous fighting knives. Any Gerber knives made between 1938 and December 1941 were in fact made by Murphy. He resumed kitchen cutlery production under his own name after the war, but legal disputes with Gerber would eventually bankrupt him. Gerber expanded the line and these knives were offered for many decades and in many variations. I'm not sure when they were discontinued or even if they've all been discontinued, but I'm pretty sure they were available through the 1980's. All of the products in this classic series were of excellent quality.
The steel shows very few visible signs of use and it remains in excellent condition with no problems at all. The surfaces of the guard are nearly free of the tell-tale blade marks that come with use. It looks as though it was only used a time or two at the most. It has not been cleaned or buffed and remains original.
This is an excellent example of this classic Gerber sharpener. This steel is larger and much thicker than the steels that generally come with block sets. It's dimensions are comparable to professional-quality butcher's sharpening steels. The steel is 1/2" in diameter and exceptionally sturdy. It's free of any significant corrosion or pitting with just a couple tiny spots of the usual fine surface peppering as shown. The surfaces are free of any nicks, dings, dents, or snags and blades glide smoothly from tip to handle. The handle is of chromed cast metal and remains very nice with just a few fine abrasions from storage/handling. The knives and forks from this series are usually found with at least some degree of dishwasher damage, and it's often significant damage. The finish was prone to chipping, flaking, bubbling, and corrosion from the high temperatures and harsh detergents. This example is completely free of any flaking or chipping even at the usual problem areas such as where the steel meets the handle, the butt, and edges. The markings on the underside of the handle remain bold and strong. The handle was marked with the old sword mark, as opposed to the more recent ying-yang mark used for stainless steel.
The sharpening steel measures 17" in overall length.
A beautiful, original vintage Gerber from this classic series and used examples really don't come much nicer than this gem!
Sorry but no international shipping.