TL-29 Electricians Knives

[Miller Bro's]

The ones marked U.S.M.C. are hard to find, nice one Dale!

[orvet]

The ones marked U.S.M.C. are hard to find, nice one Dale!

Dimitri,
Do you have one marked USMC?
I would like to see pics of it, especially if it is in better condition than mine.

[tjmurphy]

This is the first time I paid any attention to the stamp, but I would have thought that the UTICA stamp from the WWI era (1914-1918) would have been arched rather than straight line (?).

[Miller Bro's]

Do you have one marked USMC?

No, wish I did.

[rmeron]

Did Queen make any TL-29 knives with brass liners for WW2?

[tjmurphy]

Don't know, but if they did, probably not with brass liners. All the brass went to the war effort.

[jerryd6818]

Nice one's, Dale Glad you got the USMC UTICA Didn't think you could pass that one up. It's got Orvet written all over it

Wait a minute. I think you misread that. It has JerryD written all over it. A boot like Dale doesn't deserve that knife.

[orvet]

BOOT???!

Yes sir, old man!

[jerryd6818]

BOOT???!

Yes sir, old man!

You know what the first guy to join the Corps at Tun Tavern said to the second guy to join the Corps, "Back in the old Corps..."

[dma1965]

This is my Case Tested TL-29. It is super tight and a very well made old Case knife.

[rmeron]

i picked this one up recently ive never seen one made by queen and i have never seen this stamp with the usa on it some im thinking it is a military contract knife,plus queen seemed to put there own touch to it they used those nice fat nail nicks and sunk the screwdriver blade deeper it to the well and had to make a notch to get at screwdriver blade anyone else seen one of these ive had many tl 29 types and this is the first one ive seen or had in 30 years of hoarding queen knives

I have one that is your twin except for a little more wear on the USA stamp. Do you have any idea when it was made?

[orvet]

I am not sure of the years, but I know from Tom Williams that Camillus made the TL-29s for most US knife brands, including Case, Schrade, M Klein, Imperial (not the shell versions), Kabar, Powr Kraft, (Wards), Sears and other companies.
I guess it was cheaper to have one company that was tooled up for the pattern to make them than to spend 10s of thousands of dollars to tool up for a pattern that was not a huge money maker.

[garddogg56]

I picked up a new too me Holub Sycamore Ill.gut her cheap.Made by Schrade.

[orvet]

I picked up a three blade M. Klein electricians knife.
Technically I guess it isn't a TL-29 because of the extra blade.
It is sure a brute! I don't think it has been used much. It has some dirt & oil on it and I have not cleaned it yet.

I like the addition of the sheepfoot blade.

You got one of these TJ?

[tjmurphy]

Nope, no Klein in my pile.

[tjmurphy]

Here's a couple I've not posted yet.

CASE Tested XX 1920-1940

XELA - 1910-1932 A trademark used by M.Klein

[tjmurphy]

CAMILLUS It looks like CAMILLUS made the XELA in the above post, XELA being a M.Klein trademark.

[tjmurphy]

Last week I added a knife to my TL-29/Electrician Knife collection.

The knife is a Red Devil, screwdriver blade only and no knife blade.
Instead of having a liner lock for the screwdriver blade like the modern TL-29, or the internal lock released by pressing down the closed spear blade on the WWI era TL-29; the Red Devil is a lock back! It is one of the only ones in my TL-29/Electrician Knife collection.

The Red Devil is definitely an interesting variation; a long sought and welcome addition to my collection!

Hey Dale, a pretty strong guess is that your Red Devil was made by CAMILLUS based on the pin placement and number of pins. Of the knives of this pattern that I have, CAMILLUS is the only one to use the two pins on the end opposite the bolsters. Here's a CAMILLUS that just came in:

vs your Red Devil

[tjmurphy]

In the mail this morning. Schrade/Cut.Co./Walden,N.Y. 3 3/4" closed, cocabolo handles. Based on the old catalogs, I'm calling this one c.1936

[garddogg56]

TJ;is that missing a shield?nice old Schrade.

[orvet]

That knife looks like it got so much pocket time the shield plum wore off it.
It's in really good shape for a knife it's been carried that much!

[tjmurphy]

Yep, the shield's AWOL, but the pins are still there. When I first looked at the knife I couldn't figure why so many pins. I looked a little closer and could see the outline of the shield. The shield should look like this one:

[tjmurphy]

Here's one that I bought on Ebay and should have on Thursday. M.Klein & Sons/Chicago/Made in U.S.A. I don't normally buy Klein knives because I have trouble getting past those faux wood handles. This one on the other hand has cocobolo handles which were typical for the WWII era knives. This is the first Klein I've seen with these type handles. I am guessing that this knife was made by UTICA Cutlery. Is this Klein rare??

[orvet]

I have some Camillus records that Tom Williams sent me that indicate Camillus made 416 2/3 dozen TL-29s for M Klein in 1948 followed by a 2nd order of 500 dozen also in 1948.

In 1950 M Klein ordered another 500 dozen TL-29s from Camillus.
The records I have do not indicate the handle material but I would imagine they were wood.

There was also 1952 order for TL-29s. This is the actual S card used in production.

The S-card indicates the handles are rosewood.
Cocobolo is a member of the rosewood family, so that would be correct for your knife.
Your knife may be from the 1948 through 1952 production era.

[tjmurphy]

Thanks for that information, Dale. I am thinking though, that this knife, at least the body of the knife, is made by UTICA, based only on the "chicken foot" application to the bail. I have several CAMILLUS knives with bails and they don't have the stamping. I have several UTICA's that do. I know, one-point data "Blades Guide to Knives and Their Values" lists UTICA as a maker of Klein electrician's knives. Who knows?? It is still the only rosewood/cocobolo handled M.Klein & Sons that I've seen. Maybe repurposed these blades to this frame and handle assembly? Could be.