All About Pocket Knives

philco wrote: whiteowl. Nice knife. I really like the chestnut handles and the story behind them.

What is the story behind them?

Thank you for the welcome Phil! It's a great forum.
David, the story behind the American Chestnut used by CSC is summarized here ; http://www.droppointhunter.com/CSCAmeri ... tWoodStory
Here it the same wood used on a CSC Halfmoon Trapper

My only CSC Cannitler, covered in mastodon and 1 of 57

Ted if you're going to have just one that's an excellent choice!

Beauty!!!

Eric

Winner winner chicken dinner

It's a shame there are no more being made.

Here is a Cannitler listed on eBay that, based on the pictures, doesn't look up to the fit & finish standards typical of my experience with Canal Street knives. The seller is highly reputable, in my opinion.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CANAL-STREET-W ... 1438.l2649

Two things caught my eye: 1) the ragged bone around the shield inlay, 2) the serial number stamp on the bolster. Does this knife look below CSC standards to anyone else?

I don't own any Cannitlers anymore but I've owned 3 of them in the past. I can't be of much help but what I'm seeing is what looks like an authentic CSC Cannitler with some really bad finishing around the shield. Not sure about the serial number.

I know you consider the seller to be highly reputable but his listing states that the bone is chip and crack free. That is simply not true.

At best what you have there would be considered a factory second or the original knife didn't have the shield and someone did a poor job of adding it.

Definitely not up to Canal Street Cutlery Standards by any means

Tom

I do believe that's a legit knife, the serial number is in the right place and the paperwork looks correct. Not sure what happened with the shield cavity thought, it definitely isn't a nice smooth cut. Something tells me that yellow bone was brittle, hence the spun center pin. We usually hammered the centers on smooth handle material. That one came out a year before I started there so I really have no definitive answer, I think whoever was inspecting missed that detail. Nice example for a canittler collector though as I haven't seen any other CS's with that bone.

Eric

I own a twin to that knife but mine does not have the rough edges around the shield. Other than that they look the same.

Here's one

Love that Mother of Pearl.....

I do not know first hand but I was told that Canal Street hated using that handle material. The reason was because it is so brittle and they had a lot of damage.

Eric,

Can you confirm...this is what Wally and Uncle Harold said about the Mother of Pearl.

In any event, I love it!

Tom

Tom, it was great to work with but the biggest problem was drilling, there was often a lot of flaking around the holes. I think there's a bit of a learning curve involved with pearl as to drill bit grinds, countersinks, etc.. It takes a good deal of finesse. I found that keeping it (the pearl, not the knives lol) in water helped a good deal. Smaller pin diameters would also have helped, but that would have required a scale redesign. The only pearls I worked on there were the coke bottle knives. I think the end product is definitely worth the headaches, it's gorgeous stuff!

ERic

Eric,

I believe the biggest issue was cutting the hole for the CS Shields, according to Wally. I know I have a couple that don't have shields because of the problems countersinking for the shield.

Tom

Are Cannitlers split back spring? Btw absouletly stunning knives I will eventually own a Canal Street knife.

Cannitlers are not a split backspring. They are 3 blades and 2 backsprings. The main blade is made from heavier / wider stock and rides on both backsprings. Each secondary blade sits on one backspring. This link should open a picture of the backspring of a Cannitler. I find the Cannitler to be a very nice blend of form and function. It looks good and it’s practical.

download/file.php?id=229273&mode=view

Rather than use a split backspring we actually tapered the springs and coupled that with a tapered catch bit. Took a bit of engineering to get everything right

Eric