Johnston knife repair

[Nev52]

I have an old box of knives a friend gave me a while ago. I found this Johnston jack knife that should have been in the trash but since I have never heard of this brand, so I thought I would try to restore it It is cheaply made but the blades are carbon so why not. I had some old oak fence boards, so I cut it down and used it for the handles. The knife is not pretty but it's a cutter. Great blade snap and carbon blades really hold an edge. I will throw it in the glove box of my truck.

[Reverand]

Oak looks nice on it!
Did you use sealant, or oil?

[Nev52]

Oak looks nice on it!
Did you use sealant, or oil?

Thanks Reverand
I thought the old oak would go with the knifes age and pinched bolsters. Not a high-quality brand. The oak is oil finished. It was hard to get it to take the stain 3 coats of walnut stain and 2 coats of oil. Actually, it looks better in person.

[Reverand]

I think that it looks mighty good in pictures! I love the checkered-look in the grain. It has a lot of character, and fits the look of the knife very well.

[Nev52]

Thank you.

[CarMan]

I have an old box of knives a friend gave me a while ago. I found this Johnston jack knife that should have been in the trash but since I have never heard of this brand, so I thought I would try to restore it It is cheaply made but the blades are carbon so why not. I had some old oak fence boards, so I cut it down and used it for the handles. The knife is not pretty but it's a cutter. Great blade snap and carbon blades really hold an edge. I will throw it in the glove box of my truck.
johnston old.jpg
john.jpg
Rehandled Johnston.jpg
open johnston.jpg
side johnston.jpg

I’m just seeing this. I actually collect these knives since my last name is Johnston. If you’re interested in any background on this knife, like the years produced & where, feel free to let me know. I would be glad to tell you what little I know.
John

[TripleF]

Very knice!!

[Nev52]

I have an old box of knives a friend gave me a while ago. I found this Johnston jack knife that should have been in the trash but since I have never heard of this brand, so I thought I would try to restore it It is cheaply made but the blades are carbon so why not. I had some old oak fence boards, so I cut it down and used it for the handles. The knife is not pretty but it's a cutter. Great blade snap and carbon blades really hold an edge. I will throw it in the glove box of my truck.
johnston old.jpg
john.jpg
Rehandled Johnston.jpg
open johnston.jpg
side johnston.jpg

I’m just seeing this. I actually collect these knives since my last name is Johnston. If you’re interested in any background on this knife, like the years produced & where, feel free to let me know. I would be glad to tell you what little I know.
John

Thank you John,
I would be interested in some information on this.
Nev

[CarMan]

I have an old box of knives a friend gave me a while ago. I found this Johnston jack knife that should have been in the trash but since I have never heard of this brand, so I thought I would try to restore it It is cheaply made but the blades are carbon so why not. I had some old oak fence boards, so I cut it down and used it for the handles. The knife is not pretty but it's a cutter. Great blade snap and carbon blades really hold an edge. I will throw it in the glove box of my truck.
johnston old.jpg
john.jpg
Rehandled Johnston.jpg
open johnston.jpg
side johnston.jpg

I’m just seeing this. I actually collect these knives since my last name is Johnston. If you’re interested in any background on this knife, like the years produced & where, feel free to let me know. I would be glad to tell you what little I know.
John

Thank you John,
I would be interested in some information on this.
Nev

First, your knife looks great. The wood definitely looks better than the old celluloid once it starts to outgas.

The Johnston USA stamp belonged to the Federal Knife Co. in Johnston R.I. (if I understand correctly) & was sold to Colonial Knife Co. These were only made from 1945-1949. There were 4 (maybe 5) types of knives with the Johnston USA stamp:
1) Fish knife with single blade.
2) has tip bolster, 2 blades, steel blade separator with very thin scales. These come with & without a badge.
3) no bolsters with 2 blades, steel blade separator & noticeably thicker scales and frame than #2. These come with smooth and jigged scales.
4) normal size bolsters with 2 blades, brass blade separator and a thicker frame than #2, but similar or the same #3, and all I have seen have a shield.
?5) I have seen 2 (but don’t own one yet) that look exactly like #3, but with only 1 blade. So I don’t know if they came that way or if the secondary blade was removed.

Now there are Johnston tool kits. I try to collect all of these I can.These came with 2 different knives. 1 kit knife came with smooth black plastic like scales (I have to assume celluloid since I don’t believe plastic was around yet) & no bolsters. And, the other came with nicer jigged black bakelite (I think) scales and large bolsters. Most of these kits I have seen came in a plastic folding sleeve that really holds up well, but I do have the one in leather. I will try to add picks of each type knife & kit.

I hope some of this is helpful to you. If you would like anymore pictures or anything just let me know. I have to say that the coolest thing about my Johnston collection is how many came from guys in this group just being nice.

[Nev52]

Thank you for the information.

[CarMan]

Thank you for the information.

Absolutely.