old camillus knife

[[email protected]]

trying yo identify this old cumillus knife .It is all metal and looks somewhat like a stockman .wonder if anyone knows exactly what it is ? I would like to buy one in real good shape. like I said it is all metal and appears to have had a scalloped design in the handle .It is well worn but still is real tight and snaps open and closed with authority .
I have looked for hours and cant find one like it .

Any help would be appreciated

[whitebuffalo58]

I call 'em cigar stockmans, some may refer to 'em as equal ends. Can't make out the stamp well enough to date it, but it would appear someone has given it the ol' solder handle treatment. Somebody will be along with other info. Welcome to AAPK.
WB

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the info .
A knife collector told me it was from the 30s

[dcgm4]

From what I could gather from my books that stamp was used from 1919 to 1941 if all the blades are stamped with that. If only one blade is stamped then it dates from 1941 to 1946. I'm assuming that a "USA" stamp that should be under the third line is either hidden by the handle or has worn off.

[jerryd6818]

Welcome to AAPK.

Actually, from what can be seen in the less than optimal pictures, the 'bones' of that knife look pretty good (good solid knife but cosmetically unappealing). It appears that the shield may still be attached to what's left of the handle and the blades look pretty full. (someone more knowledgeable can comment on that) That's a great pattern so you might want to consider having it cleaned up and re-handled. In my opinion, it's worth saving. There are several qualified knife mechanics right here on AAPK. Take a look at the before and after pictures of one I had done.

[chetr1200c]

i think he means that there are no composite or bone scales, it is all metal.
i do not have anything like this so i can't comment on it except to say that it is unusual.
btw, welcome to the club, i hope that you can get a little more info on that knife, stick around and check into your topic from time to time.the only thing that i might add is that some all metal bodied knives were considered youth knives. probably because of their extra durabilty and less expensive to make.

[jerryd6818]

That's what I thought at first but looking at the knife, (to me) it appears to be bone with chunks out of the handles and "painted" (for lack of a better word) with a coating of some sort. Better pictures and more information from bowmage49 would help.

[whitebuffalo58]

I don't know if it was real common, but over the years, i've come across a few knives that had handles replaced by building up layer upon layer of solder. Thus giving the knife the appearance of being all metal. The solder can be melted in around the original pins and sheild placed during the process. Then if need be, carved or filed to shape. Kind of tacky by todays standards, but the good thing is that it can be melted away, cleaned up and rehandled properly.
WB

[[email protected]]

This knife appears to be a factory job with a lot of pocket wear and other abuse on the handle but it could be a do it yourself job as I am not an expert by any means . it looks like it had a diamond pattern at one time witch shows up good to me but hard to take pictures of a shiny surface with a phone camera witch is all I have . It is definitely some kind of metal and whoever done it done a great job if its not factory . they should have continued making knifes as it is very well done . I tried some more pictures .
it is stamped ...Camillus on the large blade.
cutlery co
camillus n.y.

G B

[Miller Bro's]

Someone took some lead and filled in the handles as was suggested in a previous comment.

It is really rough and was done by an amateur. Someone really liked the knife and wanted to keep using it after the handles got damaged.

It must be fairly heavy in the hand, you can take a paperclip and slightly scratch the surface to test if it is lead, it should make a mark very easily

[knives-are-quiet]

Looks more like J B weld or aluminum steel auto body filler smeared over the original handles then rolled when partly dry over some sort of pattern.
I can't see anyone taking the time to melt lead then create a pattern by hand.
Or maybe it is lead and someone had a lot of time on there hands?
It would have been easier to just have the knife re~handled.
Whatever it is the knife should be re done with bone or stag.
Even plastic handles would be better than what's on it now.
What a shame~

J W

[tjmurphy]

This knife is stamped "W. Bingham - Cleveland, Ohio and I am 99% sure that the handles are lead in that I can scratch material from the handles with my fingernail. Appears to be factory.

MVC-113F.JPG (42.75 KiB) Viewed 700 times

[Miller Bro's]

I am 99% sure that the handles are lead in that I can scratch material from the handles with my fingernail. Appears to be factory.

The factory never used lead for handle material,they did use Aluminum though


I have lots of old relics where some of the bone handle chipped off and someone patched it by pouring lead into the space and then shaping it. Then, some of them are completely formed with lead on one side of the handle where it came completely off

[whitebuffalo58]

It must have been a fairly common practice after all.

[tjmurphy]

Seems pretty heavy for aluminum, weighs 1.8 oz., 3 5/16" closed, 0.325" across center.

MVC-114F.JPG (43.48 KiB) Viewed 676 times

[Miller Bro's]

Seems pretty heavy for aluminum

Tom, let me be more clear, it`s lead for sure and was done by someone over the years.

Not a factory job. If it`s heavy it`s lead.

However, Aluminum was used by a knife factory and was either engraved in an ornamental design or cast to resemble stag or jigged bone

[tjmurphy]

Gotcha.