Camillus Question for the gurus

[coniferwoodsman]

Evenin' all, I just got this little gem the other day and it sure is cool little knife. It is exactly the same blade configuration as my #61 whittler, but it has full bosters, bone scales and a shield. The question is about the tang stamp (which I cannot get a picture of, for the life of me). On the mark side it says" SWORD BRAND" over two crossed swords and on the reverse "CAMILLUS/CUTLERY CO./CAMILUS NY/USA" *note the spelling of the second Camillus- that is how it is spelled on this little knife. To add to it- the blades will not take a patina and the stamp looks very shallow compared to other stamps I have seen. Now I know a bit about the tang stamps and the company history, so I'm not looking to date it ('41-'46), just get other opinions about the authenticity of it. Thanks for your help guys. I apologize for the picture.

[jerryd6818]

Maybe this will help.

[orvet]

Tom Williams said the Sword Brand tang stamp was rarely used after 1946.
After WW II Sword Brand was usually etched onto the blade.

The fact that it has a 4-line tang stamp on the pile side tang would indicate to me that it was made prior to 1946, in spite of the mispelled word in the stamp. That did happen from time to time. I have an Ulster that says ULSTER/NKIFE CO./N.Y.

[tjmurphy]

Now that's interesting. I would have thought that they would have had a manufactured stamp for marking the blades. But apparently each letter was stamped separately? Not very cost effective.

[Iron Hoarder]

Some old stamps had replaceable digits so you didn't have to have a whole new stamp made if only one bit was damaged.

[bwknife]

Hey there
Can you clarify by what you mean "blades will not take a patina"?

[orvet]

Hey there
Can you clarify by what you mean "blades will not take a patina"?

The patina is the darkening of a carbon steel blade with use and just time.
Generally acids in fruit or other things fill induce this.
If the blade will not take a patina, it usually means it is stainless steel.