Camillus 76

The Camillus Cutlery Company was one of the oldest knife manufacturers in the United States with roots dating back to 1876. The company manufactured Camillus branded knives and was a prolific contractor for other knife brands up until its last days in 2007 when the company filed for bankruptcy.
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royal0014
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Camillus 76

Post by royal0014 »

Went back a couple of pages and didn't see this topic in the CCCF. Forgive me if I missed it....

My first, and so far, only Camillus. In reasonably good condition. Full blades, and all three snap like gators open and close. Plain shield. Really dig the main blade swedge 8)

Only real issue is that someone buffed the s^*^ out of it. ::td::
All cutting edges are rounded. The pen blade stood tip-proud when closed. I thought a bad kick, but further inspection revealed the blade well full of hard 'lint' from the buff wheel. Only one pin crack in the Delrin.

Maybe one of you smart fellers can answer a question or two....
Approximate age. I know tang dating is tough.
Grind used? Like I said, all edges are rounded.
Swedge is only on one side of main blade (?)
Steel used, 'cause I'm considering EDCing this one
::shrug::

Thanks for looking :mrgreen:
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Chris
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Vit_213
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Re: Camillus 76

Post by Vit_213 »

This model was produced from about 1950 to 1985. Oval shield on the handle appeared in the 70's.
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orvet
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Re: Camillus 76

Post by orvet »

Well, when I see Delrin on a Camillus I know that those handles were not used before the early 1970s, but with this knife I don’t have a clue.

Someone has gone to great a length to try and make it look like they have spun the pins in the handles, but it does not have spun pins.
The pins look like someone has peaned them and then used a nail set on the pins to give the impression that the pins were spun in place on the handles. If they did use a spinner they did not get good results because the heads are not smooth.

Camillus actually used “semi tubular rivets” on most of the handles. Look at other Camillus knives you have with Delrin handles; the handle pins do not have the circular marks around them and they are not an irregular shape like these are. When you see those spinner marks on a Camillus they are normally seen only on the rocker pin; the pin in the center that holds the springs in place.

The knife has been modified. Who knows which parts have been replaced, besides the rivets? The rivets are obviously not original because they are peaned. If they were properly spun in place they would have smooth heads on them, not the peaned ends on those pins. Look at the pins on the mark side of the knife. They may have had a spinner on them after the fact, but those are not properly spun heads. They appear to have been peaned then someone tried to spin them after the fact.

Besides buffing the knife, I would say someone has changed the handles and perhaps a blade as well. Going by Goins’ book, the tang stamp is 1976 or later, but I don’t know which parts ore original to the knife.

For the record, I have never seen this done to a Camillus before, at least not to then have it sold as an original Camillus knife. ::shrug::
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royal0014
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Re: Camillus 76

Post by royal0014 »

Interesting. Thank You for the comments.

I do not have any other Camillus knives to compare with, but if someone went through the trouble to replace blades and spin rivets, they lost. I only paid $8 including s/h.
::shrug::
Chris
i woke last night to the sound of thunder
how far off i sat and wondered
started humming a song from nineteen sixty two
aint it funny how the night moves
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Re: Camillus 76

Post by orvet »

I don't think someone did this work to try and deceive anyone, more likely than not they did it to repair a knife that had bad handles. Their repair job is really not bad, but by looking I can tell it did not leave the factory that way.

For $8 you got yourself great user you can pass along to a couple more generations after you! ::tu::
You did good! ::ds::
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