Real Bone?

[Dragunski]

The seller doesn't say. I'd ask him, but I tend not believe them anyway, unless I know them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Hibbard-Spe ... 35c8663996

[313 Mike]

I would say not judging from the shrinkage near the bolsters...

[jerryd6818]

I would say not judging from the shrinkage near the bolsters...

Excellent Mike. 'Cause natural materials don't shrink.

[Miller Bro's]

Excellent Mike. 'Cause natural materials don't shrink.

Oh yes they do!

[Dragunski]

Too bad. It's a nice pattern, and an old respected brand. But it's only 2 & 7/8" long. Looks bigger in the photos.

Cheap enough at $10.

[Miller Bro's]

Has anyone noticed the handles only have 1 rivet through them?

[Dragunski]

Has anyone noticed the handles only have 1 rivet through them?

You're right, that's interesting. There appear to be indentations where the top pins should be. But bone and plastic both can be pinned without going all the way through. It's tricky to do, I imagine. And not as secure.

Might be worth $10 just to see what's up with this knife.

[msteele6]

Camillus was one of H.S. & B.'s suppliers. I see more Hibbards produced by them than any manufacturer other than NYK. Most of the O.V.B.'s (at least the older ones) were made by N.Y.K. However, after N.Y.K went out of business in 1931, Camillus seems to have taken over the supply of the majority of knives for H.S. & B.

The handle material on this knife appears to be a common Camillus synthetic material. And, of course, as MB noted the single pinned construction is a Camillus trademark.

[jerryd6818]

Excellent Mike. 'Cause natural materials don't shrink.

Oh yes they do!

Horn? Maybe wood. I was in tunnel vision mode, thinking bone, stag & pearl.

[reddirtknives]

Stag will shrink. I don't know if there is a process to avoid this as in letting it dry for X amount of time but it seems like now days especially you hear more and more about stabilizing natural materials. When stag shrinks it can really shrink a lot and from every edge exposing the liner material and gapping at the bolsters, next thing you know the shinkage caused your handle pins to come out or worse caused that chip beneath the rocker pin or pin cracks. Cool pattern HSB...

[jerryd6818]

I guess I just haven't been accumulating knives long enough to have experienced that. Maybe someday someone will come along and post a picture of an example of stag shrinkage.

[reddirtknives]

I think it has more to do with how dry the climate is where the stag is or has been stored and how well maintained it has been as well. So age, experience and years served collecting has less to do with shrinkage then understanding the potential problem and doing regular maintenance or lack thereof ... I just started learning about this and must admit that I know very little about anything in the vast world of cutlery.
I'll try to find a picture as well
Steps to re-hydrate a stag/bone/ivory handle:
Prep the knife handle. Wipe down the handle with rubbing alcohol to remove any dirt, oil and surface moisture.
Pour the mineral oil into the beaker. Fill the beaker such when the handle is in the beaker, the oil level passes the tang slightly (ie the whole handle is submerged).
Immerse the knife into the oil. Do it with the stag handle downwards (duh!) and the blade sticking out of the container.
Leave to stand for 24 hours. This will allow the oil to seep into the pores of the bone and make it hydrated.
Inspect the handle. It should have become a little fatter and the gaps and cracks should have become less noticeable.
Soak again if needed. If the stag handle has not been fattened to the previous diameter (before shrinkage), soak in the oil for a another day or 2.
Wipe clean and store. Or, once oil free, buff renaissance wax into the handle to seal in the moisture.
This treatment should improve the condition of the bone handle. It should be done at least once every 3 months, or a better indicator would be when the handle starts to shrink.

[philco]

I just rub a little mineral oil on the handles and let it sit overnight then wipe off any excess the next day before putting the knife away. I don't even own a beaker.

[reddirtknives]

Ta Da! I'm beakerless too... I stole that lil ditty from some website If they are in good condition then no worries. It's nice to know you can swell them back out... I don't know about the every three months thing though Seems like you would be over working the ole beaker

[Dragunski]

I wouldn't do this on a wood-handled knife. I think I'd just live with the shrinkage. But I might try it on old stag.

[Quick Steel]

One of the very first knives I ever purchased was a mint S&M Whittler with very nice stag. When I removed the knife from its box it was obvious that the stag was dryer than dry. It looked very brittle and I knew if I ever dropped it the result would be a chip or crack. Three days in mineral oil [not baby oil] and the scales have been smooth and a pleasure to run my thumb over ever since with just the occasional few drops of oil.

[orvet]

Gentlemen, I believe you are looking at Camillus’ version of celluloid made to look like stag. I believe it is attached with the “prong method” of attaching the handles. I have examples in my collection of this same handle material, attached by the prong method that have the Camillus 4 line tang stamps (1946 and before).
Camillus used this method with great success for many years. Unless the handles break at the prongs, you never know they are there because they are only visible from inside the knife.

For more info check out my posts in this thread: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... on#p246862

[orvet]

Here is an example of the 4 line Camillus with the same handles as the HS&B on ebay.
You can see the prongs sticking through the celluloid handles where they have shrunk.

[wlf]

"You can see the prongs sticking through the celluloid handles where they have shrunk. "

You can,I can't. But I don't doubt you.

[jerryd6818]

Inside the white circles, Lyle. Left click on the picture twice.

[orvet]

Thank you Jerry!

[Dragunski]

It's amazing that even a dumb question by a stupid newbie can generate this much high quality info on this site.

Thanks to all who participated.

[orvet]

Actually that was a very good question!
Some handle materials are so popular because they look so much like the real thing; for example, Staglon, Schrade's imitation stag handles on the Uncle Henry series. It was so popular because it looks better than a lot of stag on the market, and it is virtually indestructible.

No one can know every detail of every knife company who ever made knives in the USA, let alone in other parts of the world, but when we all pool our knowledge on AAPK we can share what we do know.

My brain is about full anyway, so I don't mind passing along some info to make room for more.

[Dragunski]

This beat-up HSB actually went up over $43 bucks!

I wonder if I gave the guy extra publicity by posting it here. From now on, if I like a knife, I'm keeping quiet!

[orvet]

I don't know about you, but if I paid $43 for a knife expecting it to have bone handles and I ended up getting celluloid, that seller had better adjust the price dramatically or else I am not leaving positive feedback!