Bone easy open knife questions

[woodwalker]

Picked up this knife yesterday at the antique store. Has 2 blades with some nice bone. Also has half stops. I need to clean it up. I am having trouble reading the tang stamp. Looks like it may start with a C. I will take some steel wool and I may be able to read it better. Anyone know what it might be from looking at the photos? Camillus maybe? Could not pass it up for five bucks. Thanks.

[americanedgetech]

Camillus easy open jack was my first thought.
Perhaps someone knows the pattern number...

[treefarmer]

Could be a Camillus. Seems like a lot of these old E-Z opens are missing the bail. Yours appears to have steel bolsters which probably will allow some one to date it's manufacture date pretty close. I like those old gals!
Treefarmer

[woodwalker]

Thanks guys. Wow american edge tech yours have the long pull. This one dont. I took a jewelry loup and looked at the bone in the sunlight. It sure looks good. The haverson canals are many and it just looks pretty. I have a few bone knives that the bone is not so nice. But I like this one's bone. Treefarmer this is my first EO. I like them too so it may not be my last. The bone is kinda pulling away on one side but I can fix that I think with a drop of good glue. Thanks gents for the comments. Kevin

[orvet]

Your knife looks like a WWII military utility knife. They were often all steel liners & bolsters.
The bone is Rogers bone, my favorite type of bone.
Rogers was the name of the company that made it.

[americanedgetech]

That's not my knife WoodWalker.
It's just an image I found for comparison.

There is a trick to bending bone that has become mishapped. Trying to manually bend, and glue it adds stress to the bone, and a light shock later on just may crack it. In fact it is probably bent now due to natural stress that has been there from the day it was applied to the knife. Forcing it is not a good idea.

Soak JUST THE BONE in white vinegar for about two hours (more or less) You'll feel when the bone starts to give. It will actually get quite soft so test it every 15 minutes or so..

Once it is easy to set in place, clamp it down, and run it under water to neutralize the vinegar. Once that is done use a good (hobby grade) crazy glue to stabilize the bone.

The way this works is the acid in the vinegar dissolves the calcium in the bone leaving the bone tissue unaffected. The "crazy glue" replaces the calcium, and all is good again.
Hope it helps... but there are probably a dozen threads on this method here. I have not looked.

[woodwalker]

Thanks Dale! I have often heard of rogers bone but never seen one in person. IT has become my favorite bone as well. Appreciate the info. Been busy working today but I will clean up the EO tommorow a bit and see if I can make out the tang after a little steel wool. Would the WWII knife your referencing be a Cam illus also? Thanks Americanedgetech for the vinegar idea. Learn so much from you guys! Appreciate ya!

[gsmith7158]

Woodwalker here is my Camillus WWII military utility easy open. It has the 1941-46 four line Camillus stamp. Looks like a match to yours.

[orvet]

The World War II Easy Opens were made by a number of companies, Camillus is probably the most common, along with Imperial and Pal Blade Co.
I know there were other companies that made some of these too. am not at home, so I don't have any reference books with me, but I believe there were some other companies that made these knives also.

[woodwalker]

Greg that is a match! Thank you for help! Yours sure is a nice example. I feel good now to know what it is. Dale appreciate your comments and knowledge. You guys are the best! Kevin.

[orvet]

No problem Kevin,

The easy open jack pattern was used by the Navy as their general utility knives during World War II. They were made by Camillus, Utica, Pal Imperial and probably Kingston. The ones marked with just “MADE IN USA” are the ones made by Kingston.
Information from Pocket Knives of the United States Military by Michael Silvey.

The bottom two knives in this picture are a couple of Camillus, Navy General Utility Knives, the same as the one you posted.
All of the knives in this picture are circa World War II, with Rogers bone handles, steel liners and made by Camillus.

[woodwalker]

Dale thanks for the information! I really like the rogers bone! I Google rogers bone and read up on it last night. It is now my favorite bone! I was in the Navy from 1979 to 1983 and my grandfather fought in ww2 at the battle of the bulge so this one will be a special knive to me. Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to answer a rookies question! This is a great sitem that I go to daily. Have a good one! Kevin.

[Jtx]

Dale, that is a great group of WW II knives! Thanks for sharing that photo with us.

[jerryd6818]

The ones marked with just “MADE IN USA” are the ones made by Kingston.
Information from Pocket Knives of the United States Military by Michael Silvey.

And here all this time I was under the impression that the "MADE IN USA" stamp was made by Camillus for Sears (1924-1960 per Kastor List). So WWII was the exception???

[woodwalker]

I fixed the part of the bone that was pulling away a bit with some glue. Is acetone or nail polish removal ok to use to get the excess glue off the bone? Will it harm the bone?

[woodwalker]

Also what is a good product to use to make rogers bone shine?