Look Mom I Cobbled a Canal Street

[just bob]

With the added holes in the handles and the off center hole for the shield don't you think it is most likely someone tried to fit these handles down from a larger sized knife? Not easy oftentimes but we've seen some of Glenn's posts where he has aced this type repair. Also think we have a former CS employee on here that might be able to tell us what type of original handles this knife had when it left the factory. I'm guessing cell?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Canal-Street-C ... 1438.l2649

[Colonel26]

Ughhhhh!!! Now that’s just wrong. Looks like American chestnut handles. Once the supply of reclaimed chestnut is gone it’ll be no more, due to the blight. Now they’ve trashed this set of scales. What they did was bad enough but with that wood it makes it worse imo.

[1967redrider]

Very strange.

[philco]

Actually the small holes are naturally occurring. They are not pin holes. I've got a couple of Canal Street knives with the Reclaimed American Chestnut handles that have similar small holes in them.

[Doc B]

Blade looks to be in a LOT better shape; than, the handle.

[Rusty1]

I think if you look closely, the knife is lit from above and the cut out for the shield has a shadow inside the cut out making it appear off center. looks like the knife has been out in he rain, worm holes are legit as in other knives they made with the reclaimed wood.

Russell

[geocash]

Wormy chestnut.

Reminds me of a book about two timber guys who bought a large stand of wormy oak that furniture companies weren't interested in, so they got it cheaply. They cut it & sold it to Henry Ford for a good price. The beetle larvae holes weren't visible under the car body & didn't hurt the strength of the wood. The book is "Sound Wormy."

[Reverand]

It still looks pretty to me!

[Colonel26]

Now that y’all mention it, maybe I was hasty in my assessment. I have a real soft spot for the old chestnut trees and the lumber.

[eveled]

Ughhhhh!!! Now that’s just wrong. Looks like American chestnut handles. Once the supply of reclaimed chestnut is gone it’ll be no more, due to the blight. Now they’ve trashed this set of scales. What they did was bad enough but with that wood it makes it worse imo.

I have 2 chestnut trees growing in my back yard. They’ve been stricken with the blight. They send up a beautiful shoot it grows to about 20 feet high about 3 inches across then the bark dies in a ring and the shoot dies. Then a new shoot grows. The root ball is healthy but the shoots can’t survive.

Each tree had about 15 standing dead shoots each older than the other and 1 live shoot. I finally cut out all the dead ones.

[Colonel26]

Ughhhhh!!! Now that’s just wrong. Looks like American chestnut handles. Once the supply of reclaimed chestnut is gone it’ll be no more, due to the blight. Now they’ve trashed this set of scales. What they did was bad enough but with that wood it makes it worse imo.

I have 2 chestnut trees growing in my back yard. They’ve been stricken with the blight. They send up a beautiful shoot it grows to about 20 feet high about 3 inches across then the bark dies in a ring and the shoot dies. Then a new shoot grows. The root ball is healthy but the shoots can’t survive.

Each tree had about 15 standing dead shoots each older than the other and 1 live shoot. I finally cut out all the dead ones.

Yep, that’s the way it goes. My Pa used to talk about all the chestnut trees that were around here back when he was a young man. He loved the nuts, much better he said than the Chinese chestnuts we get today. But the wood was valued too. It split straight. Most of the old rail fences here were chestnut and lots of barns and smokehouses were made of it too.

As a matter of fact the wood in those canal street knives cane from an old barn just a couple of counties over from me.

[eveled]

Just watched a video that drove home the devastating impact of the blight on Appalachia. The trees grew fast tall straight. The wood was rot resistant. The nuts were not only a food source but a way to make money. Literally the perfect tree.

They said the blight was brought into the US by a botanical garden in NewYork.

They did mention that you could mud pack the cancas as they formed and keep the tree alive. Maybe I’ll try it on mine.

[just bob]

I went back and looked at that knife after I read the comments on here. I would have never guessed that was chestnut or the holes weren't added in a botched repair attempt. . That just didn't occur to me. The hole for the shield that appears off center is probably, actually straight and the camera angle was off on the picture. A picture may be worth 1000 words, but oftentimes doesn't tell the whole story. Good job on setting the record straight! Were all the knives from Canal Street with American chestnut handles taken from this same barn?

https://www.smkw.com/canal-street-serpe ... nut-handle

Another one with holes

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/ca ... box-c-2011

[philco]

Were all the knives from Canal Street with American chestnut handles taken from this same barn?

That is my understanding. The material came from "The Hoover Barn" after is was dismantled. If you think about it, the amount of wood needed for a set of knife handles is relatively small compared to the amount of wood in a large structure like a barn.

[geocash]

Just watched a video that drove home the devastating impact of the blight on Appalachia. The trees grew fast tall straight. The wood was rot resistant. The nuts were not only a food source but a way to make money. Literally the perfect tree.

They said the blight was brought into the US by a botanical garden in NewYork.

They did mention that you could mud pack the cancas as they formed and keep the tree alive. Maybe I’ll try it on mine.

I can see I'm getting off the topic so I started something about American chestnuts in the General Off Topic Discussion for anyone else interested.

[1967redrider]

I just woke up and realized this is what the OP knife started out as, the Hoover Barn reclaimed Chestnut. Not sure why it's pinned like that or what happened to the shield. Maybe an incomplete lunchbox knife?

[doglegg]

Very sweet examples redrider. Glad you posted them.

[1967redrider]

Thank you, Sir.

[orvet]

I thought the cobbled Canal Street looked like a good project knife so I put a bid on it and ended up winning.
I thought I would post some pictures so you can see what it looks like from a little better angle. This thing has seen some use and apparently abuse but the blade looks good and I can put new handles on it.
It's a pattern I like and it will make a nice EDC.

As you can see someone either dropped a lot on the bare end or hammered on it.
The handles look like they have been pretty abused. The mark side looks like someone took a steel wire brush to it from the shield to the bolster, it is pretty grooved like a wire brush might do.

[just bob]

One thing for sure Dale that knife has found a good home.

[doglegg]

I bet we won't recognize it as the same knife by the time you're through with it. Don't forget after pictures.

[glennbad]

Can't wait to see a little "Dale" magic on this one!

[Colonel26]

Dale, I pondered doing the same thing but got busy and let it slip by. I’m sure glad to see it in your hands now. Can’t wait to see what you make of it.

[1967redrider]

That knife couldn't have found a better man for the job, can't wait to see what you do with it, Dale.

John

[Meridian_Mike]

Can't wait to see a little "Dale" magic on this one!

X2 to that statement.