shielded knife back

[jah]

I just noticed this hooded shield on the back of an old Remington R 100 B. Was this something factory done or just some sort of later add on? Also--why?
Maybe to keep dust, water, etc. out.Thanks1

[ScoutKnives]

It’s called a covered back spring and definitely came from the factory that way .
I have an official Boy Scout rs3333 done the same way .

[knifeaholic]

That was a Remington innovation - a unique method of construction that saved some manufacturing cost. It was not an innovation to cover the backsprings per se, but it was a new process to reduce the number of manufacturing steps.

The conventional way would be forging four individual bolsters and stamping two liners, and riveting each bolster to a liner, then assembling the knife.

They developed the tooling to stamp the four bolsters and two liners as one square piece, with a bolster in each corner.

They would then bend up each side around the backsprings to form the side liners and then assemble the knife pinning the blades, handles, and backsprings.

When they introduced these knives with the new manufacturing method, they were sold at retail for $1.00 each.

Evidently this new manufacturing method did not work out for long, and Remington changed the pattern to the conventional construction without the "folded over" liners.

[cody6268]

Aren't these basically the same way as the older Queen Barlows and Big Chief?

[knifeaholic]

Aren't these basically the same way as the older Queen Barlows and Big Chief?

In general, yes. The Queen innovation was to mold the liners/bolsters in one piece from lightweight aluminum.

[RobesonsRme.com]

I think such Remington knives had a different blade etch, but I cannot remember what it was.

Robeson also made such knives, but I’m not at all sure it was done as described above. I have only seen it on a couple of high quality pearl handled gentlemen’s knives.

And that is not to say the knives were limited to male ownership.

Charlie

[peanut740]

That was a Remington innovation - a unique method of construction that saved some manufacturing cost. It was not an innovation to cover the backsprings per se, but it was a new process to reduce the number of manufacturing steps.

The conventional way would be forging four individual bolsters and stamping two liners, and riveting each bolster to a liner, then assembling the knife.

They developed the tooling to stamp the four bolsters and two liners as one square piece, with a bolster in each corner.

They would then bend up each side around the backsprings to form the side liners and then assemble the knife pinning the blades, handles, and backsprings.

When they introduced these knives with the new manufacturing method, they were sold at retail for $1.00 each.

Evidently this new manufacturing method did not work out for long, and Remington changed the pattern to the conventional construction without the "folded over" liners.

Miller Brothers used covered backspring well before Remington came along.Etched "Denver 1900".

[peanut740]

Here's another Miller Brothers made knife.

[ScoutKnives]

Very nice Roger .
Here is a picture of my rs3333 Remington official Boy Scout with the covered back spring .

[jah]

Thanks so much to all of you who helped me with this issue. I am still having trouble logging in, or I would thank each and every one of you individually!