All About Pocket Knives

WB, I didn't know they made one with just the knife and fork!!!.....I have one with the knife, fork and spoon!!............... ....................................

That is a beauty Bob, even in the rough condition!
I don't remember seeing such red bone on many Camillus knives.
It must be pretty early.
Is it a three line or four line tang stamp?

Thanks guys, I almost didn't buy it but figured I'd never run across another and now I'm glad I did....

It is a four line, the USA is hidden by the bolster. Hard to get a good pic of the tang and didn't want to do much cleaning.

Carrmillus I've seen the one with the spoon, I believe it mite have been yours...very nice....

Dale and Tommy, you are both welcome. You are both great guys!

I've had the yen for a Camillus #23 for some time now but the Celluloid handles put me off something fierce. Well, I finally have one that's supposed to be in today's mail. What about the Celluloid you say? What changed your mind, you ask? From the sellers pictures, this one looks to be in fairly good condition so I have plans for it. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the plans work out and tune in to this station sometime after the first of the year.

Sellers pictures.

You may have seen it on one of these 23s. They were a pretty popular advertising billboard and Orr Felt used them quite a bit (among others).

A pocketful? If my plans work out, it will become a safe queen.

Jerry, I don't think that has celluloid handles. I have several number 23's, as it's a favorite for me to customize.
I think Camillus used another early plastic for those handles, other than celluloid.
There may have been some earlier ones in French ivory (celluloid), but the one I have on my workbench right now does not appear to be celluloid.
It does have some shrinkage, which makes me believe it's not Delrin, but there is no celluloid damage evident on the knife.

Two examples.

.........didn't the kid in the movie "the black stallion" have a Camillus 23????.......... ..............

In the CAMILLUS catalog it is referred to as "Grain White Pyroxylin"

: a flammable mixture of cellulose nitrates usually with less than 12.5 percent nitrogen that is less explosive than guncotton, soluble in a mixture of ether and alcohol or other organic solvents, and used especially in making plastics and coatings (as lacquers)—see collodion

Nothin' fancy here.....your standard Cub Scout blue handle.....

Scott, it looks like that Cub Scout is in very good condition. Nice knife Bud.

Thanks Jerry!

It is, the only snaffou is the liner doesn't snap under the main blade and the main blade has a small amount of grinding wheel marks on the back side from another individual.

carrmillus wrote:.........didn't the kid in the movie "the black stallion" have a Camillus 23????.......... ..............

Good memory Tommy, except it was a number 66 Camillus.
I actually discussed that movie with Tom Williams about 4 years ago and he told me the story behind it.
It is the 2nd post down in the topic listed below:
http://allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_f ... 63&t=20082

Ancestor of Yello-Jaket Series.

orvet wrote:Jerry, I don't think that has celluloid handles. I have several number 23's, as it's a favorite for me to customize.
I think Camillus used another early plastic for those handles, other than celluloid.
There may have been some earlier ones in French ivory (celluloid), but the one I have on my workbench right now does not appear to be celluloid.
It does have some shrinkage, which makes me believe it's not Delrin, but there is no celluloid damage evident on the knife.

Now that I have it in hand, I see what you mean. It's "Grain White Pyroxylin" as T.J. said and I had noticed that before but when I looked up "Pyroxylin" the definition said to me "Celluloid". In hand, this stuff is hard and doesn't resemble Celluloid at all. Strange stuff.




While I'm here, I picked up another Camillus 80 this morning. I was hoping the handles would be bone but after messing with the seller's pictures I see they are Delran.

.....jerry, that looks like the same milling pattern on the liners that they used on the #69 stockman???........................ ............................

Tis true Tommy. Both the #80 and the #69 are part of the Deluxe line with nickel silver liners, pins and of course bolsters. The #28, #30, #81, #82 and #83 were also part of that line. Unlike the #69, some didn't last very long. The #30 and #81 were gone by 1965. The #28, #80, #81 and #82 had been discontinued by 1973 and all that were left were a down graded #69 and #83. I don't know about the #83 but at some point they stopped milling the liners on the #69, first the outside liners and then the middle liner. Introduced in about 1954, when first released, all knives in the Deluxe line had nickel silver liners and pins in place of brass and had the fancy milled liners and center scale. In the early going, they also had bone handles but that went by the wayside after Delrin came along.

Thanks JerryD. You forced me into buying this one with the Great Northern Paper logo.

jerryd6818 wrote:

orvet wrote:Jerry, I don't think that has celluloid handles. I have several number 23's, as it's a favorite for me to customize.
I think Camillus used another early plastic for those handles, other than celluloid.
There may have been some earlier ones in French ivory (celluloid), but the one I have on my workbench right now does not appear to be celluloid.
It does have some shrinkage, which makes me believe it's not Delrin, but there is no celluloid damage evident on the knife.

Now that I have it in hand, I see what you mean. It's "Grain White Pyroxylin" as T.J. said and I had noticed that before but when I looked up "Pyroxylin" the definition said to me "Celluloid". In hand, this stuff is hard and doesn't resemble Celluloid at all. Strange stuff.




While I'm here, I picked up another Camillus 80 this morning. I was hoping the handles would be bone but after messing with the seller's pictures I see they are Delran.

Good find .Different shield to most Camillus 80,s

Grant

tjmurphy wrote:Thanks JerryD. You forced me into buying this one with the Great Northern Paper logo.

Once you discover the handles are not the type of Celluloid we're accustomed to it makes the knife much more attractive. It's a real handful and those blades with half-stops are more like a guillotine than knife blades.

That Great Northern Paper 23 looks to be in excellent condition. I looked at that one but backed out on bidding. Way to go T.J..

I have plans for mine. I hope they work out the way I have them envisioned.

What about these two old soldiers? I picked them up today at the Cave City gun and knife show. Both are marked Wards, both have really good bone and good blades, tight and right. While I was there I had Mr. Pete Cohen take a look at them and he pronounced them good and without a doubt Camillus.

According to him the darker one is definitely early 30's at the latest, possibly late 20's with the distinctive Camillus Castrator spey blade. The lighter one he dated to post WWII.

Cuz, can we see a good clear picture of the tang stamps? They look pretty nice from this part of town.

Why yes, yes I can Lol.

First the late 20's to 30's, post WWII second.

I must confess, talking to Mr. Cohen I was in over my head. He started waxing eloquent about liners, pins and stamping dies. Then to prove his point he pulled out from under the table an old camillus salesman's box with mint samples. I was drooling too much to learn. Lol.