All About Pocket Knives

I am hoping that one of the CSC collectors will comment on the knife i show in post above. Was this made towards the end of CSC's years ? And is there a series marked with the "Union" shield ? Or a series with the blue rope bone ? And was this bone obtained from Schrade when it closed in 2004 ?
I bought this from AGR's "The Cutting Edge". It had been there longer than almost all of the 375 knives listed, so likely longer than one year, maybe even a few years. Why did no one buy it ? I think it is a great find.
I really need some 'education' about this knife.
thanks, kj

I don't know anything about it Roland but it is a great looking knife. I bet Eric would know about it. Great pick up!

Roland, I can't answer when it was made, however Canal Street's offerings were well-made. There were a few examples of Ka-Bar and Union branded knives that Canal Street made that were a nice homage to the originals. I'm a big fan of the early knives marked Union Cut Co Olean N.Y.

KJ, I recently sold one that had a serial # 361. The knives were made in 2010 and used 14-4 CRMO for the blade. The folks I have talked to assume that Wally G. brought the blue rope jigged bone with him from Schrade or from the closing sale. In 1924 Union Cutlery trademarked the Ka-Bar name and I know that Canal Street made the Coppersmith Ka-Bars with dogshead shield so your razor isn't the only one they made that is associated with Union Cutlery. I saw that knife on AGR and you got a heck of a good deal on it...I was wondering why it had been there so long and was tempted to buy it. Mine sold on Ebay for $155.

If it makes you feel better, I was going to buy it once the price was reduced in June. June passed... I got greedy and was going to buy it in a few weeks for the next 10% reduction. Nice pick up.

Thanks for the help with this knife. So it is the same blue rope bone handles that Schrade began to use just prior to closing. And from 2010 so made during 'middle years of CSC. I don't know if "Prototype" affects value but even without this i think price is a bargain.
It will be about a week before i can go to P.O. in WA. State to pick it up. I'm looking forward to seeing how it 'speaks' to me when in hand. I am expecting to like it quite a bit.
kj

Roland that's a great find, it's the only knife we did with that blade. A.G. took delivery on the 500 knives in October 2009. If I recall correctly Union/Kabar wasn't involved with that one, it was just an ode to the old Union knife thought up by A.G.. I believe only the dogs head knives we did were collabs with Kabar.

Eric

Thanks Eric. To me it looks like a fine knife and unique with this blade type. It just seems so odd that AGR had it listed probably for a few years before i bought it. Made me wonder if something is 'wrong' that i am not understanding. However since posting it here i now know that nothing is 'wrong', i just got lucky. My "lucky" knife. I might just carry it and get good at one hand opening. Carrying it might bring me more good luck.
kj

That is a really sweet knife. I need to check the cutting edge more frequently, I too would have bought that one. I have two rope jigged ,a Schrade and a Red Trout, love them both.

Here is a new (To me) 2011 Canal Street Cutlery Custom I just added to my gathering

Very nice. What's the handle material?

Mastadon

Tom

Tom that's amazing! Is that an Uncle H. creation?

Eric

Eric,
Not that I am aware of...I think this is one that Mike Siegel/Drop Point Hunter had done for his Custom Canal Streets.

I have two Barlows and two Pinches that he had custom made (Handled)as well...I assumed they were done in the factory, however, I could be wrong

Been there before...LOL

Tom

OK, then it's definitely a Harold creation, he did all of those customs.

Eric

Very nice Tom.

Very, very special knife Tom. That handle looks great. That is a treasure.

Called in some favors. Little bit of old, new and custom. One of my favorite materials used by CSC... Eric had to shuck a lot of corn to make these happen. Gotta thank @Redtrout too. If you haven't picked up one of his boy's knives yet, do it fast. He's down to a couple on his storefront.

Some knife purveyors mistakenly use mammoth and mastodon interchangeably. They are different species. Both body size and tusks differ. Mastodons went extinct about 50,000 years ago. Mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago. Preserved mammoth tusks are found regularly in Alaska, Northern Siberia, and other Arctic sites. I don't know how common it is to find mastodon tusks.
Is mastodon actually used for knife handles ? Or, is it always (nearly always) that the person is using the word interchangeably with mammoth ?
I think the knife makers might know ?
kj

Please leave 1 Redtrout knife, its not in the budget till next month.

That is interesting Roland as the English Barlows and the Pinch Lock Backs I have are one of each in Mastadon and one each in Wooly Mammoth

Eric...come on back...this sounds right up your alley.

Tom

I'm really not too up on the mastodon/mammoth parts guys, I've rarely dealt with them. I wonder if folks who label the parts even know the difference. The teeth were substantially different, I think the mammoth tooth is better suited to handles due to its size, but if you had a piece of each tusk side by side I doubt there'd be much difference.

Corey those knives look nice up against that Catskill Hunter, they make quite a handsome set!

Eric

I need to make a possible correction regarding date that mastodons went extinct. In a previous article i read, the date given was 50,000 years ago. I now see articles saying that mammoths and mastodons both went extinct about 10,000 years ago. So, mastodons gone for 50,000 years or 10,000 years ? I don't know which is more likely correct. What i do know is that there is a lot of incorrect 'information' online about everything.
kj

FarSide wrote:

1967redrider wrote:When I was digging through my Tuna Valley knives I came across the Canal Street knives I picked up right when I heard they were closing shop. Really well-built and quality knives.

Wow, nice group there. Especially that Ring Opener

For those of us who have never held one in hand, can one of you please explain to me how a ring opener knife works? Thanks. BTW, love all of the pictures!!