All About Pocket Knives

-

You ALMOST never see them? Actually, until just now I NEVER saw them. What a great knife. It's odd that one master has the matchstriker pull and the other doesn't.

-

Nice one Charlie!

Dale

msteele6 wrote:-

You ALMOST never see them? Actually, until just now I NEVER saw them. What a great knife. It's odd that one master has the matchstriker pull and the other doesn't.

-

Hard to say;
but a lot of old knives just have one matchstriker. At one time a matchstriker pull was a tool, and later, having one enhanced collector value. Then more modern knives put them on as decoration, intended to enhance desireability and value I suppose, so it became "the more the merrier". I've seen little crescent pulls with matchstrikers on them that probably wouldn't light a match!
Good matchstrikers are long, and have fine teeth - like this one.
I guess that wasn't too hard to say after all!

-

Just thought I'd add a little quill knife to this thread. This knife is in excellent shape. Not sure of the date but it does have the oldest of the Camillus stamps, the curved one.

-

msteele6 wrote:-

Just thought I'd add a little quill knife to this thread. This knife is in excellent shape. Not sure of the date but it does have the oldest of the Camillus stamps, the curved one.

That is one of the older tang stamps.
Tom Williams said the curved stamp was used around WWI.
There was at least one stamp that precedes it, but I do not have an example of it.

Nice little quill knife!

Dale

msteele6 wrote:-

Just thought I'd add a little quill knife to this thread. This knife is in excellent shape. Not sure of the date but it does have the oldest of the Camillus stamps, the curved one.
-

Nice old quill knife, msteele6! I like the sideways stamp also, which fits the tang!

Here's one that just came in the mail today. Used but not abused, remember, c. 1916. Great snap open and close, great half stops. Steel bolsters, pins and liners. Really tickled with this one.

Nice oldie, TJ!!

-

tjmurphy,

Great little knife and in really good shape for its age. You can really tell it's an old one from the fact that it has steel bolsters and pins (apparently).

Nice find.

-

Thanks folks, I really like this one. Also, the arched stamp is a give-away for the c. 1916 per Goins Encyclopedia. You know, as I look back at the recent purchases I've made I find I'm buying more and more tang stamps and fewer knives. Does that make sense?

tjmurphy wrote: You know, as I look back at the recent purchases I've made I find I'm buying more and more tang stamps and fewer knives. Does that make sense?

I know the feelin' TJ.

Dale

So many awesome old camillus knives you all have got. Thanks for posting them for everyone to compare. Thx Mark

Early 3 line camillus JUMBO JACK 4" closed--Very heavy and strong working knife--thx Mark

-

Great old jumbo jack ratlesnake75. The handles on that one look like cocobolo or maybe rosewood, can you tell?

-

I have no CLUE on how to tell a difference in the wood handles(except ebony)--thx Mark

Here is an odd one--3 7/8 closed--4 bladed stockman by Syracuse Knife Co--Neat old Celluloid--Thx Mark

Cocobolo, (Dalbergia Retusa), is a member of the rosewood family.
There are many members of the genus Dalbergia that are harvested for their colorful and finely figured wood.

Gilmer Woods website lists 14 species of true rosewoods in stock:
http://www.gilmerwood.com/species-page2.htm

Rosewoods got their name from the floral scent they give off when sawn or sanded.
Cocobolo gives off stronger scent than most other members of the rosewood family.
Many people experience an allergic reaction to the dust.
Personally, when I start working with Cocobolo if I haven't worked it in a while, my nose will run for an hour or so until I get used to it. I actually like the aroma of Cocobolo though some people do not.

If you rub your knife with a dry mild abrasive like a Scotch Brite pad of very fine sandpaper you should be able to smell the distinctive cocobolo aroma. Once you have worked with cocobolo the aroma is very easy to identify. It is very distinctive.

It is most like cocobolo or ebony. Those seemed to be favored by the older knife companies.


Nice Syracuse also. Syracuse was made by Camillus.

Dale

Thanks Dale for explanation of the different wood handle materials--Is either rosewood or ebony made in the USA or imported?--Thx Mark

Rosewoods are not indigenous to the USA.
They tend to grow in warmer climates for the most part.
Some of the main sources of high quality rosewoods include: Mexico, Madagascar, Central & South America, Brazil, India, Myanmar (Burma), as well as S.E. Asia.

Ebony is also imported. The genus is Diospyros.
The blackest ebony usually comes from Madagascar. This is usually held to be the best, by virtue of the fact that it tends to be very finely grained and the blackest of all the ebony species. I have some in my stock that is so black it almost appears to have been painted black. It is especially messy to work with as you get a very fine black dust form sanding or sawing it.
Macassar ebony comes mainly form Celebes Islands, of Indonesia. This is also known as striped ebony.
At one time Buck Knives used Macassar ebony on the Buck 110 handles.
Gabon ebony comes from West Africa and is very black, but can have grayish or brown streaks in it.

Hope this answers your questions,
Dale

Wow!!! That is some very interesting information--I was clueless as to where the manufactures got their wood--Thank you so much for explaining where it comes from and what it looks like--Thx Mark

-

Here is an old Camillus whittler. I don't see too many whittlers from Camillus (I don't consider the 72 pattern to be a whittler even though Camillus' catalog describes it as such, because the master only sets on one spring, not both) probably because a whittler is a premium pattern and Camillus seemed to concentrate on the lower price ranges.

This one is a "true" whittler and a pretty nice one, excellent condition.

-

Real nice whittler msteele - thanks for showing it!!

Camillus is my favorite knife maker and after seeing your knives here only
deepens my respect for them,you guys have some great knives to show
Here is one of my favorites
Its a 3 3/4" equal end jack Sword Brand
Both blades marked half stops and great snap and not to mention the swedging and long pull

Camillus Rope knife

Nice one Trav!
Sword Brand was Camillus' top of the line knife.

Dimitri,
That old rope knife is really sweet!

Thanks for sharing,
Dale