Camillus 72 Clones

[Papa Bones]

Today I add this CAMILLUS 72 variation to my collection. It's another CRAFTSMAN, 3 blade, swelled center, 3 5/8" closed, "whittler" pocket knife. It isn't stamped or marked with a pattern # (9494), but it is. I gave it a minor cleaning, took some pictures and here it is.

Good looking Craftsman whittler. I have a fondness for the Craftsman knives. Great find.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Good.....

Thank you Smitty.

[Papa Bones]

Good.....

Thank you Smitty.

I also just noticed, it is the plain CRAftSMAN stamped shield without the Castle (some call it a gear) around the word "Craftsman".

[Papa Bones]

Added another to my Camillus 72 Clone family. This one came in the Mail Box today. A Hammer Brand Swell Center three blade whittler. It has the Hammer Brand USA tang stamp circa 1945-55. Brown composite handles with the plain oval shield. The handles have the shrinky dink syndrome with some shrinkage due to age. The blades are tight, Secondary Clip and Coping blade have great snap, the Main Clip blade has weak snap. The blades have some scratches and some spotting but overall full and great shape. This is my second Hammer Brand swell center whittler and is in considerably better shape than the first one I had. Here are some photos, all I've done is oil the joints.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Added.....

Smitty, that's a VERY nice lking HAMMER BRAND.

[doglegg]

[Ripster]

Dang you guys, can’t keep up with you all .
Smitty ,nice Hammer that’s a good old brand
Skip ,the Craftsman 72 variation is super ,a Camillus and Craftsman, excellent .
You fellas sure stay at it ,I’m tired just trying to follow you around.
All kidding aside, Thanks. Great stuff

[New_Windsor_NY]

Dang.....

Thank you JP.

[Papa Bones]

Dang you guys, can’t keep up with you all .
Smitty ,nice Hammer that’s a good old brand
Skip ,the Craftsman 72 variation is super ,a Camillus and Craftsman, excellent .
You fellas sure stay at it ,I’m tired just trying to follow you around.
All kidding aside, Thanks. Great stuff

Appreciate it JP.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Ok, here we go. This pocket knife arrived today. Call it a FRANKENKNIFE, etc., or whatever you want to call it (but NOT counterfeit). This pocket knife meets all the criteria to be considered a CAMILLUS 72 variation/clone. It has 3 blades, configured correctly. It is 3 5/8" in length, closed. It has a swelled center. The "Bird" shield suggests that it's from China or Pakistan. The 3 blades are all stamped with a "CATTARAUGUS" tang stamp. It appears that two different tang stamps were used. The snap is wicked and the three blades are as sharp as a very good cheddar cheese. This pocket knife has already taken an "authenticity" beating in a different forum. I'm NOT claiming that this is an authentic "CATTARAUGUS" pocket knife. I'm also not dismissing this pocket knife as a 100% FRANKENKNIFE. The bottom line, I don't care about the country of origin and I don't care about it being a possible "FRANKENKNIFE." It didn't need any cleaning. I took some pictures and here it is.

[doglegg]

I like it Skip. A very cool conversation piece.

[New_Windsor_NY]

I.....

Thank you Floyd.

[Papa Bones]

Ok, here we go. This pocket knife arrived today. Call it a FRANKENKNIFE, etc., or whatever you want to call it

Neat and interesting find Skip. Also a great conversation piece. Do you think it's possible that the frame and blades are original, but possibly had disintegrated handles so someone replaced them with the Paki grips? I notice by the springs it is almost a taper spring and spacer configuration with the center spacer..

[New_Windsor_NY]

Neat.....

Thank you Smitty.
I don't know what part or parts, if any, of this pocket knife are not original.
I think that the whole pocket knife is original and the tang stamps, if there were any to begin with,
were ground off and re-stamped with the "CATTARAUGUS" stamps. I went through my CATTARAUGUS
catalog anyway, page after page, pocket knife after pocket knife and it appears that CATTARAUGUS
never made a pocket knife in this particular pattern. So, this is a Chinese or Pakistan manufactured
pocket knife, which I knew to begin with, and it appears that the tangs have been ground down and
re-stamped. It looks like two different tang stamps are involved also.

[Ripster]

Neat.....

Thank you Smitty.
I don't know what part(s) of this pocket knife are "original."
I think that the whole pocket knife is "original" and the tang stamps were ground off
and re-stamped with the "CATTARAUGUS" stamps. I went through my CATTARAUGUS catalog anyway,
page after page, pocket knife after pocket knife and it appears that CATTARAUGUS never made a
pocket knife in this particular pattern. So, this is a Chinese or Pakistan manufactured pocket knife,
which I knew to begin with, and it appears that the tangs have been ground down and re-stamped.
I posted this in the CATTARAUGUS forum also. It DEFINITELY wasn't appreciated.

It got some conversation going though !
Thanks for the info regarding Catt and them not making a 72,was going to check on that.
Stay warm

[New_Windsor_NY]

It.....

Thank you JP.
It does make an interesting conversation piece.
I'm not 100% sure that CATTARAUGUS didn't make
that particular pattern of pocket knife. I just couldn't find it
in my catalog.

[Papa Bones]

It.....

Thank you JP.
It does make an interesting conversation piece.
I'm not 100% sure that CATTARAUGUS didn't make
that particular pattern of pocket knife. I just couldn't find it
in my catalog.

I do know that Cattaraugus made a swell center whittler pattern 32659, but it was more like the Case 83 pattern as far as blade configuration. I was just wondering if someone rearranged the blades on one of those. But the tang stamps font used doesn't quite look like those on photo's I've seen of the 32659 Cattaraugus. So you may be correct, they could have been restamped.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Here is the "BIRD" shield pocket knife, along with the "DEER" shield pocket knife.
Both are either made in China, Pakistan, or possibly, one from each country.
They are almost identical except for the shields, the nail nicks, the "BIRD"
having fake tang stamps and the "DEER" having no tang stamps.
Pictures #5 & #6 are of the fake tang stamp and a legitimate tang stamp.
The last two pictures are of the other two fake tang stamps on the "BIRD" blades.
Click on a picture to ENLARGE.

[dirtyfonzie]

Kutmaster bone and a real beauty.

[doglegg]

Yes it is a real beauty. That looks brand new. You have a treasure for sure. Proud for you. Thanks for showing it.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Kutmaster.....

GORGEOUS!
Thank you for posting it here.

[jerryd6818]

Kutmaster bone and a real beauty.

I'll be dipped Jordan. There's one I don't have. Congrats. That's a beauty.

[dirtyfonzie]

Thanks gentlemen. It's been a while since I've posted. I knew Jerry would get a kick out of seeing this one.

[jerryd6818]

Indeed I did and it has been a while. Good to "see" ya.

[dirtyfonzie]

Life and work have been keeping me busy, but the important part is I'm still out scouring your local basements, attics, garage sales, and flea markets. Gotta find this stuff one way or another.

Even when I bought the knife I thought "Jerry would want to see a picture of this one." Lol, even the you haven't posted in years you don't forget the people you've met on AAPK!