Camillus Sword Brand 4 line Restoration
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:37 pm
I really MUST get in the habit of taking a pic before I begin a restoration project! 
This was a Camillus celluloid handled stockman. The celluloid was badly gassed, the bolsters were reddish brown in color and the entire knife was encased in rust and crud. Besides that, the blade had been worked over with a grinder and/or a Dremel with a grindstone.
WHY? 
Had this been a post war Sword Brand I would probably have thrown it in the parts bin or maybe even the garbage, something I seldom do.
I remover the last vestiges of the celluloid handles, and soaked the entire knife in a mixture of mineral oil and Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber. I put the knife and cleaning mixture in a glass tube, immersing the entire knife, and corked it so the Gun Scrubber would not evaporate out, and let it soak for nearly a week. When I took it out there was a ¼” of crud in the bottom of the tube.
Since this was a 4-line tang stamp I decided to see what I could do to salvage the master blade and make it a useable knife. I spent quite a while sanding the blade by hand then buffing it. I didn’t get all the grind marks out, but you would not recognize the original blade.
I used an old set of bone handles, I thing they were honey bone from Jantz. I have had the handles so long the ink on the plastic bag had faded so bad I couldn’t read it, but I think there were called “Honey Jigged Bone” from Jantz. It looks a lot like Culpeppers Amber Bone with American Standard jigging. I think the two are the same.
I did some file work on the spring and put the whole knife back together.
I probably have 4 or 5 hours (minimum) of time in on this knife, more than I could ever justify charging a customer for such an extensive overhaul, but for me it was a labor of love. I now have a nice thin single blade knife with pretty bone handles and a blade that is older than I am. Even though I have not put the final edge on it (there still a couple dings in the blade that were there when I started), it is still as sharp as a razor. This is mostly from sanding the whole blade; it really thins the blade and puts a wicked edge on it. You have to watch out when hand sanding a blade because it will slice your fingers badly if you are not careful!
Anyway, now I have a unique, new (to me) EDC that is both vintage and new, classic and out of the ordinary. I really needed a new EDC too, (like I need a third elbow)!
I almost forgot, I will have to keep this knife because the handle chipped when I put the rocker pin in. It doesn’t hurt anything, but it isn’t perfect. Perfect justification for keeping it, right?
This was a Camillus celluloid handled stockman. The celluloid was badly gassed, the bolsters were reddish brown in color and the entire knife was encased in rust and crud. Besides that, the blade had been worked over with a grinder and/or a Dremel with a grindstone.
WHY? Had this been a post war Sword Brand I would probably have thrown it in the parts bin or maybe even the garbage, something I seldom do.
I remover the last vestiges of the celluloid handles, and soaked the entire knife in a mixture of mineral oil and Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber. I put the knife and cleaning mixture in a glass tube, immersing the entire knife, and corked it so the Gun Scrubber would not evaporate out, and let it soak for nearly a week. When I took it out there was a ¼” of crud in the bottom of the tube.
Since this was a 4-line tang stamp I decided to see what I could do to salvage the master blade and make it a useable knife. I spent quite a while sanding the blade by hand then buffing it. I didn’t get all the grind marks out, but you would not recognize the original blade.
I used an old set of bone handles, I thing they were honey bone from Jantz. I have had the handles so long the ink on the plastic bag had faded so bad I couldn’t read it, but I think there were called “Honey Jigged Bone” from Jantz. It looks a lot like Culpeppers Amber Bone with American Standard jigging. I think the two are the same.
I did some file work on the spring and put the whole knife back together.
I probably have 4 or 5 hours (minimum) of time in on this knife, more than I could ever justify charging a customer for such an extensive overhaul, but for me it was a labor of love. I now have a nice thin single blade knife with pretty bone handles and a blade that is older than I am. Even though I have not put the final edge on it (there still a couple dings in the blade that were there when I started), it is still as sharp as a razor. This is mostly from sanding the whole blade; it really thins the blade and puts a wicked edge on it. You have to watch out when hand sanding a blade because it will slice your fingers badly if you are not careful!
Anyway, now I have a unique, new (to me) EDC that is both vintage and new, classic and out of the ordinary. I really needed a new EDC too, (like I need a third elbow)!
I almost forgot, I will have to keep this knife because the handle chipped when I put the rocker pin in. It doesn’t hurt anything, but it isn’t perfect. Perfect justification for keeping it, right?
