Question about Miller Bros. knives

[coffeecup]

If I remember right, some of the products of the Miller Bros Cutlery Co used screws instead of pins to hold the covers to the scales. How thick were the scales on these? Any idea of the thread size? Were the liners brass or steel or ????

I'm trying to imagine tapping threads into the brass liners used by companies like Schrade--.025" or so--but just can't see doing it.

Thanks,
Jim

[FRJ]

Jim,
here's a Miller Bros. as a example. Small knife, small screws, in pearl. Big job.
There's another guy around here that knows this stuff pretty well.

[Joe Dirt]

Think about the pocket watches from the same era, Jim.
There FULL of little screws and even smaller components. Just a guess
but I would say they used magnification in the assembly process.

Sweeeeet quill, Joe!

....... Joe

[FRJ]

Thanks Joe.

[coffeecup]

Watchmaking of that era is a good comparison as far as methods and techniques, but those are rather specialized skills requiring different training than that received by a cutler. I was trying to figure out why screws would be used. Did the use of screws arise on knives intended to compete with knives finished by jewelers?

FRJ's knife seems as much a piece of pocket jewelery as knife. Was the use of screws limited to top of the line work intended largely for show, or did Miller Bros also use screws on working knives like folding hunters and barehead jacks?

[FRJ]

I think I'v seen them on more pedestrian knives as well. Can't remember where.