All About Pocket Knives

Picked up this old equal end jack with cell handles, cleaning it up a bit to carry. It was tarnished but very sharp. 3 1/4" main blade is marked KENT / NY CITY. Both blades have half stops.





Anyone know the age (somewhere between 1931 and 1955) or what they called that particular cell color? The KENT line was a Camillus brand made for the Woolworths chain of department stores.

Nice one--

Pretty handles. Such a shame Cell is what it is.

Looking good.

Nice snag Hal!
Too often when I find the Kents they have been used for so many years without oil on the joints that the tang is worn down so bad there is no snap left to the blades.

Nice to see one that still has half stops!

orvet wrote:Nice snag Hal!
Too often when I find the Kents they have been used for so many years without oil on the joints that the tang is worn down so bad there is no snap left to the blades.

Nice to see one that still has half stops!

Funny you say that Dale. I could hardly open the pen blade without oiling the joint, and now it still works perfectly with very good snap. The clip blade snaps and holds its position when going to the full open position, the half stop is weak, and closing is even weaker with not much snap at all.

It seems to me that the heat treatment on the Kent tangs was a good bit softer than on Camillus knives from the same era; that or the steel was different.
For some reason they don't seem to hold up as well as Camillus' of the same age.
Have you noticed this with other Kents as well?