All About Pocket Knives

I had given my dad this Schrade Walden 760 a few years back. I was showing him my old schrades and told him to pick out anything he liked to keep. He had chosen it and one of those GM mechanic anniversary knives.



He loves that knife and mentions it every time I came over to visit. A few months ago he mentioned that the knife had some cracks. I told him I would take a look at it, and it looked like cell breakdown. Sure enough, stuff was happening underneath. I decided to take it apart and mod it.

Looks like I caught it before it got too bad...


I chose some nice RJB amber and a different shield for it. I finished it and brought it over to him last weekend. He couldn't believe it was the same knife.


Glenn

Beautiful job.

Great work as always Glenn ! Especially cool that you could do it for your dad.

Another top repair.Dad will be happy

Grant

Looks fantastic nothing like modding a knife for the ones we love

First class work there Glenn. You really know your stuff. I wish I did.
Nice job!

Gary

Terrific job for many reasons, Glenn.
Good for you.

Excellent work Glenn!
My dad's favorite is a Western jack I modded with stag.

Great work I know your Dad loves that knife even more now.........

It looked like you caught it just in time!

Donald

Absolutely Amazing!!

Very Nice

Nice save. It looks super!

Wow! That looks great Dad is lucky fellow!

Randy

Wow, beautiful job and a great story. You will probably always remember that moment with your dad.
cheers

So what was the original material made of?

Nothing could have been done to prevent it? eg. applying something like mineral oil

Bob

rea1eye wrote:So what was the original material made of?

Nothing could have been done to prevent it? eg. applying something like mineral oil

Bob

The original handle was celluloid. Once celluloid starts to breakdown, a process known as off-gassing, there is nothing anyone can do to stop the process.

See his pics of the liners where Glenn has the handles removed.
This is caused by the release of sulfuric acid and nitric acid vapors. There is nothing that can be done to stop the process. It is an inherent danger of such an unstable compound. It does appear in general that darker colors seem to be a bit more stable than lighter colors. I have read a lot on the topic and one explanation is that it is caused by impurities in some of the ingredients.

Celluloid is even more unstable in the manufacturing process, it is highly flammable, explosively so. It was so flammable that many companies like Camillus Cutlery had celluloid made in a separate building with the roof on hinges in case it exploded. The hinges allowed the blast to go upward instead of horizontal, thus minimizing the damage to other buildings.

There is nothing close to celluloid in versatility and range of colors and patterns. The closest substitute is some of the newer acrylics.

Thanks for answering that, Dale. Sadly, celluloid is unstable like that, and for the most, part, it's usually a question of when, not if, it will degrade.

You da man, Glenn. Wow!

Great job, Glenn, and a great story too. I like the new shield better than the old one!