A Special #72 for JerryD
Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 1:54 pm
This knife that I just completed for Jerry has been in the works for over three years. It was originally intended as a surprise for Jerry from our mutual friend Tom Williams (CAMCO). Several months before he passed away Tom asked me if I would be willing to do a customized knife for Jerry if he (Tom) sent me the parts. I said I would be delighted so Tom said he would look through the parts he had and see what blades he had to make Jerry a Camillus #72, which is of course Jerry’s favorite pattern. Tom wanted the knife to be a surprise for Jerry.
Tom said he knew he didn’t have any new blades for the 72 that were tang stamp with the Camillus brand but he did have a PowrKraft master blade, a brand Camillus made for Montgomery Wards. Later Tom sent me some jigged bone to put on the knife but explained it wasn’t what he really wanted to send me. He thought he had some better bone, with a smaller jigging pattern than the set he sent me. He said he would continue to look for some better parts and for some better handles to go on the knife for Jerry and he would send them to me in the next box of Camillus literature and parts that he planned to send. He also said he was going to send me a worn knife to put the blades into.
Those of you who were members here three years ago may remember that Tom passed away suddenly. I never received the box from Tom with the parts, except for the PowrKraft master blade and the dark brown bone handles (that were made for a much larger knife) which Tom had sent to me previously. Fortunately Tom had sent me some new secondary blades for the 72 pattern to use on a couple other projects and I just happened to have a view Camillus 72s with worn down blades.
I was obviously shocked and stunned by Tom’s sudden passing, as well as dealing with some health issues of my own so I didn’t do anything with the knife right away. A year or two after Tom passed away I told Jerry about the project and that I really didn’t have a good set of handles to put on it. He said he had been looking at some exterior ram horn and thought it looked pretty neat. He bought a set of exterior ram’s horn scales and sent them to me. The knife and handles have been sitting on my workbench for over a year as I dealt with some of my health issues. I am finally able to get back into the shop and work on knives again, even if I can’t work as many hours of the day as I want and even though I need to take frequent breaks I can at least work on knives again!
Now you know the back story, here’s the knife. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
And a special thanks to JerryD for his patients after I told him I had a surprise for him.
Tom said he knew he didn’t have any new blades for the 72 that were tang stamp with the Camillus brand but he did have a PowrKraft master blade, a brand Camillus made for Montgomery Wards. Later Tom sent me some jigged bone to put on the knife but explained it wasn’t what he really wanted to send me. He thought he had some better bone, with a smaller jigging pattern than the set he sent me. He said he would continue to look for some better parts and for some better handles to go on the knife for Jerry and he would send them to me in the next box of Camillus literature and parts that he planned to send. He also said he was going to send me a worn knife to put the blades into.
Those of you who were members here three years ago may remember that Tom passed away suddenly. I never received the box from Tom with the parts, except for the PowrKraft master blade and the dark brown bone handles (that were made for a much larger knife) which Tom had sent to me previously. Fortunately Tom had sent me some new secondary blades for the 72 pattern to use on a couple other projects and I just happened to have a view Camillus 72s with worn down blades.
I was obviously shocked and stunned by Tom’s sudden passing, as well as dealing with some health issues of my own so I didn’t do anything with the knife right away. A year or two after Tom passed away I told Jerry about the project and that I really didn’t have a good set of handles to put on it. He said he had been looking at some exterior ram horn and thought it looked pretty neat. He bought a set of exterior ram’s horn scales and sent them to me. The knife and handles have been sitting on my workbench for over a year as I dealt with some of my health issues. I am finally able to get back into the shop and work on knives again, even if I can’t work as many hours of the day as I want and even though I need to take frequent breaks I can at least work on knives again!
Now you know the back story, here’s the knife. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
And a special thanks to JerryD for his patients after I told him I had a surprise for him.
Wheres that drool rag? 
