All About Pocket Knives

I’m new to here and I know that there is a vast amount of knowledge that can be gleaned from those who have experience dealing with this issue.
I have a 3-3/8” schrade double switchblade No. 7404WT Ivory Celluloid handled knife. The blades are fairly decent as far as width, but there is slight peaking on both. The celluloid on the other hand is missing almost half on one side and the other side is cracked all over.
When facing this issue and considering the level of damage I believe that repair is not an option; would one then try to mold new scales from celluloid using a jig of some sort or replace with a new material?
Right now I’m entertaining the thought of creating new scales from Resin-ivory. Would that be considered taboo? Would it negatively affect the value?

I don't think replacing those covers will affect the value that much. It has value as an automatic, if it functions well. However, there is a bit of blade loss and corrosion, so I don't think it will ever command high dollar.

If you can make it functional with decent covers, go for it. You may also want to send it to MuskratMan or Bill DeShivs. Both are great auto repairmen.

Thank you for your response. The way I figured; it started it’s life with fake ivory, why not put fake ivory on it again. And as you pointed out, it’s not a museum quality specimen.
I don’t know if you would know or not, but do either of the gentlemen you mentioned have the ability or tools to create new celluloid scales? Just asking for future reference in case I do happen to run into a museum piece in need.

IMHO, I'd go with white bone, before I put celluloid on it.

BFORSE, you will probably be better off with some other type of handle material. Celluloid degrades over time and outgasses and corrodes the metal parts of the knife. Probably some one will be along to suggest a better solution. By the way, Welcome. Hope you hang around.

Glennbad the one who replied first is an excellent knife mechanic.
Doc B also has experience in rehandles. Their advice is quality.

Thank you for y’alls input. I agree bone would be a very good option, better than the original celluloid when it comes to corrosion. But because I am somewhat of a perfectionist if I did go back with bone scales, I would have to do my do diligence and research how to dye bone like GEC’s antique yellow and make a tool to recreate a pickbone texture like the attached; I would try my hardest to mimic a No. 7403T...so probably for now I will go the synthetic route unless there is any major reason why that would be a bad idea. If it looks bad I can always start over again.

There are various examples of acrylic plastic materials by several names available. I think the very last celluloid was manufactured and used on knives in Germany some years ago. I don't think the material exists today. Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.

Thank you tongueriver, I am amazed at how many people have been willing to share their expertise and experience concerning this topic. By the way if anyone could point me in the right direction when it comes to the process and materials needed for dying bone in the likeness of GEC’s antique yellow bone; It would be greatly appreciated. My experience in bone dying is limited to painting it with potassium permanganate. It definitely gave me the brown tones that I was looking for but I think that a yellow undertone would look more period correct.

You may want to try Culpepper's (knifehandles.com), they do a lot of jigging and dyeing of their own bone, and they are who I use for all my bone. You may be able to find something to your liking there.

I have used acrylic or kirinite to replace celluloid. It's probably the closest in appearance.

A lot of good information, thanks guys!

I’d consider putting ivory micarta on it. Not real expensive, near-indestructible, similar look to the original covers.

Ken

Thanks Mumbleypeg, So many more options than what I could come up with. I appreciate it guys!

Well, I went to knifehandles.com....
I ordered some smooth mahogany bone. My plan is to try to replicate a pickbone pattern. I know it will mean more work and risk but when it comes to projects like this, I can’t help myself

Make sure you post the finished picture!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Will do... whatever the outcome

Hey Bforse. Not to rain on your parade but I've done a few rehandles with pre dyed handles. If they are smooth then when you jig them they are quite light in the jigged ruts. You may want to get some dye to fill the ruts. Looking forward to the Aftas pictures.

Thanks rexstubbins for the heads up. I appreciate it.

So, since I’ve been waiting for my bone to come in, I decided to fix something else. The original celluloid was torn buy the button, and I couldn’t leave it like that.
Before: After:

BFORSE wrote:So, since I’ve been waiting for my bone to come in, I decided to fix something else. The original celluloid was torn buy the button, and I couldn’t leave it like that.
Before:E2B9FE0F-EAE5-43D2-8838-F40C495D460A.jpeg

After:

How did you make this repair?

This is a “replace” fix. Searching online for celluloid with the proper thickness and pattern was a virtual bust.
Then there was the problem of forming that celluloid to the correct contour of the shell. It seemed like a hopeless case, especially the amount of effort for such an inexpensive knife; so finding a willing donor was the only option I had left. A perfect donor was found that had his tip snapped off, and fairly decent celluloid. Having some experience with shelled knife repair, I knew I had to be very careful when bending the tabs. The most nerve racking part was removing the celluloid. I started with the donor knife first just in case I tore the celluloid. I used a blow dryer on the lowest setting to help make it a little more flexible; take some of the brittleness out. Then I carefully, slowly, started to push the celluloid tabs on one side off the shell. Once that was accomplished, I removed all the celluloid from both knives so I wouldn’t have a mixed batch on my knife. Then I cut the tabs off of the original celluloid that had the tear, placed it on top of my donor piece, lined up the contours, taped them together and used the old celluloid holes as a template for cutting new holes in the donor piece. I used a Dremel with a very small engraver bit, and cut the holes out. Then I used a tapered sanding bit to fine tune my cuts. All cutting was done with the dremel on the lowest setting and without any force to minimize friction that could melt the celluloid.

Excellent job, and nice detailed tutorial! Very impressive!
If you have opportunity to pick up a Foredom, which is a rotary flex shaft tool, I'm certain you won't regret it if you do any amount of work with a Dremel at all. The Foredom can work at very low speeds and has lots of torque. Usually the Dremel needs extremely high speeds to be effective, the Foredom is the opposite; low speed, high torque.

Thanks orvet, I have never even heard of a tool like that. I’ll definitely have to look that up.

That's an interesting fix! You have more patience than I do.