All About Pocket Knives

Gunsil wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 3:32 am Nice Herb! I have never seen any proof that the Olcut mark began in 1911 and I know for sure the brand and the knife you show was made until 1937. There are no Olcuts in the winter 1938 price list and they are in the summer 1937 price list and in other 20s and 30s price lists. They did re-use the name on at least one model fixed blade post war.

herbva wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 11:23 am

Gunsil wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 3:32 am Nice Herb! I have never seen any proof that the Olcut mark began in 1911 and I know for sure the brand and the knife you show was made until 1937. There are no Olcuts in the winter 1938 price list and they are in the summer 1937 price list and in other 20s and 30s price lists. They did re-use the name on at least one model fixed blade post war.

Thanks Gene! I appreciate the info and your kind words. P.S. - I'll have to send a note to John and Charlotte to get that Olcut information corrected in their next edition!

herbva wrote: ↑Fri Dec 09, 2022 10:25 pm This large folding "coke bottle" hunter arrived needing new clothes, and I just happen to have some large slabs of "antique pearl" kirinite that I have been meaning to try out for quite a while. According to Goins, these Olcut knives were made by Olean Cutlery between 1911 and 1914, and the picture in Goins (page 204) is of one of these. Depending on the light, this "antique pearl" kirinite looks anywhere from light goldish tinged pearl to almost regular pearl. Except for the scales, this knife is all steel, so when I reassembled it I used all steel pins. The last picture is the original celluloid scales that were on the knife. There were still no signs of outgassing after over 100 years, but they were starting to shrink and get a little bit deformed and, obviously, one side encountered something that was a little too hot for it to handle. I've actually seen this type of deep yellow/light orange celluloid on other knives of this age and have to wonder why this type of celluloid lasts so long while the some of the newer celluloid goes kaput in no time. Now that I look at the pictures, I think I'm going to put some more work into smoothing out those steel bolsters!