All About Pocket Knives

hey here is an awesome old knife.it has "imperial over " providence" spelled all the way out like that. this is one of the knives im letting go in the lot i announced a few weeks ago but it is spoken for as of now.it was one out of the 50 im parting with that i actaully paid a little more for so it didnt go into random boxes.

anyway it might have the RI after providence but i cant see it.

whoever gets this will be able to clean it up better then me. im not sure about the handle material. plastic looking MOP and real mop always mix me up.{damn newbies}but it is taking o that butter color mop gets over time. let me tell you the baldes are still sharp as heck. and it still snaps like a gator and is built tough.whoever put this together for imperial cared when he was doing it.

help with the tang is welcomed.if you think this model should have an RI let me know. ive dated it arond the 30-40s but could be wrong.most of the black with some elbow grease i can tell will come off.

cool old knife. not mop.

i didnt think it was MOP but wasnt sure. i need to be able to learn how to tell the diff.

Hi pete,

Real MOP has got a "depth" to it, and appears to change as you alter the angle you look at it.
If you can a real and imitation example and hold them side by side, you will see the difference. Like everything else, gets easier with practice

thats the thing about this knife is it does chnage as you look into it .outside under the sunlight it shows all kinds of different swirl patterns and at different levels within the handle.make any sense?

Here are a few pictures of some nice A+ Grade Pearl and some "new" 350 million year old coral that looks like it may be popular on custom knives. I'm making rather converting some equipment to work with lapidary needs.

The pearl changes colors by whatever angle you hold it. That's a 3.5 inch piece of pearl. A+ grade pearl is very nice and actually has better color than presentation grade. See how the pearl colors change in the light. That's a $120.00 piece of pearl, if it were presentation grade it would be $155.00. I like the "cheap" one better because the color is much better.

The last is some REAL NICE Coral that is agatized.

I'm pretty sure the Imperial is "Waterfall" celluloid. Especially if it shimmers as it catches the light. I have been told that the celluloids sometimes contained fish scales to help them shimmer. You can see where it has shrunk away from the tip bolsters a little, as it has aged.

Bill

El Lobo wrote:I'm pretty sure the Imperial is "Waterfall" celluloid. Especially if it shimmers as it catches the light. I have been told that the celluloids sometimes contained fish scales to help them shimmer. You can see where it has shrunk away from the tip bolsters a little, as it has aged.

Bill

I'd agree 100% with that and if there is any pitting in that black on the blades I would also blame the celluloid. And we all know what I do to that.

HUKK what would you do -curious?

peterforce wrote:HUKK what would you do -curious?

If the celluloid is shrinking and I see pitting in the blade steel, tarnishing brass liners, the knife gets new handles. I have about a dozen at least that do not have handles in the shop at this point. These are mine and I can't get to them. Most I bought in this condition rather cheaply but are pretty rare. Refurbished these are mostly 1 of 4, 6, 2, and 9 that I can recall.