All About Pocket Knives

Okay gentlemen I need some advice. I am blessed to have my father’s, grandfather’s and great grandfather’s edc pocket knives. My problem is this: I would like to display these knives in a framed box with a glass cover. Here’s the issue- my grandfather’s knife has the honey and molasses celluloid scales and I don’t want them to damage any of the knives if I put them in an enclosed frame.
So, in your opinion do I:
1.) have it rehandled
2.) display separately
or
3.) continue to keep them separate.
I believe these knives deserve to be together and I hate to alter any of them.
The knife in question is a late 1930’s to early 1940’s Schrade. And, as of right now the scales look great (see pics).
This knife was given to my grandfather by my uncle before going into WW2. It had been my Uncle’s edc & before he left he asked my grandfather to hold onto it until he made it home.
Also, my father’s Case has weak snap and I was considering having it professionally repaired. What are your thoughts on this?
These knives will NEVER be carried, only treasured and passed on to one of my sons.
In the picture of 3 knives in order from top to bottom is: my father’s Case (I also have his Old Timer); My grandfather’s Schrade Cut. Co; & my great grandfather’s Schrade Cut. Co. Obviously these knives were well used. I know that financially they aren’t worth much, but they are absolutely priceless to me.
Thanks guys,
John

I thought maybe encase it in its own small glass/poly/Plexi box and still displayed with the rest, but then encasing it may have it eating itself more quickly if its off-gassing, although it looks like its holding up just fine .

then I thought like a techy, you could vent the display case with a small quiet battery operated (or powered) fan (used for small electronics). That's a novel approach and one I haven't seen.

Either way, congrats on having 3 generations of knives together, now put yours in there too!

CarMan wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:12 pm Okay gentlemen I need some advice. I am blessed to have my father’s, grandfather’s and great grandfather’s edc pocket knives. My problem is this: I would like to display these knives in a framed box with a glass cover. Here’s the issue- my grandfather’s knife has the honey and molasses celluloid scales and I don’t want them to damage any of the knives if I put them in an enclosed frame.
So, in your opinion do I:
1.) have it rehandled
2.) display separately
or
3.) continue to keep them separate.
I believe these knives deserve to be together and I hate to alter any of them.
The knife in question is a late 1930’s to early 1940’s Schrade. And, as of right now the scales look great (see pics).
This knife was given to my grandfather by my uncle before going into WW2. It had been my Uncle’s edc & before he left he asked my grandfather to hold onto it until he made it home.
Thanks guys,
John

If this were my issue I would display all three knives at the same time in a framed box that was not air tight and one that I could have easy access to the knives at my pleasure.

I would not automatically rehandle a knife simply because it is celluloid. If as you say these will be displayed in a glass case, you will be able to keep an eye on the celluloid for early signs of problems. The horror stories about celluloid are mostly ones that sat for years, decomposed, and ruined other knives because during years of neglect they were never checked on.

SwedgeHead wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:23 pm I thought maybe encase it in its own small glass/poly/Plexi box and still displayed with the rest, but then encasing it may have it eating itself more quickly if its off-gassing, although it looks like its holding up just fine .

then I thought like a techy, you could vent the display case with a small quiet battery operated (or powered) fan (used for small electronics). That's a novel approach and one I haven't seen.

Either way, congrats on having 3 generations of knives together, now put yours in there too!

I absolutely love this idea, your techy nerd skills are awesome. I was an electrician for years, so I could do this. Thank you sir.

FRJ wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:26 pm

CarMan wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:12 pm Okay gentlemen I need some advice. I am blessed to have my father’s, grandfather’s and great grandfather’s edc pocket knives. My problem is this: I would like to display these knives in a framed box with a glass cover. Here’s the issue- my grandfather’s knife has the honey and molasses celluloid scales and I don’t want them to damage any of the knives if I put them in an enclosed frame.
So, in your opinion do I:
1.) have it rehandled
2.) display separately
or
3.) continue to keep them separate.
I believe these knives deserve to be together and I hate to alter any of them.
The knife in question is a late 1930’s to early 1940’s Schrade. And, as of right now the scales look great (see pics).
This knife was given to my grandfather by my uncle before going into WW2. It had been my Uncle’s edc & before he left he asked my grandfather to hold onto it until he made it home.
Thanks guys,
John

If this were my issue I would display all three knives at the same time in a framed box that was not air tight and one that I could have easy access to the knives at my pleasure.

I definitely want access to them, since I enjoy fondling them once in a while. Thank you

I have several hundred celluloids that I store in knife rolls in my safe and check on them every other month or so, and none of then have out gased. If you store them together and not in sunlight and not in a sealed container, you should have zero problems, and if you do, you should see the bolsters or shields turn dull before any real damage is done. I have several unstable Remington re-pops that a known for out gassing and I put them in knife holders out in the air and clean them every 6 months or so with metal polish and they are fine. If they start getting bad, I have them rehandled at that time. In 25 years of collecting, I've had one celluloid glove hook go quickly on the back side that was near several knives, and the knives cleaned up easily with Wenol metal polish. If the knife has been stable for 100 years, it isn't likely to go bad in my lifetime.____Dave

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:27 pm I would not automatically rehandle a knife simply because it is celluloid. If as you say these will be displayed in a glass case, you will be able to keep an eye on the celluloid for early signs of problems. The horror stories about celluloid are mostly ones that sat for years, decomposed, and ruined other knives because during years of neglect they were never checked on.

Thank you sir. I didn’t realize that celluloid outgassing was a slow process and yes these would be displayed where I would see them often. I am very ignorant of celluloid despite reading tons about it. Most of what I see & hear are the horror stories.

Before I knew better I put several celluloid Schrades in an old glass-front retail display. Hung it on the wall in my office at home. Year or so later I noticed that one of the knives looked funky. Upon removal I found all of the knives had started outgassing with associated deterioration. I now know that probably one of them had gone off, and took the others with it. My fault for being “celluloid-ignorant”. I share this so you know not to trust the celluloid knife, and not to enclose it with the others. Period. Regardless how you think you will watch it, it’s very likely before you catch it, the damage is done. Best laid plans and all that……..

Personally I’d put them on a shelf or shelves in an open non-enclosed shadow box type display, where you can easily reach into and remove them individually. Air can circulate around them, there’s no enclosure to capture and retain any noxious gasses emitted by celluloid if/when. You can see them and handle them whenever you want.

Good luck with your project. Let us know what you do.

Ken

I vote to display it like it is, but separately.

My suggestion is to get three small individual display cases and put each knife in its own case. Then attach the cases to a cool back board with the owners names and dates. That way you still have a unified display but the celluloid knife is not boxed with the others.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:27 pm I would not automatically rehandle a knife simply because it is celluloid. If as you say these will be displayed in a glass case, you will be able to keep an eye on the celluloid for early signs of problems. The horror stories about celluloid are mostly ones that sat for years, decomposed, and ruined other knives because during years of neglect they were never checked on.

I agree - in my experience only a relatively small percentage of celluloid handled knives will outgas. I have some in my collection that were made in the 1920's and that I have owned for over 40 years with zero problems.

It is actually the newer celluloid handles that seem to have the biggest problems - when you consider the numbers of Fight N Roosters and Case Classics that you see outgassed - especially considering that these knives were kept in collections, it is not as if they were in the bilge of a boat or kept in a toolbox in the garage.

knifeaholic wrote: ↑Wed May 07, 2025 12:54 am

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:27 pm I would not automatically rehandle a knife simply because it is celluloid. If as you say these will be displayed in a glass case, you will be able to keep an eye on the celluloid for early signs of problems. The horror stories about celluloid are mostly ones that sat for years, decomposed, and ruined other knives because during years of neglect they were never checked on.

I agree - in my experience only a relatively small percentage of celluloid handled knives will outgas. I have some in my collection that were made in the 1920's and that I have owned for over 40 years with zero problems.

It is actually the newer celluloid handles that seem to have the biggest problems - when you consider the numbers of Fight N Roosters and Case Classics that you see outgassed - especially considering that these knives were kept in collections, it is not as if they were in the bilge of a boat or kept in a toolbox in the garage.

And Buck Creeks. I swear, they're worse than even those.

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 11:07 pm Before I knew better I put several celluloid Schrades in an old glass-front retail display. Hung it on the wall in my office at home. Year or so later I noticed that one of the knives looked funky. Upon removal I found all of the knives had started outgassing with associated deterioration. I now know that probably one of them had gone off, and took the others with it. My fault for being “celluloid-ignorant”. I share this so you know not to trust the celluloid knife, and not to enclose it with the others. Period. Regardless how you think you will watch it, it’s very likely before you catch it, the damage is done. Best laid plans and all that……..

Personally I’d put them on a shelf or shelves in an open non-enclosed shadow box type display, where you can easily reach into and remove them individually. Air can circulate around them, there’s no enclosure to capture and retain any noxious gasses emitted by celluloid if/when. You can see them and handle them whenever you want.

Good luck with your project. Let us know what you do.

Ken

Ken, thank you for sharing your experience. My fear is that the side not facing out will create the problem. I will definitely heed your advice.

djknife13 wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:40 pm I have several hundred celluloids that I store in knife rolls in my safe and check on them every other month or so, and none of then have out gased. If you store them together and not in sunlight and not in a sealed container, you should have zero problems, and if you do, you should see the bolsters or shields turn dull before any real damage is done. I have several unstable Remington re-pops that a known for out gassing and I put them in knife holders out in the air and clean them every 6 months or so with metal polish and they are fine. If they start getting bad, I have them rehandled at that time. In 25 years of collecting, I've had one celluloid glove hook go quickly on the back side that was near several knives, and the knives cleaned up easily with Wenol metal polish. If the knife has been stable for 100 years, it isn't likely to go bad in my lifetime.____Dave

I don’t know, but have read that Schrade was a more stable celluloid. I am not smart enough to distinguish between good and bad celluloid though. Thank you

Reverand wrote: ↑Wed May 07, 2025 12:01 am I vote to display it like it is, but separately.

I may have to do just this. Thank you

knifeaholic wrote: ↑Wed May 07, 2025 12:54 am

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 9:27 pm I would not automatically rehandle a knife simply because it is celluloid. If as you say these will be displayed in a glass case, you will be able to keep an eye on the celluloid for early signs of problems. The horror stories about celluloid are mostly ones that sat for years, decomposed, and ruined other knives because during years of neglect they were never checked on.

I agree - in my experience only a relatively small percentage of celluloid handled knives will outgas. I have some in my collection that were made in the 1920's and that I have owned for over 40 years with zero problems.

It is actually the newer celluloid handles that seem to have the biggest problems - when you consider the numbers of Fight N Roosters and Case Classics that you see outgassed - especially considering that these knives were kept in collections, it is not as if they were in the bilge of a boat or kept in a toolbox in the garage.

What bothers me about the newer knives like these is that they knew celluloid was a problem and used it anyway. I can’t tell most celluloid from fancy plastic.

Dinadan wrote: ↑Wed May 07, 2025 12:45 am My suggestion is to get three small individual display cases and put each knife in its own case. Then attach the cases to a cool back board with the owners names and dates. That way you still have a unified display but the celluloid knife is not boxed with the others.

I may just have to make a nice shelf with back board and display out in the open for air circulation. Thanks for the idea

You definitely need the air circulation. And while it’s unlikely that you would, I would also recommend not displaying them in direct sunlight (as in under a window). Bone will fade and I’ve seen celluloid degrade on the displayed side.
While I’ve had some celluloid degradation issues, the majority of my USA celluloid knives have remained stable. Some over 100 years old. In my experience, the German celluloid seems to be more prone to rapid outgassing.
It’s really cool that you have these heirlooms.
Froe

Froe wrote: ↑Wed May 07, 2025 4:57 am You definitely need the air circulation. And while it’s unlikely that you would, I would also recommend not displaying them in direct sunlight (as in under a window). Bone will fade and I’ve seen celluloid degrade on the displayed side.
While I’ve had some celluloid degradation issues, the majority of my USA celluloid knives have remained stable. Some over 100 years old. In my experience, the German celluloid seems to be more prone to rapid outgassing.
It’s really cool that you have these heirlooms.
Froe

Thank you sir.

Put them together, if it hasn't gassed by now,it's not likely to. It would make a nice memorial.

I'm with peanut. I see no sign of outgasing you should be good to go. It's so great to have anything that you know the family history of, congratulations.

Thank you all very much for your help and advice. Some day I hope to put mine with this & pass it to one of my sons making 4 generations. Thanks again

A former director of The National Knife Museum told me their technique for outgassing celluloid knives was to dismantle the knife, coat every part with clear Rust-O-Leum and reassemble.

I may just have to make a nice shelf with back board and display out in the open for air circulation.

This is what I would do. So I could take them in hand whenever I wanted. Maybe even drop them into a pocket once in a while.