All About Pocket Knives

This Camillus camper knife was probably one of the worst ones I have drug back from the grave yard, I know what you are thinking, why waste time and stag on that POS. Lack of anything better to do would be my reply. The pitting on the master blade almost make it look like faux Damascus, and the handle material is what I refer to as "black craposition". Anyway it is in my pocket now.

Sweet! Can a knife be too far gone,? That one has a lot of good years left now!

That's an absolute banger now

Very nice stag work.

Excellent save OC! I have saved a few like that and while they don't look the best, those knives have really taken and held a spooky edge!
Outstanding work!

And you didn’t have to make a bail!

No longer decrepit!!!

Nice work on that old camper. She's stylin' now!

Wow, that is quite handsome now!

Great save, Olde C That olde warrior is fit to serve proudly in his handsome new stag suit

Wow! What a change! You turned a beast into quite a beauty, OC.

Chris J.

That turned out nice, who wouldn’t want to carry that now? Great work.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Sun Aug 31, 2025 3:06 pmAnyway it is in my pocket now

easy to see why OC, great work and great save.

Thanks for all the comments. I will use this thread to post future junk restoration projects, and anyone who wants to can also. The more decrepit the better.

Looks awesome, OC.

Very nice save O.C. !!

OC, you did invite us to post repairs of our decrepit knives. Mine is not as startling a transformation as yours, but here goes:
Case XX slimline trapper that I took in trade. Rear handle is missing, the front is ... decrepit. The main has been tipped and chipped, and is slightly bent.
I love yellow-handled knives, so I sliced up a yellow nylon cutting board that I bought at a thrift store for 50 cents.
By the way, nylon does NOT sand very well.
This work-in-progress picture is where I had machine-sanded up to 180-grit. Anything above that just melted the plastic.
I hand-sanded it up to 320-grit, which leaves it with a soft satin finish. I am satisfied to leave it there. I reshaped that Main, then sharpened both blades and dropped it in my pocket. I left the Main bent, as it does not affect sharpening or using it.
It is a bit thicker now than originally, because I got tired of spending hours trying to sand the plastic thin enough!
It ain't much, but it is the oldest Case knife that I own!

Yes, by all means post them. That one turned out great with the yellow plastic. These kind of knives make great EDC knives when rehabbed.

You did good Rev.

OC & Reverand ... you guys have a gift! Great job on both knives!

I posted this knife early last year in a group pic of three re-handles that Herb (herbva) did for me. I thought I would post some individual "before" and "after" images of it here, as it certainly qualified as "decrepit".

It is a smaller Camillus, New York, long line (no pattern number) that started out in life as an advertising knife clad in celluloid. It advertised Wasson Radiator Shop Beaumont Texas. I removed the outgassing covers, gave her a good scrubbing and soak with baking soda, and then sent her off to Herb. Herb then did his magic with some Kirinite Liquid Gold that we had decided on.

Thanks for looking,

Chris J.

PringleTree wrote: ↑Wed Apr 01, 2026 2:12 pm I posted this knife early last year in a group pic of three re-handles that Herb (herbva) did for me. I thought I would post some individual "before" and "after" images of it here, as it certainly qualified as "decrepit".

It is a smaller Camillus, New York, long line (no pattern number) that started out in life as an advertising knife clad in celluloid. It advertised Wasson Radiator Shop Beaumont Texas. I removed the outgassing covers, gave her a good scrubbing and soak with baking soda, and then sent her off to Herb. Herb then did his magic with some Kirinite Liquid Gold that we had decided on.

Thanks for looking,

Chris J.

Herb did a great job on that. Kirinite is some good looking stuff.

Nice save, Herb did a great job!