Show Your Vintage Knife

[Macduf]

Frankly, honestly, I don't recall seeing one before! I can say with no small amount of research behind it, that the characteristics are certainly the right time period, and the marking - including its size, font, placement, and application (lightly stamped) are identical to the "U.S. ARMY" marked knives that a few of us have a few examples of. There are knives marked "U.S.N." and others with Navy FSN's on the wooden scales. It definitely smacks of being a U.S.M.C. version of those and all the electricians' knives made for the Ordnance Dept, the Corps of Engineers, and other Army technical services outside the Signal Corps. That knife was of course the model for these but marked with the Signal Corps part number (TL-29).

Who made it? Camillus?

Camillus is correct

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Camillus is correct

Makes sense. They were the largest supplier to the Signal Corps, I have records showing that they were the first supplier to the other Army branches - with PAL and Union Cutlery (more recognizable for and by their brand name, Ka-Bar) to follow, and so far, every Navy version I have ever seen was a Camillus.

EDIT: If you want to read and see more, go to post #23 on this thread, then posts #62-65. And if you really want to read and see even more, I posted a link to a deep dive I did on G503.com in post #23 showing all kinds of references.

That is a real prize. Excellent find, sir.

 

[gpw_42]

@Macduf that knife is superb, thanks for sharing! First USMC marked one I’ve ever seen, or even heard of, for that matter.

 

[Macduf]

This is another of the knife haul from last weekend.

 

[Macduf]

It's a robeson

 

[Macduf]

Solid brass remington easy open. One broken blade but it was only a dollar

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

Had to dig some more cuttin tools out. One of the first year Buck 110s.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

And a few more. And the cleaver maker.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

But why I got into these knives is after looking at some Benchmade I remembered my wife's knife. Now some of these Benchmade go for thousands of dollars and hers is a prototype 940 Osborn which was discontinued years ago. So I emailed Benchmade to ask how many Harley Davidson 940 Osborn's were made? I can not find any information on that model. Wait and see what they say.

 

[gpw_42]

Mike that’s a good selection, thanks for sharing! Always seem to enjoy seeing LF&C products - they made a ton of World War I era military knives, plus assorted kitchen tools. Probably other things I don’t know about, too!

For anyone who wants to figure the age of your Buck knives, here’s a chart on the Buck site: https://www.buckknives.com/about/behind-the-blade/how-old-is-my-knife/

Edited to correct a spelling error.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

Mike that’s a good selection, thanks for sharing! Always seem to enjoy seeing LF&C products - they made a ton of World War I era military knives, plus assorted kitchen tools. Probably other things I don’t know about, too!

For anyone who want to figure the age of your Buck knives, here’s a chart on the Buck site: https://www.buckknives.com/about/behind-the-blade/how-old-is-my-knife/

Thanks GPW. I think the oldest Buck 110 is just Buck on the blade. I thought of sending it back to have it renewed but it was handed down from my grandpa.

 

[gpw_42]

Good call about *not* sending your knife back.

Years ago, I sent a Benchmade that I carried in Iraq back, for the life sharp service. Round trip was FAST, and I was super stoked to get my knife back. Till I opened the box and it was the old handle with a new blade. I was sick.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

This is another of the knife haul from last weekend.

Could that be a Ulster? I have one that is. I was just reading up on them and I guess other company's made them.

 

[Macduf]

Could that be a Ulster? I have one that is. I was just reading up on them and I guess other company's made them.

It's a robeson

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

Daughter and boyfriend are going Muzzleloader hunting here so I went looking for my old gear.

 

[Jnevill]

Here is a case camp knife, 1920 - 1940

IMG_1362 by Jim Nevill, on Flickr

And a Remington scout knife, RS3333.

IMG_1361 by Jim Nevill, on Flickr

and an Ulster

IMG_1363 by Jim Nevill, on Flickr

 

[gpw_42]

@Jnevill thats a strong showing of Scout/camp knives! I especially like the Remington, just because. That style of knife is highly useful, if a little thick in the pocket; not sure I’d be carrying any of those particular ones, though.

 

[AreBeeBee]

@Jnevill thats a strong showing of Scout/camp knives! I especially like the Remington, just because. That style of knife is highly useful, if a little thick in the pocket; not sure I’d be carrying any of those particular ones, though.

You get used to the thickness. I carry one of these "camper knives" in my right rear pocket (with a handkerchief) every day. Mine's a Camillus Army engineer's knife from sometime in 1942-44. It has one of those can openers like what's on the Ulster and Remington. I've yet to try that, though!

 

[Nutria]

Capt. Cook's Camillus-- another electrician's knife. Any guess on age? Knowing a bit about the history of the previous owner, my WAG was production sometime in the 40s to 60s, but someone here should have a much better guess.

 

[Nutria]

Not a WW2 Ka-Bar-- I think late 70s to early 80s per the pommel and deep stamping.

 

[Jnevill]

@Jnevill thats a strong showing of Scout/camp knives! I especially like the Remington, just because. That style of knife is highly useful, if a little thick in the pocket; not sure I’d be carrying any of those particular ones, though.

Thanks G, I’ve been “collecting“ since I was a kid, some 40-something years ago, as my jobs got better so did the quality of my Collection. I still love the old knives though, here is an old Monkey Wards with some of the original blade etch left.

IMG_1270 by Jim Nevill, on Flickr

Here is a Pal, post-Remington

IMG_1276 by Jim Nevill, on Flickr

and here are some of the news ones…

IMG_1336 by Jim Nevill, on Flickr

IMG_1338 by Jim Nevill, on Flickr

I’ve got a thing for Whittlers.


IMG_1434 by Jim Nevill, on Flickr

 

[CFC2]

An eBay purchase just prior to Thanksgiving. Found it interesting and it was reasonably priced.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Found it interesting...

If memory serves, those were made by Schrade. Third in a series with similar model numbers. Kinda sorta collectible. Nice snag.

 

[CFC2]

If memory serves, those were made by Schrade. Third in a series with similar model numbers. Kinda sorta collectible. Nice snag.

Thanks. I've been interested in electrician knives this year. This was a different one to add to the small growing collection.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

If you go to the AAPK forum, I bet you'd find out a lot more. The only reason I know anything about them is the name Holub, which means pigeon is several Slavic languages. (Former linguist here.) First time I saw it I had to know more. But that's all I recall. The whole series has a legit small following. Check it out. I think you'll be even more excited.

 

[Beerhippie]

I have a fair number of "vintage" knives. In fact, I guess that anything I bought in the first thirty-odd years of my life would now be "vintage"! Most are users, not showpieces. A few I bought new or were gifts, but most are yard sale or junk store finds.

Here are a couple I either have around the shop or can find pictures of:

Camillus model 425 "Rope" or "Raft" knife, WWII era. This is a sailor's rigging knife without a marlinspike and has the rounded tip for safety onboard a ship or liferaft (an inflatable raft isn't a good place for a pointy knife). The Raft designation was used by the USCG during WWII and this knife was included in liferaft survival kits. Some were stamped USCG, some weren't. Some were issued--only by the USCG--but many were personal purchases by sailors, including USN.

As found:



After a light cleaning and sharpening:



Tang stamp:



With the lack of USCG stamping and the "fancy work" fob, I suspect this was carried by a sailor. The fob is linen.

The handle liners and bolsters are steel. The flakes are, per Camillus, "jigged rosewood". The action is a double-detent, which, combined with the tang design, makes the knife as safe as a non-locker could be. The steel is excellent and takes a very keen edge. I could easily shave my beard with it.

That's the only one I can easily find pictures of right now. I'll post some more later, as I bring them into the shop and maybe get better pictures.

 

[Beerhippie]

I had to make some kind of stands to hold my knives while photographing them. While I like the looks of shiny brass (brazing rod), I'm painting them flat black for better pictures. I've had a fair amount of experience with product photography, but I'm long out of practice, so cut me some slack, please!

Here's another knife:

Where I have original sheaths, I'll show those, too.

This was a Bday present from my mother back in the late '80s--I'd let her know it was what I wanted:









I saw pictures of one of these was when it was entered into the collection of the American Museum of Modern Art. It was the first knife design to be made part of the permanent collection. I had to have one!

I carried it in the woods for years. It's seen some use.

More pics as they roll out of the camera....

 

[Beerhippie]

Next up:

Late '60s-early '70s. "Rode hard and put up wet". Yard sale find, no sheath:







OAL 9". Blade--tip to finger guard 5". While not an issue "combat knife", this Ka-Bar is Vietnam era and perfectly suited to close combat, so who knows? The grip and pommel are deeply gouged in several places. It's been sharpened a lot and not well.

I wasn't able to find an exact match to this in any resource I searched. The finger-slot grip is unique. I dated it by the tang stamp.

When I clean a knife, my motto is "first, do no harm". I try to remove as much rust and dirt as possible and restore a working edge without losing the patina. I have a sheath I'm not real happy with (Azon), but it works and I've been carrying this for my "mushrooming knife". It's helped break down a few deer and elk as well.

Not sure how much I prefer the flat-black knife stands. I might strip them back to brass. I need to work on my highly improvised lighting a lot. I don't have a studio anymore, so these are shot in my shop at work with limited space. The ideal way to get a nice, uniform black background is to use a flat black seamless drape (like the felt I'm using) several feet behind the subject so all the light (and focus) can be thrown on the subject only. No room for that in the shop.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

Next up:

Late '60s-early '70s. "Rode hard and put up wet". Yard sale find, no sheath:







OAL 9". Blade--tip to finger guard 5". While not an issue "combat knife", this Ka-Bar is Vietnam era, so who knows? The grip and pommel are deeply gouged in several places. It's been sharpened a lot and not well.

When I clean a knife, my motto is "first, do no harm". I try to remove as much rust and dirt as possible and restore a working edge without losing the patina. I have a sheath I'm not real happy with (Azon), but it works and I've been carrying this for my "mushrooming knife" and it's helped break down a few deer and elk.

Not sure how much I prefer the flat-black knife stands. I might strip them back to brass. I need to work on my highly improvised lighting a lot. I don't have a studio anymore, so these are shot in my shop at work with limited space. The ideal way to get a nice, uniform black background is to use a flat black seamless drape (like the felt I'm using) several feet behind the subject so all the light can be thrown on the subject only. No room for that in the shop.

Yea you do a better job than I do as my house is bad for light. I will start the black back ground.

What year do you believe my K-bar is? They came with a hatchet new. Very sharp. You wouldn't take it in a rubber boat.

 

[Beerhippie]

A couple more:

My grandfather's knife (father's side, I never met him as he passed before I could recall). No sheath:





Gotta work on my macro plane-of-focus some.

This is the smallest Bowie pattern knife I have or I think I've seen. OAL is 7", blade is 4". Again, it's seen a lot of use. I inherited it from my father when I was a pre-teen, so surprising it's still in that good of shape! I made a sheath for it when I was about 13 and carried it for years.

I haven't found this in any Marbles knife reference I've found, so no idea on the date. Interesting how the stacked grip is almost identical to the Ka-Bar above, but then, that pattern was common back then.

Last one for tonight, a junk-store find at junk-store price, '70s:






The sharpening choil is not original to this knife. It appears to have been cut with a saw chain file--but done fairly well.




I just couldn't get the lighting right on that, but it says "Gerber Shorty" with Gerber's Excalibur logo.



Note the zip code--I grew up in 97222--right next door. Gerber was our home brand. Their tool-steel blades were nearly unsharpenable with the stones we had back then (long before affordable diamonds)!

Another "rode hard and put up wet" blade and sheath! Whoever owned that knife used it a lot, kept it sharp (see above) and had trouble finding the sheath.

Now I have to organize all the pictures I took today on my Flicker site and go home. It's bath night.

 

[Beerhippie]

Yea you do a better job than I do as my house is bad for light. I will start the black back ground.

What year do you believe my K-bar is? They came with a hatchet new. Very sharp. You wouldn't take it in a rubber boat.

Light is something you make, not find. It's dark outside and I have all the lights in the shop turned off except for two or three little LED desk lamps. I wish I still had the lights I used to use, but they were either strobes--you can't much see what you're doing--or "hot lights" that tended to melt things if used too close. LEDs are soooo nice!

There are lots of resources for Ka-Bar and other Union Knives online. The tang stamp is usually the feature to look at.

I've never seen anything like that first knife! Is that a removable grip? Strange....

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

There are lots of resources for Ka-Bar and other Union Knives online. The tang stamp is usually the feature to look at.

I've never seen anything like that first knife! Is that a removable grip? Strange....

Yea. You flip the lever and pull it out and replace with hatchet. Olean Ny. I was thinking maybe 1920s when the started building in NY.

 

[slowtwitch73]

I have a Marbles just like that with sheath but more of a skinner profile blade.. more bellly to it.

Love it... sharp as **** and holds it.

 

[Beerhippie]

Yep, Marble's are great knives, good carbon steel--and prices reflect that. Not astronomical, but not bargains, either.

I see a lot of the skinner pattern. Seems to have been popular.

Here are a last few:





Schrade SS102 "Sample Knife". These were made for cutting samples (remember the sample carts with cheeses and sausage and such in the grocery store?) but also saw a lot of use in the produce department for trimming produce. I showed it to a buddy who's been in the grocery business since sometime in the last century and he immediately recognized it as a "produce knife". Aside from the one crack in the celluloid grips, it's in very good condition.

There's another example of this knife on the first page of this thread.

The Razor Blade Stainless is no joke. I sharpened this on my Wicked Edge to my usual 20 degrees/side. Combined with the very thin edge, it's now what I call "touch sharp". Touch that edge and you're bleeding. Seems to hold an edge very well, too.

I was disappointed to find out that Schrade has gone out of business--the real Schrade Knife Co, not Taylor Brands which now makes the brand (and several others) in China. I'm always keeping an eye out for old Schrade in the wild--I wish I still had some of the ones I've lost, given away or sold over the years.

Some more pictures of the Camillus Rope Knife:





If it were a USCG Raft Knife, it would have USCG stamped on the other side of the tang.

For my last knife, something completely different:





Not a pocket knife! With an OAL of 16 1/2" and blade of 11 3/4", it's not an EDC unless out in the boonies.

This is a strange knife. While visiting my parents on their sailboat in Baja Sur, we took a trip up to a friend's rancho in the mountains north of the Bay of La Paz--I don't recall exactly where as it was in the late '70s, but a full day's hike from the Sea of Cortez coast. That's where this knife was made. My father commissioned this one for me. He also had a shorter version with about an 8" blade which I've always coveted.

The sheath is original, also made at the same rancho, but the grips are mine. These came with aluminum bolsters and bull-horn flakes and you were expected to make your own grip. I went for a "mountain man" look with the brass pins.

The odd thing about this knife is the shape. That ain't no Mexican pattern! In fact, it's a variety of a Philippine Bolo knife. I've seen a picture on-line of one other example from sometime around WWII (no provenance) that's in a museum in San Diego, CA, also made in Baja. Other than that, this knife apparently does not exist. Was the original kinife maker a returned WWII vet with time in the Philippines? Someone from before the Spanish-American war who spent time in the Philippines? Who knows.

The steel is Chevy truck leaf spring--they were specific about year and model which I've somehow forgotten, but old. They had stacks of it around the smithy. The blade is hand-forged and spring-tempered and rings very nicely. it takes and holds a very keen edge. I've carried it backpacking and camping and it's the perfect size and shape for camp chores.

That's it for now--I think. There might be one more old knife out in the rig....

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

Yep, Marble's are great knives, good carbon steel--and prices reflect that. Not astronomical, but not bargains, either.

I see a lot of the skinner pattern. Seems to have been popular.

Here are a last few:





Schrade SS102 "Sample Knife". These were made for cutting samples (remember the sample carts with cheeses and sausage and such in the grocery store?) but also saw a lot of use in the produce department for trimming produce. I showed it to a buddy who's been in the grocery business since sometime in the last century and he immediately recognized it as a "produce knife". Aside from the one crack in the celluloid grips, it's in very good condition.

There's another example of this knife on the first page of this thread.

The Razor Blade Stainless is no joke. I sharpened this on my Wicked Edge to my usual 20 degrees/side. Combined with the very thin edge, it's now what I call "touch sharp". Touch that edge and you're bleeding. Seems to hold an edge very well, too.

I was disappointed to find out that Schrade has gone out of business--the real Schrade Knife Co, not Taylor Brands which now makes the brand (and several others) in China. I'm always keeping an eye out for old Schrade in the wild--I wish I still had some of the ones I've lost, given away or sold over the years.

Some more pictures of the Camillus Rope Knife:





If it were a USCG Raft Knife, it would have USCG stamped on the other side of the tang.

For my last knife, something completely different:





Not a pocket knife! With an OAL of 16 1/2" and blade of 11 3/4", it's not an EDC unless out in the boonies.

This is a strange knife. While visiting my parents on their sailboat in Baja Sur, we took a trip up to a friend's rancho in the mountains north of the Bay of La Paz--I don't recall exactly where as it was in the late '70s, but a full day's hike from the Sea of Cortez coast. That's where this knife was made. My father commissioned this one for me. He also had a shorter version with about an 8" blade which I've always coveted.

The sheath is original, also made at the same rancho, but the grips are mine. These came with aluminum bolsters and bull-horn flakes and you were expected to make your own grip. I went for a "mountain man" look with the brass pins.

The odd thing about this knife is the shape. That ain't no Mexican pattern! In fact, it's a variety of a Philippine Bolo knife. I've seen a picture on-line of one other example from sometime around WWII (no provenance) that's in a museum in San Diego, CA, also made in Baja. Other than that, this knife apparently does not exist. Was the original kinife maker a returned WWII vet with time in the Philippines? Someone from before the Spanish-American war who spent time in the Philippines? Who knows.

The steel is Chevy truck leaf spring--they were specific about year and model which I've somehow forgotten, but old. They had stacks of it around the smithy. The blade is hand-forged and spring-tempered and rings very nicely. it takes and holds a very keen edge. I've carried it backpacking and camping and it's the perfect size and shape for camp chores.

That's it for now--I think. There might be one more old knife out in the rig....

Love the back stories you have some great memories. Is the last one bull horn handle? I could try that. I have a few buffalo horns laying around.

 

[Beerhippie]

Mike's--I resawed that wood from an old cheese-cutter--the ones that have a wire chopsaw sort of thing. Made in India, but it was pretty wood. Kinda like Brazilian rosewood, but more chatoyance.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

Mike's--I resawed that wood from an old cheese-cutter--the ones that have a wire chopsaw sort of thing. Made in India, but it was pretty wood. Kinda like Brazilian rosewood, but more chatoyance.

I say what your seeing. Brings out the best in a foreign wood.

 

[gpw_42]

Well loved Randall Model 7, which they call a “Fisherman-Hunter.” Hope it’ll get some use on a trout stream later this year, as I learn to fly fish.

This one was probably made between 1972-76, based on the spacer configuration, tight stitch Johnson rough back sheath and solid black stone. Determining manufacturing date on a Randall is an inexact science, at least at my knowledge level.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

Well loved Randall Model 7, which they call a “Fisherman-Hunter.” Hope it’ll get some use on a trout stream later this year, as I learn to fly fish.

This one was probably made between 1972-76, based on the spacer configuration, tight stitch Johnson rough back sheath and solid black stone. Determining manufacturing date on a Randall is an inexact science, at least at my knowledge level.

I've never heard of Randall Until I joined this group. It looks like a very good knife. Is it carbon steel? And did they stack the handle or wrap it?

 

[Beerhippie]

That Randall is a beauty!

Are you familiar with Guy Clark's Randall Knife?