My next rescue knife is on the way...
Along with this other...
My next rescue knife is on the way...
Along with this other...
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
Randall, cleaned up very nice.
US Army Retired, Command Sergeant Major
No longer riding, memories, memories
So, one down, one to go....
Before:
In progress...
There was a lot of crud in and on this old knife
After cleaning, polish and oil:
Landers Frary & Clark (LF&C) 1912-1950, Sleeveboard Pen knife, with the cleaning unveiling the original "Universal" etching on the blade.
Onward!
I'll be working on the next one, which isn't as bad so I'll be posting pictures soon
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
Worked on it through the evening and just finished it up this afternoon
Bone reset had to cure before polishing, can still see it if you look hard enough. It's the first time doing a patch, so even though it's not perfect I'm happy with how it turned out
Research shows Robeson Co Cutlery / Robeson Shuredge Rochester dates this one from about 1916-1939
Pocket worn bone, half stops, brass liners and pins. Just a nice old knife
Found another project on Etsy, talked the seller down to $15 which is about what I typically do for my rescue projects. I'll put up some pictures when it arrives.
In the meantime, I have another old knife I picked up... just cleaned it and going to leave it alone. Dont want to risk breaking this beautiful early 20's pickbone.
It's anotherLF&C, paid $30 shipped
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
Well, I didn't get around to posting the pictures of the next project. It arrived several days ago and I started working on it in the evenings before turning in for the night.
This was the Etsy rescue I picked up for 15 bucks. It was listed as an Ulster knife however after receiving it and lightly cleaning the tang stamp turned out to be a Robeson knife....which is perfectly fine with me
Here's a few before pictures:
It had some deep pitting on the backspring and on the blades, but could have been worse considering the age.
Didn't want to strip too much of the steel, unfortunately lost the natural patina in the partial restoration.
The next post will have the midpoint and finished project pictures....
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
Prepped for oil and polish
Project completed, unfortunate that the pitting took the top of pen blade, the main tang stamp and upper portion back spring but ROBESON (arched) / U.S.A/ CUTLERY dates this knife between 1917-39 brass pins and liners, half stops
still a decent find considering ....
Another project worked on at the same time (Ebay rescue) paid $10 best offer accepted. Seller only posted 1 blurry photo. So for 10 bucks I wasn't going to be out too much if it was junk.
WESTERN CUTLERY CO. GERMANY Western Cutlery Co. Germany (Main Trademark of Wiebusch & Hilger Import Co.) Ebony 2 Blade Knife c.1876-1914 - Nickel Silver Bolsters - Brass Liners - Snaps Open and Shut with Half Stops some damage to the brass liner (don't know what the heck did that!) and minor pin hole puncture on the badge.
100 yr old pocket lint
Minor cleaning and waxing of the handles
I have one more shipped from Florida, should be here some time soon. Paid 30 dollars but it looks like it could be nice once it's all cleaned up. The tang stamp is also intriguing... backwards partial U.S. ?
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
I had an old knife I must have put up wet because it was well pitted when I found it again. I tried cleaning it up but wasn't pleased. I put a good edge back on it and started whittling with it. It soon looked darn good again. Have you ever tried that with any of your restorations? I was kinda surprised myself that I was able to wear the pitting off the usable part of the blades.
The only reason some people are still alive is it's illegal to shoot them.
American Legion Rider
Can't say that I've done any whittling with my restorations. Those usually go into my show box... but on a few of my users I have stripped the bark off a branch or two
I've seen pitting caused by exposure to the outgassing process of celluloid handles... giving it a bubbling effect like on this old knife here
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
It's here! ...
Using a pencil, I was able to reveal J.S.U stamped on the tang. After reaching out to the seller it turns out that it might have belonged to her father or grandfather, as both shared the same initials, she was very surprised...she told me that her dad would have been a 100 yrs old this year
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
Plenty of time to kill today with the day off, so I was able to complete my work on the knife.
Without any markings it's hard to date or determine the manufacturer of the knife, so still investigating that part of it
And at some point in it's lifetime the original blades were replaced and stamped with the initials
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
Here's one of a few recent rescues I've been working on. The owner stated that he couldn't get it opened to reveal what the blades looked like.
sellers pictures
Wd40 bath revealed some nasty stuff inside
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
Definitely an ugly one Randall!
"I don't need a map. I still have a road in front of me!"
Can’t wait to see what your great skills will reveal...if at all possible.
I am not personally a knife enthusiast but enjoy seeing these finds, their cleanup, and a bit of their history.
Keep up the good work!
New course heading Mr. Sulu: ...2nd star to the right and straight on til morning...!!
Scooter and Sassi....2 furrever.
Well, here it is.... cleaning reviled it to be a Cattaraugus brand jack knife.
Carbon steel spear point primary blade with common nail pull under the swage, a carbon steel pen secondary blade with a gorgeous set of jigged and worm grooved bovine bone scales (nice condition with no cracks or splits) Nickel silver bolsters and shield, original brass pins, brass liners, steel back springs.
Made by the Cattaraugus Cutlery Company that was Located in Little Valley, New York and Made Between c.1886 and 1963.
From the look of the knife, and lack of numbers stamped might be earlier than the later....
The steel spear point main blade has lost its point over the years, the rocker pin has been severed over time (possibly being forced open when originally rusted up seizing the spring up) resulting in virtually no tension for the blades. When opening and closing the back spring will push out from the frame. Can be reset by hand, but proper repair and teardown is beyond my expertise at this time.
The blades cleaned up nicely, some scattered micro-pitting. There is some blade loss from age, with obvious scratches from use, but still a nice amount of steel remains. Stamped on the front tang is CATTARAUGUS (in an arch) (over) CUTLERY Co. (over) LITTLE VALLEY (over) N.Y. on both blades. No model number present, which is usually located on the pin blade, but guessing here that its possibly a model 22889??
The 2 indicates a 2-blade knife, the 2nd 2 indicates bolsters on each end, the 3rd and 4th numbers of 88 is the Cattaraugus pattern code for a jack knife and the 5th number of 9 tells us the scales are bone.These are really really good looking scales!
Calling this a successful rescue even though it will require some additional work later on to get it completely working the way it should, but I think I saved it from a rusty death
Never ride faster than your Angel can fly!
No way Randall! I would have never thought it would have cleaned up that nice! Looks good!!!
"I don't need a map. I still have a road in front of me!"
UN-believable!!! You rock Randal!!
New course heading Mr. Sulu: ...2nd star to the right and straight on til morning...!!
Scooter and Sassi....2 furrever.