JUST KNIVES

[Gone2Three]

My next rescue knife is on the way...





Along with this other...

[Gone2Three]

Ulster 40 refurb is complete....not exactly good as new but brought back from it's decay. Inside was rusting, the blades took some time, minor pitting now... overall a successful clean up!

Brass liners and pins, solid nickel silver bolsters and shield, no play, good snap and I'm still researching but believe it to be late 50's early 60's ...still digging but Ulster (over) Knife USA (one line) was used after the sale of the company in 1941, dropping the "Co. " in Knife Co. and then later going to just Ulster over U.S.A

The handles (I'm wishing) to be bone, but probably Ulster's Bonite material... jury is still out on that one. Thanks for letting me share it with y'all

Attachment 94655

Attachment 94656

Attachment 94657

Attachment 94658

Attachment 94659

Attachment 94660

Found this, ref from a 1961 Ulster catalog - top right no.40 SerpentineJack 2 blade

Not too terrible for a 60 yr old knife

[desertclassic]

Randall, cleaned up very nice.

[Gone2Three]

My next rescue knife is on the way...





Along with this other...

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

[Gone2Three]

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

[Gone2Three]

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....

[Gone2Three]

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. ?

[hogcowboy]

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.

[Gone2Three]

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.

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

[Gone2Three]

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

[Gone2Three]

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

[Gone2Three]

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

[ol' school]

Definitely an ugly one Randall!

[Gone2Three]

Definitely an ugly one Randall!

... I do love a challenge

[ol' school]

... I do love a challenge

You got one there!!!

[paws]

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!

[Gone2Three]

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

[ol' school]

No way Randall! I would have never thought it would have cleaned up that nice! Looks good!!!

[Gone2Three]

No way Randall! I would have never thought it would have cleaned up that nice! Looks good!!!

I know...right!

I was determined to save it, work took many hours over several days to remove all the years of neglect

[paws]

UN-believable!!! You rock Randal!!