JUST KNIVES

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

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

Not too terrible for a 60 yr old knife

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My next rescue knife is on the way... :)

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Along with this other...

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So, one down, one to go....

Before: 20210111_150136.jpg

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In progress...

There was a lot of crud in and on this old knife

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After cleaning, polish and oil:

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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
 
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 ThumbUp

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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

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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:

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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.... :victory:
 
Prepped for oil and polish

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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 ....

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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.

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100 yr old pocket lint 20210121_142919.jpg

Minor cleaning and waxing of the handles 20210121_163839.jpg20210121_163851.jpg

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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. ?

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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.
 
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 20201221_210036.jpg
 
It's here! ...

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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

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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

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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

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Wd40 bath revealed some nasty stuff inside

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:eek:mg:
 
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!
 
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! ThumbUp

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 :burial:

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I worked at a scrap yard for years and my "go to" tool was my Buck 110. Have never owned a more durable folder, and it took some serious abuse. There may be fancier, but in a SHTF situation, I will take the Buck 110.

:Agree: See post #1.

Lifetime warranty on USA made Buck knives. For $10 plus shipping they will fix or replace it.
 
Had to dig deep to find this thread, no posts for some time now...

Been collecting some projects over the last month that I haven't had time to show here.

Working on them as a wind down from my day, so I'll get around to posting the final results as time permits.

One is done, still working on the others....

Sit back and enjoy the show

Before pictures:

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First up, the keyboard camp knife...

(Seller's pictures)

I ponied up on this one, spent a little more than I usually spend on a rescue. But it's worth so much more than the $35 I paid for it.

A Dwight Divine & Son Ulster Scout knife circa 1923-41

The blade etching is long gone and the very tip of the punch is missing, but condition overall of this sought after knife is well worth it.

The bone is absolutely gorgeous!

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Coined brass liner is something not commonly found on scout knives. This is possibly late 20's early 30's for this Ulster version, making it a nice pre WWII knife

In 1923 Remington and Ulster (Dwight Divine) obtained permission to make the Official Scout utility knives.
 
My second knife is the typical rescue project, paid 15 bucks for it, and it's old, rusty and well used

Blade on it was sitting proud due to blade loss from sharpening, so it required the kick to be filled down for it to sit lower in the channel.

This one is also an old Ulster... Single blade, saber ground -long pull, barhead knife

Tang stamp: Ulster, over Knife Co over NY dating this one also pre 1941.

Steel liners and pins, half stop and great snap. The bone on this one is equally nice with only a minor chip on one end on the corner.

Finished it up this morning and here it is 20210421_120529.jpg

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Third up... the USA camp knife

This old knife had rusting going on from neglect.... the tools were seized other than the primary blade.

Based on the bone used this most likely is made by Ulster for Sears dated circa late 1940's early 50's

Took some time and patience to bring it back to life :)

Cleaned up very well, the beautiful bone on it was in great condition. Now all tools move freely and show minimal wear.

Brass liners and pins, nickel silver bolsters and bail.

Pictures are pre polishing, showing original patina

Tang stamp: Made in USA

The "Made In USA" stamp was used on knives made for Sears & Roebuck. There were knives with this tang stamp produced by both Camillus and Ulster.

Schrade also made knives for Sears using this same tang stamp.

(This information from "Goin's Encyclopedia Of Cutlery Markings")

I've been working on the remaining three that I call "my trifecta " currently with some amazing results and surprises.

Stay tuned....

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Finally getting around to posting the final 4 projects....

The "trifecta" knives were purchased all from the same gentlemen who lives in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. He closed up his antique shop many years back when he retired, he's now selling off excess inventory from his home.

Wasn't sure of the branding with the exception of the Russell. The others were sold as unknown...

I took a chance and was able to negotiate half of the asking for 2 of them and basically stole the third, all bought and shipped for $130 bucks.

Yes, that's a lot of money, but the Russell is extremely hard to find and most go for over a hundred dollars just for that one.

So to me it was well worth it for the 3...

Anyways, here they are:

First is the Russell (straight line stamp) 2 blade dates pre 1933. A different variation on the tang stamp was used from 1933 until 1941.

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Before:

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After:

I evened out the rough edges on primary, my cleaning uncovered a deep scar on the bolster but it just adds to the character of this old knife.

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