Pine Knot Knife

[OLDE CUTLER]

I don't know how many of you knife mechanics have seen one of these, I had not before yesterday. We all are familiar with the shell handled knives as produced by Imperial and Colonial, and conventional bolstered knives. However this one is somewhat of a hybrid that uses a different method of construction from those manufacturers. A friend of mine sent me this to see if I could replace a broken spring. The pivot pin on the pen blade was also sheared and gone. When I got to looking at it and cleaned it up a little, I ran a drill bit thru the bolster holes to clean the crud out and uniform the size. When I pulled the spinning bit back out I was surprised to see that one of the bolsters had come off and was spinning around on the drill bit. This knife is tang stamped Pine Knot and has a bird logo along with it. When one takes a magnet to the parts to see what the materials are, the liners are thin steel, the bolsters are aluminum, and there is a reinforcing strip under the celluloid handle material that is steel, as are the pins. Goins states that Pine Knot was Jas. W. Price, Belknap, and the years are 1930-1934.
Basic knife is a 3 3/8" 3 blade.

The Pine Knot stamp and celluloid panel handle material

The thin steel liner material is crimped over the aluminum bolster, and the reinforcing strip under the bolster.

The hollow aluminum bolster

[Doc B]

Interesting. I haven't seen anything like that.

[jerryd6818]

I can't get a clear picture of the tang stamp but from what I can see of the tang stamp, it doesn't appear to be a genuine Pine Knot. I could be wrong.

[Gunsil]

From what I have seen there are more fake Pine Knot knives available than real ones. Pine Knot congress jack (two blades at one end of the knife) just sold on ebay, had nice bone handles, it was also a fake. Congress jacks are very hard to find.

[OLDE CUTLER]

I got this additional shot of the tang stamp. There is no visible script writing below the bird. This is a very cheaply made knife, I have not seen a Pine Knot knife before. Were there originals that were well made? And where were they made, this one has no country of origin stamped on it.

[just bob]

Additional info;



viewtopic.php?f=4&t=43375&p=431296&hilit=pine#p431296

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38767&p=371971&hilit=pine#p371975

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=35247&p=331711&hilit=pine#p331711

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=28019&p=255404&hilit=pine#p255404

[1967redrider]

*what Jerry said*

[FRJ]

Here is a Pine Knot I bought from Smokey Mountain Knife many years ago. 4" with plastic covers. Makes me think Colonial.

Looks like an entirely different animal.

I'm not a knife mechanic but in my casual observances I have never seen a put together like that. Almost looks expensive.

[Meridian_Mike]

Hmmmmm.... very interesting construction technique.
What keeps the bolster cover piece on?
I don't see much advantage in this construction method. Maybe just in the fact that all pieces are thin sheet metal stampings (?).
.
If you do fix it, would you post a couple more pics of how you put it back together?

[OLDE CUTLER]

Hmmmmm.... very interesting construction technique.
What keeps the bolster cover piece on?
I don't see much advantage in this construction method. Maybe just in the fact that all pieces are thin sheet metal stampings (?).
.
If you do fix it, would you post a couple more pics of how you put it back together?

Yes, as I mentioned above, I have never seen a knife constructed in this way. It would be interesting to see who originally held the patent for the construction method, that may indicated who made it. The obvious advantage is it is CHEAP. No nickle silver or brass in this one. The liners are .010" steel, almost like steel foil, so they can be crimped around the aluminum bolster to hold it it place. There is a steel stiffener under the celluloid handles to give it a little more rigidity, the arrow head shape you see under the bolster is the end of it. And then when the steel pivot pins are installed, that is what really holds it together. By using steel pins and aluminum bolsters, the pins would always be visible, even on a new knife. I don't think I am going to waste any time trying to fix it as it is just too cheap of a knife. I was posting it here just to show the construction method and if anyone had ever seen this before. The liners are so thin that when I put it back together with temporary pins, the sides bowed in and the tip of the master blade when swung shut does not fall into its own blade well but into the one adjacent to it. Cheap materials and cheaper labor to make this design.

Note the raised edge of the liner surrounding the bolster, this was crimped around the aluminum bolster.

With spring tension on, the sides are bowed so the blade misaligns.

[Meridian_Mike]

I see.... so the raised edge of the liner is what captured the bolster cover thing....
Yep, That is a train wreck.