Shrinking Scales

[treefarmer]

I guess this is a small stockman 3 1/4". Good blades, all snap like new but the scales are shrinking. I got it at an outdoor flea market and it was in a glass covered box and was so hot from the sun, I had to let it cool in the shade before I could handle it. Did the exposure to the sun over a period of time cause this? Are the scales celluloid and they're just going bad? There doesn't appear to be any crumbling of the scales or deterioration of the brass liners or blades.
Treefarmer

[glennbad]

Wow! If I had to guess, I would agree with you that the sun did that, especially with the absence of typical corrosion associated with outgassing. I see those types of vendors at the flea markets, that keep all their stuff under glass. Most of the time, I will not even ask them to take stuff out for me. I understand being concerned with thievery, but I like to be able to pick stuff up and check it out on my own.

Those could be cell, as it is a Walden, or an early composition. In that shape, you will want to keep an eye on it, cause if it is cell, then the exposure to the sun may set off the outgassing reaction. You may also want to keep it stored away from your other knives for awhile.

Or, you could mod it...


ETA...now that I look at the first pic up close, the material does have cracks in it that remind me of outgassing of cell...

[TripleF]

Oh yeah Philip....she's coming unglued!!

The celluloid is breaking down....

[thawk]

It's an 834Y yellow cell. Check the number on the back tang if it has one. That's what that stuff looks like as it shrivels up.

[orvet]

Phil,
I see a crack in the handle toward the rear bolster and corrosion around the rocker pin.
I'll bet you a new hat (a USMC baseball cap) that it is starting to out gass!

If it were mine it would get new yellow bone handles.

[jerryd6818]

Phil,
I see a crack in the handle toward the rear bolster and corrosion around the rocker pin.
I'll bet you a new hat (a USMC baseball cap) that it is starting to out gass!

If it were mine it would get new yellow bone handles.

And who would you recommend put those on for him for the one low price of a new, never worn, USMC baseball cover. wink, wink.

[tongueriver]

If it were mine it would get new yellow bone handles.

Dale, can a 835Y with failing celluloid be re-done? They have bird eye rivets (no bolsters) and I don't know if those are available.

[orvet]

If it were mine it would get new yellow bone handles.

Dale, can a 835Y with failing celluloid be re-done? They have bird eye rivets (no bolsters) and I don't know if those are available.

I believe they can be repaired Cal.
I just got a 835Y in the mail this last Friday. I have not even got pics of it yet.
Looking at the rivets they appear to be made of two pieces. The first a large piece of nickel silver that goes through the handle. The second piece is a pin that goes through the first piece, which is peened into the first piece, then sanded flush & polished.

I have yet to use this method to repair a knife with bird eye bolsters, but it is a matter of practice and technique and not a matter of reinventing the wheel.

I have a large Camillus Stockman was made with bird eye bolsters that is setting in my To Do Box, along with about 15 pounds of other knives. I think I will move it up on the priority list.

Since my knee surgery I have been remodeling my shop to make it more ergonomic and so that I can spend more time setting instead of standing on concrete. I am trying to preserve my other knee in hopes of avoiding surgery on it.

My intention is to start doing repairs and custom work again at the end of August. I have a lot of things going on this summer and I also intend to get to a few of the projects that have been sitting around my shop for years; projects I want to do but never seem to have the time. Some of these projects like the bird eye bolsters have a learning curve to them. I find it best to do these when I don't have a bunch of orders waiting to be filled.

Keep in touch with me about this and see how my work on the Camillus goes.

[tongueriver]

We all rejoice at hearing that you are able to do some cutlery work again, Dale; you have had some "interesting" challenges the last couple of years. I do have one of those 835Y yellow birdseye stockmans that would love a re-handle. Now, here is its big brother, the 882Y, same size as a 881Y. This one is in Delrin and feels just fine:

[thawk]

A couple pics of an 881Y with the same problem.