Here's a TL-29 that actually says "TL-29"

[Dragunski]

Kind of beat up, but looks like a factory handle stamp in the wood. Steel liners, too. Does that make it from World War I?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VTG-ANTIQUE-SCH ... 2333eadc55

[0078]

I would say yes, who's the manufacturer? I like collecting them tl29. Most of the time you can get them for a fair price. Good catch

[Dragunski]

Well. I put it in this forum for a reason...

[Shearer]

Made between 1904 and 1946.
I read on other post where they used steel lines during WW2.

[Shearer]

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =35&t=6930

[coffeecup]

Most likely WWII production; they shifted to steel liners at some point during the war, and back to brass sometime after the war. By 1951, they had apparently gone back to brass liners for at least some of their production.

That said, it doesn't look like a particularly good specimen for the collection due to pitting. It would probably make a fine user. If someone gets it, be warned that the steel liner locks tend to be fairly stout.

[Dragunski]

I don't think the WWII contract specified the stamping of the handles. So I think it's older. If anyone has any info on this, I'd be interested. The steel liners usually indicate a wartime production, but not always. The only WWII one I've seen, from a real veteran, did not have the handles stamped.

[Shearer]

This show a goverment blue print of a Camillus TL -29 and the year it was made.I would say Schrade received the same blue print.
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... =35&t=2659

[Miller Bro's]

According to the blueprint this knife was first offered in 1919, several changes until 1942 when the shield was deleted.

This makes sense, why use another piece of metal for the shield when the handle could be stamped.

I have several of these from other makers such as Utica and Camillus, also stamped into the wood handles.

[coffeecup]

I don't think the WWII contract specified the stamping of the handles. So I think it's older. If anyone has any info on this, I'd be interested. The steel liners usually indicate a wartime production, but not always. The only WWII one I've seen, from a real veteran, did not have the handles stamped.

In the pre-war period, the TL-29s had a shield, on which was stamped the branch of service (U.S.N., Signal Corps, etc) and/or the designation (TL-29). Sometime in 1942 (this seems to have been a floating change so dates probably varied), the shield was dropped.

After that time, requests for bids specify that the knives were to be marked (some were stamped, some were apparently "routed" as the wood was actually cut away), and how they were to be marked (TL-29, U.S.N., etc). Later, the contracts specify that they be marked. Training and operational manuals describe and illustrate them as marked. Specimens recovered from battlefields, bases, etc from the period are overwhelmingly marked. The only exceptions to marking the knife on the shield (if present) or directly on the cover seem to be when knives were purchased on the commercial market. This seems to have been common in the early days of the war when the needed knives just weren't in the military stockpiles yet, and later, to meet immediate local needs.

I'm not aware of any TL-29 marked knives made with steel liners that were not wartime production, though I'd certainly be interested in datable examples that pre-date or post-date this period. The use of steel liners was a wartime expediency, discussed in various publications during the war, and allowed for in contracts.

[tongueriver]

Here is a pre-war Schrade with brass pins and liners and nickel silver shield and bolsters. Ebony, not cocobola. It is not a linerlock, but a backlock. Pushing down on the spine of the master unlocks the screwdriver blade.

[Dragunski]

Thanks for the info, guys! I see the handle mark (routed?) indicates WWII, not WWI, according to that contract spec. If I'm reading it right.

I've seen lots of TL-29s, I'm sure mostly post 1945, but this is the first I've seen with the handle marked. I've never seen one with a shield, either, but a few had dimples where a shield might have been. Most of the old ones you find are pretty beat up.

[ea42]

That stamp was likely pressed in with a fixture that was similar to a tang stamp, sometimes heated as well (might have one around here somewhere). Here's an Ulster with a stamped shield:

Eric