Kent NY knife question

[robertj298]

I've read these knives were made for Woolworths from 1931 to 1955 by Camillus . I picked this up for $8 in an antique store. Very smooth medium pull, no wobble and great snap at half stop and open. Is there any way to date this knife and can someone tell what pattern it is? Thanks

[robertj298]

https://g1.img-dpreview.com/8B6B5C43D0E ... 27F928.jpg

[OLDE CUTLER]

You already dated it as 1931-1955, any further breakdown may not be possible. With the blade setup used, it looks like a tip bolster junior cattleman if it is about 3 3/8" overall closed. I have a few of these Kents and carry them from time to time.

[robertj298]

You already dated it as 1931-1955, any further breakdown may not be possible. With the blade setup used, it looks like a tip bolster junior cattleman if it is about 3 3/8" overall closed. I have a few of these Kents and carry them from time to time.

Thanks for the info. I was really surprised at how nice this knife is.

[Mumbleypeg]

Camillus made quality knives. Yours looks like a nice one, and in great shape. Hope you don’t mind, for posterity sake I’ll post your picture here.

Ken

[robertj298]

After further examining this knife, other than the plastic scales, I believe it is as nice as any of the newer Case knives I own.

[OLDE CUTLER]

The 3 Kent knives I own, shown below, none are as nice as yours. The 2 jacks I have had to be rehandled with rosewood because the plastic scales were damaged or missing. The Kent Scout knife shown has handle material that is badly shrunken, but I have not done anything with it yet. Yours may be in nice shape, but the Kent knives were a cheaper department store pocket knife and the tip bolsters attest to this. If you look closely, the steel liners are stamped in such a way as to raise the ends and make the hollow "tips" look like bolsters. The pivot pins go thru the handle material instead of thru the bolsters. This makes a knife that is very cheap to produce and thus sell cheaper. Kent knives will not in any way compare to a Case knife.

[Reverand]

They were manufactured using cheaper methods, but are still good knives. Many cutlery companies found innovative ways to produce decent knives at a cheap price - usually with good blade steel. The fact that they sold millions of knives, and that thousands of them are still in circulation today shows that they are definitely worth owning.