Cattaraugus Question

[Ridgegrass]

Friend of mine has this Catt 22659. The head bolster appears to have had a bale. I have three old catalog reprints and none shows any bale on any knives except Scouts. Their general pattern format explanations include a "B" for bale. (I own the same knife without the shield so there are variations.)
Has anyone seen this knife with a bale or has it just been "diddled".
Could any Catt knife have had a bale option? I have an opinion but I'll hold it for any comments. Thanks for any input J.O'.

[btrwtr]

NIce looking little knife. I have never seen one with a bail but this knife certainly looks to have had one. Don't doubt that it did.

[Ridgegrass]

Hey Wayne, I tend to agree.The shield side has a round area of wear where the bale could have been turning on the bolster, and the pile side has what looks like remains of the bale. The whole area is nice and tight so maybe someone did peen the pin when the bale wore out or broke.
I have two of the 65 patterns ,(here's the better one), and neither ever had a bale. So, I'm guessing bales, like shields, may have been used on and off.
Hope to hear more from the other Catts. Thanks. J.O'.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Just a thought......maybe someone in the Cattaraugus
forum has an opinion or an answer.

[Ridgegrass]

Thanks Skip, I popped it here last night hoping to get more exposure. I'm going to the Catt thread in a while J.O'.