Now we have a Colonial thread,Show'em

[Joe Dirt]

What ya make of these things?

They make perfect sense - electricians are often left in the dark...
(jus kiddin, gdawg, no offense)

...... Joe

[TripleF]

I like those JoeD!!!!

Where'd you get 'em?

[garddogg56]

What ya make of these things?

They make perfect sense - electricians are often left in the dark...
(jus kiddin, gdawg, no offense)

...... Joe

Not smart ones Joe

[gino]

Here is a few Colonial folders I dug out. The knife pictured in the bottom photo I find interesting because it has a few features typically found on high end knives / slanted-ringed bolsters.

[Bonfire bob]

Man!! I have to take these ona at a time!! Gino, I'll get back to you on that wicked nice collection!
For now, Joe and Scott in particular, here's the "Glow In The Dark" plastic story.....
I think that the sales department had a liquid lunch one day and the fascination of this material was applied to the whole line at one time!!!!!
Naturally, the reason you don't see a lot of them out there is because we never sold many!! I know your shocked but it's true!!!
I couldn't think of anything else that would distract me more than working on something in the dark with a glowing knife handle!! LOL... a glowing blade maybe....
Tell you what, it probably makes it more collectable....
OK gents and gals....show your "Colonial Glow Knives"......

[Joe Dirt]

Your a good sport, garddog!

Scott, I found the golw-in-the-dark electricians knives both from the same seller on ebay years ago. ~ They weren't even listed as glowing knives!!! But it's kinda easy to tell.

Gino, that Forest-Master with the miss-stamped shield is pretty cool - I love finding that kind of "one off" knives! The slant bolster is one that has eluded me for quite some time now - that's only the second one I have seen! Nice collection.

Bobby, are you saying that you made OTHER patterns with the "liquid lunch" glowing handles?? I haven't ever seen any made by your company. I know Camco made some boys knives that glow in the dark; the Dick Tracy knives.

....... Joe

[Joe Dirt]

This "Cadet" knife card has acted as a catch all for misc. Colonials.
The 2nd knife down on the left side is close to what the knives should be - minus the shield
and the Cadets were ALL stamped with nothing more than "U.S.A." on the tang.

"The Knife With The Sharp Edge" phrase at the bottom of the card is a dead giveaway to Colonial.
Colonial isn't marked on the card at all.

...... Joe

[Bonfire bob]

Dam Joe! You've got more old Colonial's than me!! still on the cardboard too!!
That glow stuff found it's way on the # 2900, 2902, and 2903 Electrician knives along with
some LB's, Forest Masters, and a bunch of others....a complete waste of time, money and effort..
Bobby..

[garddogg56]

Geno I like that one with slant bolsters never seen one like that in a Colonial ::tu::Nice card Joe Dirt Were do U guys find these treasures??

[Bonfire bob]

Gino, nice Colonial collection!! I have my suspitions about the slant cut bolster knife..
What does the tang stamp read?????
In all my years and factory time, I don't think we ever made bolster's like this!!
If by chance the blade says Colonial, I would be shocked and educated a bit further..
The blades and old style house dyed brown plastic handles look very much like ours but
the bolster's don't make sense..
Bobby..

[Bonfire bob]

AAPK needs a spell check bar for bone heads like me!!

[gino]

Bob, prepare to be shocked and educated, LOL

I have never seen this one before and neither did Joe, now if you haven't I just might have arare bird here

Here is a close up of the tang

[Joe Dirt]

That looks to be solid NS bolsters that are thru-pinned.

Since this is the second one of these I have seen - I don't think it has been customised.
Sure wish I had got that other one now ...

Not too often will we get a chance to make Bobby scratch his head like this, Gino!

..... Joe

[Bonfire bob]

WOW!! I'm shaken at what I clearly see!! It's incredible because since I started poking around in the corners of the factory in the early 70's, I saw no evidence of this style of bolster!! No blanking tools, no seconds, not even ONE bolster to substantiate this obvious clue in front of us!!
This fact, and the fact that these are very rare, tells me that when ever we did make these solid NS pin construction knives, they were not around long and the bolster tools could very well have been sold to Imperial, or another Co. years ago!!
Don't forget, the Marandoe's and the fizzonoe's, our cousins started Imperial about the same time Colonial was incorporated.....

Grandpa Fred was foreman of Imperial's assembly room for years also!! Who knows what the old timers did!!! It's clearly a very rare knife and I would make you an offer on it if your interested??

[gino]

Bob, PM sent.

[gino]

I picked up this Colonial this morning

[Joe Dirt]

Nice Swiss Master, Gino!

Here are two fish tail "cross-Bars". Imperial is the company that
called these knives the "Cross-Bar" in there catalogs.
The old orange celluloid handle with the sabor grind is one of my favorites.

With the Imperial cousins, there are many patterns that look the same as Colonial.
Guess I could try and do a picture comparison of the patterns shared by the two large
company's.

..... Joe

[jerryd6818]

I picked up this Colonial this morning

Jinx, you owe me a Coke.

313 Mike just sent one of those to me. I got it yesterday.

[Bonfire bob]

Pretty # 1405 gents!! It's an older one and I say this because of the old style belt punch..
I calculate that this one's DOB is late 60's to early 70's ....
The hand finish work on the old rounded style belt punch was removed and a cheaper version was introduced; about late 70's..
Who needs a Colonial pro like me around with guys like Joe K., the king of Colonials.. lol...
Surface ink ad specialty imprint...
Bobby p.

[Joe Dirt]

I'm just merely one of your minions, Bobby. I learn from YOU.

...... Joe

[Bonfire bob]

Thanks for the compliment Joe...
The fact of the matter is that my company made so many knives in so many styles for so many years, it's virtually imposible to be absolutely accurate on things I never saw before my years in the factory that really started in the early 70's!! After that, there's very few items or opperations that I do not remember...and even that's a struggle as you might imagine...I've done pretty well for the AAPK population so far and have no complaints!!

You've been more helpful than you know..that's why you should watch your mail closely..
This is how I say thank you!!

[Joe Dirt]

Mail!!! Well that gives me a reason to go to the mailbox other than to collect bills.

Hay Bobby, about what year did the factory get the injection molding set-up?
What type of plastic molding was used before the modern molding machine(s)? Die cast? Open molding?

Many THANKS my friend,

...... Joe

[Bonfire bob]

Great question Joe!!
We did use an open molding methodfor quite some time untill they could afford the plastic molding injection style.
Don't forget, it wasn't just the purchase of the molding injection machines, it was the tools involved!! HUGE, HEAVY, tools that probably cost 5-10 grand back then!! So that's why we would stretch a handle tool as far as we could making many different knives from just one handle tool!! God almighty, I don't know how those old timers' slept at night!!
Now you know why grandpa would walk down to the factory on Sunday mornings to polish knives....
Bobby Paolantonio...an authentic part of history, and proud of it.

[Joe Dirt]

Thanks Bobby, I can only imagine the time and effort it took to mold the early plastic.
Sure sounds like Grandpa was a tough ol feller!

Was the plastic(s) used in the injection machines Poly-vinyl?... Or in other words - WHAT ARE MY KNIFE HANDLES MADE OF?

..... Joe

[Bonfire bob]

Anther good question Joe!
Before, during and after WWII, America was vastly working with many chemical compounds involving plastics, as we all know..
They had be strong enough, light enough, durable and inexpensive enough to make anything out of it! Think about plastics now....from your shower curtain, to plastic parts that hold an 800 Horse Power, full blown, jet fuel injected top Fuel Dragster together!!
I think when Delrin came around in the 80's for pocket knives, that was the mostly widely used plastic in many forms..
Before that, who knows!! I know that some plastics like Celluliod that we used before Delrin was another widely used knife handle plastic...the color paterns, the pretty an unique designs were incredible! Talk about dangerous!! We had a special cement and cinderblock shed JUST for the laquer and Acetone for printing, and sheets after sheets of Celluliod! Pinks, purples, yellows and greens! Pretty but deadly... this stuff was not only
Flamable back then, it was Combustible!! Drilling and sanding operations were always accompanied buy a bucket of water close by...we blanked a lot of this stuff in secondard blanking operation sections of the plant....tools had to be cooled in between
Just Bobby's opinion..Colonial Historian? Maybe....