All About Pocket Knives

I can't remember what they are called.....any help is appreciated!

Scott I don't know what those spacers are called but they sure look like amber to me. Or a good acrylic version of amber. I'll be interested to know myself!

They only shine like that when backlit......

I will vote celluloid. That is what they are on older Western/Boulder knives. I think sometimes they could be Lucite, whatever that was, maybe WWII windshield material. Some of that on theatre knives and some on early Bucks.

There are many trade names for acrylic plastic;among them Plexiglas(Owens-Corning)Lucite(DuPont)Perspex(not sure who the manufacturer is)in England.The colored pieces seem to glow when they are edge lit for some reason;especially fluorescent colors such as pink and orange.

When I was a kid in Kansas in the 60s a friend of my Dad's showed me a hunting knife he made during WWII in some shop on some airbase. He cut the blade out of a circular saw, and the handle was alternating 3/4 inch rings of clear and colored Plexiglas. You could see the tang through the handle. Said he polished the blade with tooth powder (popular before tooth paste). Funny what you remember from years ago.

Is it Kirinite? Google that and a lot of it comes up.

Here is a knife that is similar to the one Scott posted. It has two orange translucent rings on opposite ends of the handle very similar to the one Scott posted.
This one belonged to a 1st cousin born in 1926. My mother, his aunt, ended up with the knife before he enlisted in the Marines during WWII. Some how she kept the knife over the years. I remember Mother and my older cousin looking at it when I was a little boy and how badly I wanted to use it. It sure was "purty" with that horse head on the handle! Thankfully they didn't let me have it and when Mother passed away, it was in one of her sewing boxes. All that to say this one is probably over 75 years old and it glows when it is back lit. I wish I had the full story how my cousin acquired this knife.
Made in Finland is written on the blade, in cursive below the blood groove where "Jarvenpaa Kauhava" is written. Jarvenpaa, family name and Kauhava the town where it was made.
It would be nice to now what the handle materials are.
If you Google "Iisakki Jarvenpaa Heritage", there is some interesting knife history.
I failed to get a picture of the leather and nickel sheath that belongs with this knife.
Treefarmer

Amazing info Philip!!

I believe mine reads the same.....

Looks like amber to me or a really good man made resin. Terry

terryl308 wrote:Looks like amber to me or a really good man made resin. Terry

Genuine amber is pretty pricy. The celluloid amber-colored liners on Western fixed blade knives glows like that when back-lit also.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... e&_sacat=0
The Finns might have gotten a bunch of airplane windshields after WWII, but less likely before the war. Can anyone date the OP knife?

tongueriver wrote:

terryl308 wrote:Looks like amber to me or a really good man made resin. Terry

Genuine amber is pretty pricy. The celluloid amber-colored liners on Western fixed blade knives glows like that when back-lit also.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... e&_sacat=0
The Finns might have gotten a bunch of airplane windshields after WWII, but less likely before the war. Can anyone date the OP knife?

TR, I checked on ebay and there is a lot of natural amber listed and prices are all over the place. I have never tried to use it myself cause it is a fossilized resin and I assume it is like rock and I don't have the equipment to cut rock. I have seen it on custom knife handles however but I don't think any factory knife outfit would use it (Western)? so, I'm sure it probably is some type of man made plastic like celluloid or plexiglass. Maybe some day I'll waste 10 bucks or so and play around with some real amber, LOL Terry

I would bet it is amber. Amber is relatively abundant in the Scandinavian countries, and can occasionally be found on beaches around the Baltic. In Denmark there are quite a few shops specializing in selling amber jewellery, at mostly fairly reasonable prices. Large pieces or pieces with embedded insects can, however, be quite expensive. I do not believe that the two pieces in the OP knife handle would have been that pricey.
Terry, amber is fairly soft and easily worked. My wife has quite a bit of amber jewellery, some of it very nicely carved and shaped.
Dan

Danno, thanks for the info, can you cut amber with a bandsaw? I have bimetal blades for mine and they work good for brass, ivory, and bone. I have seen pieces with the insect inside, nice stuff! A lot of amber is listed as "Baltic Amber". Terry

I believe any of the amber in the jewellery that my wife has could be cut with a band saw. I took a look on ebay, some of the amber listed looks to be a little harder than what I am familiar with?
Dan