All About Pocket Knives

"Skulduggery", one of my grandmothers favorite words.

Going through my knives I came upon this little, 3 inch congress.
I hadn't noticed it before but it has, what I assume are replaced pins and therefor possibly replaced blades.
Why anyone would handle those blades, especially when they are out of a knife, is beyond me.

Does any one have any thoughts on this little kniver?

FRJ wrote:"Skulduggery", one of my grandmothers favorite words.

Going through my knives I came upon this little, 3 inch congress.
I hadn't noticed it before but it has, what I assume are replaced pins and therefor possibly replaced blades.
Why anyone would handle those blades, especially when they are out of a knife, is beyond me.

Does any one have any thoughts on this little kniver?

Joe; it is possible that the pins are original, but due to s slightly different metal content of pins vs bolsters, they have discolored. OTOH you have probably tried to clean them with metal polish.

Just that I have seen knives that were all original and mint, with slightly off-color blade pins.

Thank you, Steve, I feel a little better about the knife.
You mention polishing. Actually, I think they have been buffed lightly. Not by me.
Another thing I didn't notice on purchasing.

As for polishing, I can't bring myself to do it.
I have very few knives that need such a thing as pertains to my collecting habits. (thankfully)
I did buy a little tub of Mothers Polish but it has evaporated into a slump in the bottom of the tub.
Do I need help?

To Steve's point on pins - I have seen this on many german knives that used different pins but have also seen it on some but a small minority of Sheffield and American knives... when I first saw it on a few Sheffield knives (clearly a minority and/or American knives my first instinct was "cobbling" but over time and after asking many I learned that it does appear on occasion but not the norm even on American or Sheffield knives... Like you Joe I was suspicious until I saw more examples... Certainly looks to be a classic Catt with those worm groove bone handles ...

Joe - just pack your knives up and send them to me - I'll help you ...

Are you sure those pins are copper? They look like brass to me. I have seen that on some older knives. I kinda like that look. My only problem w/ using brass is the tarnish you have to constantly clean off. I eliminated all brass bolstered knives in my collection. After having to polish them every year or two, I decided enough is enough.
Don’t hesitate to use Simichrome polish on those bolsters, you won’t hurt it believe me.
Mark

Thanks, Mark.
You are probably right. I should have said brass pins.
Actually I'm hoping they will tarnish a bit to catch up with the pitted blades.

I guess you would get a lot of heated discussion about whether it’s wise to let the bolster catch up to the blades. Personally I like the least amount of corrosion on a knife as possible. Plus nickle silver just doesn’t seem to pit or corrode much. One thing I really like about nickle silver is the ease of which you can repolish and make them look nice again. Simichrome and a clean cotton cloth can make a bolster look great in no time. If you like this knife and want to make it look nice, then it would be smart to take it to someone who can polish the blades. But hey it’s your knife, you do what pleases you. I am just to OCD to let a knife tarnish or corrode. Heck I can’t stand to drive a dirty car.
Mark

Well, Mark, again I agree with you in that it would take a long time for the bolsters to look like the blades.
I regret that someone has polished the bolsters. This old knife doesn't need polishing. It needs to be left in the character of its life.
It's a fine little user and if I carried it at all the blades would become nicer looking and the bolsters would lose some of that shine that I find so out of place on old knives.
Thank you for your suggestions.

I agree with Joe with all due respect Mark - shiny unless truly mint just doesn't appeal to me but to each their own (though I have seen nice knives that I wouldn't buy because they were aggressively cleaned) ... I like that old honest patina - shiny bolsters just look out of place to me when the rest of the knife shows age...

Joe - Those brass pins brings to mind the brass pins that were used on aluminum handled knives or bolsters (those on German knives and others as I mentioned were iron for the most part)... Here's a Torrey with aluminum bolsters and brass pins - I like how they center the brass pin in the flower engraving
and a Waterviile with engraved aluminum handles and again brass pins -

Thanks Lee,
It's nice to see the brass pins in the knives and the engraving done around them, but those knives, they are beauties!

Thanks Joe ...

I do not have any actual knowledge about the correctness of the pins. But based on my work experience I can easily imagine someone at the knife factory ordering some brass pin stock and being told that brass is out of stock but copper is available. It would take more than copper versus brass pins to make me question an old knife.

LongBlade wrote:I agree with Joe with all due respect Mark - shiny unless truly mint just doesn't appeal to me but to each their own (though I have seen nice knives that I wouldn't buy because they were aggressively cleaned) ... I like that old honest patina - shiny bolsters just look out of place to me when the rest of the knife shows age...

I agree!

I honestly don't think those pins are original. I've never seen a bolstered Catt with brass pins. You can see that the bolsters have been ground, and the one pin isn't even seated right. Brass pin stock is a lot easier to find at your local hobby store than nickel silver. I think, for whatever reason, someone re-pinned that knife.

Eric

Thank you, Eric.
I thought it was rather odd to see brass pins (wish I would have said brass pins in the topic) in a Cattaraugus knife.