All About Pocket Knives

I picked up a 2203 recently that at first I assumed was a re-handle. After staring at it and thinking it thru I’m now thinking I found something unusual. I think this 2203 was made towards the end of the Cut Co days. I’m calling it a 'version 2' 2203:
Right off the bat the jigging is wrong for the pattern but the bigger issue is that it’s a 3 pin knife. I searched for images all over the place and every other 2203 you can find is a 4 pin knife – that’s why it’s easy to write it off as a re-handle. But then I remembered something I had seen right here at AAPK:
This pic is of a knife that belongs to another member here. It’s a 2204 Shamburger that we’ve all seen – but this one is also a 3 pin knife. For comparison, here is a Shamburger from my collection:
The 3 pin knife above is legit. That advertising stamp on it is from the factory and there’s no hole where a missing pin was. Then I went back to my 2203 and looked inside and can see where the fourth pin ‘should’ be there are no holes in the liners. If it was a re-handle where the fourth pin was simply left out surely the liners would tell the tale.

My theory is that these knives are part of a smaller run from later in the Cut Co era and since I’m already out on a limb, I’ll take it just a little farther. This 2203 is also the only one I’ve ever seen with NS pins. Maybe it was assembled during the war using stock brass liners but at a time when brass pin stock would have been hard to get because of the war effort.

I’m curious what others think about this 2203.

" OUT TO LUNCH" Very Nice Piece You Have There "( Factory run should be consistent blade size and measurments regardless of Frame ( Covers )used , If You Micrometer the too blades and get a common denominator , I would conclude Your RIGHT ! ::tu::K.C.

jxr1197 wrote: Maybe it was assembled during the war using stock brass liners but at a time when brass pin stock would have been hard to get because of the war effort.

Nickel silver and brass are essentially the same metal, brass is mostly copper and zinc. Nickel silver is the same with the addition of some nickel. Nickel silver is sometimes referred to as white brass.

The shortage of brass would have effected the available supply nickel silver as well; probably the companies ran out of n/s even before yellow brass because n/s is less common and more expensive than brass.
During WW II when knife companies couldn't get brass pins they used steel pins in place of brass.

I'm not sure what the explanation is for the n/s pins, but I don't believe brass rationing is the reason.

Nice knife BTW!
I had a celluloid version some years ago. I will have to see if I can find a picture and see the handle pin configuration.

orvet wrote:Nickel silver and brass are essentially the same metal, brass is mostly copper and zinc. Nickel silver is the same with the addition of some nickel. Nickel silver is sometimes referred to as white brass.

The shortage of brass would have effected the available supply nickel silver as well; probably the companies ran out of n/s even before yellow brass because n/s is less common and more expensive than brass.
During WW II when knife companies couldn't get brass pins they used steel pins in place of brass.

I'm not sure what the explanation is for the n/s pins, but I don't believe brass rationing is the reason.

Nice knife BTW!
I had a celluloid version some years ago. I will have to see if I can find a picture and see the handle pin configuration.

Great info - thanks . If you come across that pic I'd love to see it. I'm hoping to find more examples of 3 pin cut co washington jacks.

I found the pictures. Mine was celluloid and not the end nearly as good a condition as yours is, but here are the pictures.
Incidentally mine was a 2204 3/4, not a 2203.

orvet wrote:I found the pictures. Mine was celluloid and not the end nearly as good a condition as yours is, but here are the pictures.
Incidentally mine was a 2204 3/4, not a 2203.

I've got 2 of these 2204M's including a Shapleigh version (B376) and it occurs to me that up until now I have only seen the cell handled 2204's used for advertising. Even the Shapleigh is an advertising knife. Your pic is the first one I've seen that was just a regular production knife. Very cool. Thanks for coming back to add those pics.
** The Shapleigh was verrrrry cleaned before I bought it which doesn't bother me as much as it bothers a lot of people but it drives me nuts that the nitwit put it back together using a stainless pin