Camillus Streamline Jack Restoration
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 7:36 am
I have always had a fondness for Camillus Streamline jacks. After all what’s not to like, a nice clip point with a beautiful swedge and a master blade with STREAMLINE stamped deeply in the blade? Most all of these were made with a light almost cream-colored celluloid with darker lines running through them all and almost all of the ones I have purchased with that color of handles have had damage from the offgassing celluloid. I actually had one knife that the liner split in half in my hand when I popped off what remained of the celluloid handle. Apparently the celluloid supplied enough support that the tension from the spring hadn’t completely split the liner weakened by the offgassing until I removed the remainder of the handle. The knife gave a little twitch and I watched a crack form in the liner from the rocker pin to the top of the liner and split the liner completely in two.
This is the color of most of the Streamlines I have found over the years, although I found at least one with a black composite handle.
As you can tell this color of celluloid tends to off gas pretty badly. This one is actually in better-than-average condition. When I get these knives I remove the handles, disassembled them and wash them with water and baking soda to neutralize any asset that may remain on them from the offgassing process.
I have collected a fishing tackle tray full of Streamline parts, and usually takes me parts from three or four knives to restore one halfway decent knife. This knife is the finest example of a Streamline I have owned; it had dark handles with cream-colored stripes through them. I owned the knife for several years and watched closely to see if it showed any signs of offgassing. A few years ago I detected some early signs of offgassing and removed the handle before any serious damage was done.
This is a picture of the knife shown below that I restored. The pictures taken shortly after I got it and before before it began to off gas –
Because I caught this knife before the offgassing became too serious, it was mainly a matter of cleaning up the brass liners and finding some nice handle material. This handle material I purchased from Mister Ron Lake at the Oregon Knife Collectors Association show this last April. He had several sets of stag that he wasn't going to use and decided to sell them. I was fortunate to get a few sets from him.
This whole restoration went fairly easily without any great problems, aside from trying to take pictures of a shiny knife indoors.
I will try to get better pictures tomorrow if it’s not raining because this knife is so shiny it’s almost impossible to get a good picture indoors under artificial lights, with my photographic skills and equipment (read lack thereof).
I need to etch my name on the back of the blade and do the final polish yet, and then get some better pictures for my store.
Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy the pictures.
This is the color of most of the Streamlines I have found over the years, although I found at least one with a black composite handle.
As you can tell this color of celluloid tends to off gas pretty badly. This one is actually in better-than-average condition. When I get these knives I remove the handles, disassembled them and wash them with water and baking soda to neutralize any asset that may remain on them from the offgassing process.
This is a picture of the knife shown below that I restored. The pictures taken shortly after I got it and before before it began to off gas –
This whole restoration went fairly easily without any great problems, aside from trying to take pictures of a shiny knife indoors.
I will try to get better pictures tomorrow if it’s not raining because this knife is so shiny it’s almost impossible to get a good picture indoors under artificial lights, with my photographic skills and equipment (read lack thereof).
I need to etch my name on the back of the blade and do the final polish yet, and then get some better pictures for my store.
Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Your both responsible! 
I hope the two of you can sleep at night. 
I went way over my budget on knife stuff this month.