All About Pocket Knives

Picked up this knife roll from our good friend jfarmer. Perfect James, thanks, now just gotta fill it with some fine Roosters. It holds 60 knives, all different size slots. James has got them in his store. Hickory Hill is the brand name.

Singin47

Hey "47",

I got one of those rolls from James too.

Real nice quality. I especially like that it holds different sizes.

Should take you 3 or 4 weeks to fill 'er up !

Fran

nice roll charlie! when you got them chickens roostin, send it to me so i can better judge the quality of that roll!

Lookin' good there Perry. I'm glad you and Fran like your knife rolls.

James

"Should take you 3 or 4 weeks to fill'er up"
Well Fran, you gotta make hay while the sun's shinin.
Hey Johnnie, I'm afraid you might not send it back. It's not that I don't trust you but.....I don't trust you.

Charlie47

Those look like very nice knife rolls. I would however issue a word of caution in their use:If you are going to store knives in them for extended periods of time,make sure they are in a place where there isn't too much of a variance in temperature.Also I would discourage putting knives with synthetic(plastic)handles in them for a couple of reasons;mainly that they have a tendency to either warp on mark(an impression of the elastic)on the handles.Just talking from MY experience with them.I have quite a few knife rolls but use them mainly to transport knives.All my knives are stored in felt lined drawers with dessicant bags in every drawer.

For storing celluloid handled knives,I prefer to store them separately from my regular knives and to lay them in the drawers with the backspring down.That way nothing is pressing against the handles and it provides air circulation around them.

I am currently running an experiment on a couple of newer celluloid handled knives that have started to deteriorate.I am storing them in a chamois pouch.It seems to help in retarding the damage but I haven't had them in there long enough(only about 3 months)to determine whether it is a long term cure.

Hey Johnnie, I'm afraid you might not send it back. It's not that I don't trust you but.....I don't trust you.

perry, i am shocked!

knife7knut, is the chamois treated? how is chamois tanned?

jonet143 wrote:
knife7knut, is the chamois treated? how is chamois tanned?

I'm not sure whether it was vegetable tanned or not.I got several of them from a friend of mine who I believe got them from a knifemaker named Tom McLuin.I also have several of his knives.I'll have to check with Bob and see if he remembers.

This all started quite accidentally.I .............

An update:I just went in to get out the knife as I didn't remember the brand(it is a Buck Creek swing guard).As I went to open it,I noticed that the backspring wasn't returning.I pushed it back down and it offered no resistance where it should have been under spring pressure.I examined it and noticed that the spring wasn't broken but there was a small gap between the scales and the rear bolsters.Imagine my surprise when I pulled on it slightly and both rear bolsters and the spring pulled out from the knife!
The brass liners had corroded to the point they just separated.There was no evidence of this on the outside and the steel where it had corroded and been re-polished was still shiny and free of rust.
This is the second knife that I have that this has happened to and in both instances it was the brass that failed.

Here are the pictures of the knife in question.I'll have to dig the other one out and photograph it as well.

Yeah those are great points of interest for sure. knife7knut.

Singin47

WOW!!

That is some serious outgassing. What a shame.

Bill

Thanks for showing and sharing that Knifeknut. That is some of the worst gassing I have ever seen!

Scary stuff, knifeknut! I have one or two deteriorating. I'm going to have them rehandled right away!!

upnorth wrote:Scary stuff, knifeknut! I have one or two deteriorating. I'm going to have them rehandled right away!!

I have some knives from 2005 that are outgassing - BADLY. I merely popped off the handles until I get the time and know what I will replace them with. Yeah, these are 2005 knives stored in ideal conditions.

I have one sitting on my desk that is Bulldog waterfall, a saddlehorn that I need to pop the scales off before anything else happens. I can see ONE tiny spot on one blade. I will pop off the scales, clean the spot, oil it until I know what handles I want.

Once the bad scales are off a good cleaning and some light oil will keep it good until I figure out what I want.

It seems that the outgassing attacks the brass much more fiercely than the steel.I checked my early celluloid handled knives that were deteriorating and although the handles are pretty much gone,the brass still seems to be intact.I also found that I have three knives that the liner has been eaten through.

what are the first signs of outgassing? How can I watch for it on my knives?

Speaking of OUTGASSING. Have you seen this one?

Ate too many MRE's.

A&E, Some of the first signs I've seen are darkening around the shield and bolsters also a build up of what I call grit and darkening around the tops of blades. I have been able to slow this a little by keeping mineral oil on the blades and keeping the knife out of the drawer and in the open air of the room its in. Not boxed up and not wrapped up either. Just sittin on the table top. I know this sounds extreme but it does not take long depending on the type of celluloid used on the knife. Some cells outgas and some just shrink at the bolsters a little. I don't really know the difference in the cells. I have 3 different S&M cells and they are rare pieces as well. And the waterfall has gassed in a big way over a period of 3 to 6 months. The tortoise has slowed since putting the knife in the open room but who knows how long its got before total destruction continues. The candystripe has also been put in the open and has not shown any of the signs as of yet, hope it never does. It's my favorite of the bunch. Hope this helps.

Singin47

and don't forget what is going on where you can't see, between the handle and liners. i hope someone comes up with a way to save these old cel knives.

Yeah if someone could it would be big news in the collector market for sure Johnnie.

Singin47

I have a question about the outgasing problem I have a couple from the Pre 82 time frame and have seen no problems with them. So why has the become a huge problme in the later knives?

Next question is will it hurt my knives that are not gasing to treat the scales with Ren-Wax?

It's not in just later knives Jody, it holds true for any celluloid knife. Why some will gas and others will not is anybodys guess. I do think it has to do with how they are stored and or used over time. But also some are more prone to gas than others. Nobody knows why. In answering your second question, I have used Ren Wax on cells before without any problems but I use a very small amount, just wipe on and wipe off. NO RUBBING.

Singin47

The outgassing problem seems to strike with much randomness;I have several celluloid handled knives dating from the 1930's that are like new.I also have a Robeson swing guard that the pile side handle disintegrated some time ago and the mark side handle is unscathed.I have a couple old Aerials that I oiled once and the oil got to the pictures under the celluloid and destroyed them but the handles are intact.The only predictable thing about celluloid is that it is unpredictable.I wish I had the answer as I have lost several nice knives to outgassing.

TRUE TRUE!

Singin47

The only cell handles knives I have in my collection are my old Imperials and Hammer Brands from the 1940's and 1950's. All of them are fine. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing an old Imperial that is gassing out. Something about the materials they used maybe?

James