4 blade Dunlap Cattle Knife concerns...

IVANKERLEY

IVANKERLEY

Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
2,397
i was given a rather old 4 blade dunlap that with the help of Mr. Levine and a few others here were able to help me with some info on it, apparently made by camillus for sears, long story short it was the worst of the bunch that i received, the handles are a cool looking mottled red/black, now i read an article linked from Mr Levine's web site about celluloid and how unstable the stuff is, downright scary! The scales on the dunlap looked melted, pretty bad shape, pulling away from the bolsters, etc. Could this be celluloid, if so ive read you cant stop the damage or contain it, maybe slow it down, but over time they will get worse and worse and can potentially damage the steel and contaminate other knives. If it is celluloid should i consider replacing the scales or leave it alone, it was my grandpas and it means alot to me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Cheers
ivan
 
Don't worry over it. Enjoy the knife, it was your grand dads. Keep it someplace on display, use it once in a while, so you can note the process of it 'gassing out'. It reads as if it's well on it's way to going to hell. Don't let it start to cause the steel to corrode. Just have the handles replaced; have you an old piece of furniture of grand dads you could salvage some wood from? And there are newly made types of cell that are more stable. Or go all out, rehandle it with antique elephant ivory or something... now that would honor his memory. It will still be his old knife.

If I let my concern over some of my very old and expensive cell handled knives gassing out get to me, it would suck out every bit of the enjoyment I feel over owning them.

Just my opinion.
 
Suppose you're right, i was just shocked going through the box that my dad gave me and this one just looked bad, the entire knife had sections of reddish black pigment, fortunately a little cleaning and it came off, probably will replace the scales, as one side is kinda curled up, rendering it unusable.
Thanks for your opinion!
ivan
 
Everyone will have a different take on this. Phil's suggestions have merit. Myself, I would just keep the knife as-is and do what I could to limit collateral damage to other knives. The knife is a relic, a reminder of family history. I would not alter it with new scales, wood, cell, or otherwise. But you may do as you wish.

In the very early 1930's, my grandmother died of tuberculosis. The house was quarentined and "purged" by burning copius amounts of sulphur in trays in every room. When the family returned and things were put back in order, it was found that many things had been ruined by the sulphur fumes. One of those things was great-granddad's pistol. He had been a Sheriff in the wild west days of old Fort Smith (Roy Bean was the Judge then). My father inherited the pistol and to preserve it and honor his grandfather, he sent it off to be cleaned and embelished. I have that pistol and it is indeed a sight to behold with it's nickle plate and gold screws, hammer, trigger, ejector and such. But, except for the notches in the butt of the grip, great-granddad would not recognize it as having been his "tool". To me, a part of the connection to him was removed. I, personally, would rather have found a pristine example of his early Smith and Wesson revolver, stabilized his in it's "as-found" condition, and displayed them together. But then, I am just an old...

Codger
 
its a shame i cant find a similar scale pattern/color, im really undecided, and not for sure its even celluloid, couldve been just plain abused, gramps was a outdoors type and he ran his own house painting business, so i dont know, if anybody could tell me if dunlaps came with celluloid or not it would be helpful, still a damn solid knife, no wobble, walks and talks okay for the most part, one things for sure im keeping it :-)
thanks!
ivan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top