Camillus Pruning Knife Date

[Augie]

Picked up this pruner the other day and looking for some confirmation as to the date of manufacture range, from what I can tell from the charts and images here it looks to be from 1915 to 1918. Is this about right or did I miss something? Thanks

 

[edbeau]

Looking at the pictures on the dating posts, I would say that is true. That is in great shape for a knife that is almost 100 years old. How about one more picture of the back side, please?

 

[Augie]

Thanks, I was surprised to find it was that old considering the condition. Here are a couple of the other pictures I took.

 

[edbeau]

Looks great!!

 

[zzyzzogeton]

I've seen a few of these over the years, but never with the Camillus etching on the blade. What I have seen were those kentucky-mint, "like new" versions that had been made all shiny by being "restored".

Makes me wonder how many of these knives had the etchings before the knives were "cleaned" or "restored". I'd bet most of them still had faint etchings on them.

 

[citytransplant]

Can anyone explain the laser etch, if in fact the "CAMILLUS" marking on the blade is indeed etched by laser? I wouldn't expect to see such a marking on a blade manufactured circa 1918 as I wouldn't expect such technology to be available at that time.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

There is an etching technique using a "pantograph" that has been around since the 1870s. It produces an actual mechanical etch in the target medium. A stylus is used with a mechanical linkage to transfer movement to the etching needle. Early versions used both electricity and pneumatic (air) power.