Camillus TL-29 questions

[Tyson A Wright]

I haven't found this online in casual searching (probably just don't know the right places to really look), but I'm 99.9% sure that multiple people on this subforum know the answers to these questions:

• How many TL-29s did Camillus manufacture?
• What is the date range for Camillus making TL-29s?
• Are there changes to the Camillus TL-29 over the course of their manufacturing run?
• What kind of steel is the Camillus TL-29 blade made of? (I assume 1095, but would like confirmation/clarification on that.)
• Is the screwdriver made of the same steel as the blade? (They look the same to me.)
• Who are all the other manufacturers that made official TL-29s? (I've seen references to both M. Klein and Utica making them; I assume that there are probably other makers, too.)
• If you know any interesting bits about these besides the answers to these questions, please let us know here!

Pictures, of either stock or (especially!) of modded TL-29s will also help make this a fun thread.

Thanks!

-Tyson

 

[screened porch]

That's a lot of questions. Here's at least a partial answer to one of them, from an old thread.

The carbon steel Camillus used before they shut down was 0170-6C. Similar to O1, but specifically made for Camillus. I have no idea how far back they used it, or what they used before.

 

[Tyson A Wright]

That's a lot of questions

yep. Just thought I'd open one thread on these generally. Thanks for your answer!

-Tyson

 

[willard0341]

A case tested I’m rather proud of and a knock off

 

[glennbad]

Here's a list of manufacturers that made electricians knives. Obviously, they aren't all official TL-29s, but this may help narrow things down. (Info copied from a thread on another site)

Boker
Camillus
Camco
Case
Cattaraugus
Challenge
Colonial
Craftsman
Electric Mate (Prov Cut. Co.)
Empire
FD (Sears)
AE Fuller
Holub
Imperial
Jensen
Ka Bar
Keen Kutter
Kingston
Kutmaster
Klein Tools
M. Klein & Sons
Miller Bros. U.S.A.
OK (Ontario Knife)
Pal
Powr-Kraft
John Primble #47
Proto
Prov. Cut. Co.
Queen
Red Devil
Remington
Ric-Nor -made by Prov. Cut. Co.
Robeson
Robeson Shuredge
SCC (Schrade)
Schatt & Morgan
Schrade Cut Co
Schrade Imperial
Schrade Walden
Sears
Ulster
Union Cut. Co.
Utica
Western
Winchester
No Name

 

[buckthorn]

Wow! So many! Thanks. Can we assume that there were "major" and "minor" players here-i.e.: a few companies that made many and many companies that made relatively few?

 

[buckthorn]

Or, same as so many other knives, major makers such as Camillus made them for several of the brands in the list?

 

[Tyson A Wright]

Here's a list of manufacturers that made electricians knives. Obviously, they aren't all official TL-29s, but this may help narrow things down. (Info copied from a thread on another site)

Boker
Camillus
Camco
Case
Cattaraugus
Challenge
Colonial
Craftsman
Electric Mate (Prov Cut. Co.)
Empire
FD (Sears)
AE Fuller
Holub
Imperial
Jensen
Ka Bar
Keen Kutter
Kingston
Kutmaster
Klein Tools
M. Klein & Sons
Miller Bros. U.S.A.
OK (Ontario Knife)
Pal
Powr-Kraft
John Primble #47
Proto
Prov. Cut. Co.
Queen
Red Devil
Remington
Ric-Nor -made by Prov. Cut. Co.
Robeson
Robeson Shuredge
SCC (Schrade)
Schatt & Morgan
Schrade Cut Co
Schrade Imperial
Schrade Walden
Sears
Ulster
Union Cut. Co.
Utica
Western
Winchester
No Name

This is a great post! Thanks! The only thing missing from this post is pictures of some of the beautiful mods you've done.

-Tyson

 

[hornetguy]

Here's one I rebuilt. It had a broken screwdriver blade, so I removed it, and put new wenge wood scales on it. It's almost exactly the same size as a GEC 15.

This is it torn apart on the bench before reassembly....

 

[glennbad]

This is a great post! Thanks! The only thing missing from this post is pictures of some of the beautiful mods you've done.

-Tyson

Thanks. I'll throw a couple in, but I don't want to flood this thread.