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Congress or Muskrat? - Advise
- Thread starter ISKRA
- Start date
screened porch
Basic Member
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- Feb 19, 2012
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That "mushroom" is pretty bad. Don't let anyone call you an effete aesthete on the strength of your objection to that.
screened porch
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I would make a mess of either, but I think I'd try protecting the handle with tape and filing it down. I would fear that hammering will broaden the pin too much and split the bone.
Will Power
Gold Member
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I'd certainly go with careful filing. Mask the scale and use a fine file or if you have a Sharpmaker, one of the angled rods gets brass down very accurately. You can then buff up the whole handle on a strop with green compound, fetches up bone or stag very nicely -good on bolsters too.
Hammering? I wouldn't, get it wrong and the knife's a wreck....:barf:
Had similar problem (and others) on my only Carl S. knife... I much prefer Bökers for German Traditionals.
Hammering? I wouldn't, get it wrong and the knife's a wreck....:barf:
Had similar problem (and others) on my only Carl S. knife... I much prefer Bökers for German Traditionals.
Thanks for the advice, scrteened porch and Will Power, I will try to file it down. I don't know what tools we got at home, I'll have to wait till Sunday. I'll check the tool box, there's lots of old tools from my grandpa, who was a smith. He actually made a kitchen axe a few years ago, not quite the quality you guys're used to see. 
He was more into making his own electric saws, snow plows and stuff like that, so there's little fine tools. I'll figure something out.
Alright, so no hammering on the pins, but I will have to bend the secondary coping blade a wee tiny bit. Now it touches the bolster and I hate blade rub, which is the main reason why I won't carry the knife before I give it a couple of touches. I had the same problem with the clip blade on my peanut (the tip was bent a bit).
He was more into making his own electric saws, snow plows and stuff like that, so there's little fine tools. I'll figure something out. Alright, so no hammering on the pins, but I will have to bend the secondary coping blade a wee tiny bit. Now it touches the bolster and I hate blade rub, which is the main reason why I won't carry the knife before I give it a couple of touches. I had the same problem with the clip blade on my peanut (the tip was bent a bit).
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The dots are consistent with a 2013 production date.Hmm, looks like I don't have the dot system figured out after all ... It sure will get used, no doubt about that!
...
2010 was:
X.X.X
Case
.X.X.
Start taking away dots, left to right, top to bottom for five years. Then start taking away Xs, left to right, top to bottom, for 4 years. Then start over in 2020 with a new tang stamp pattern.
So the Muskrat in the picture has:
X_X_X
Case
_X.X.
Where the underscores "_" indicate a missing dot. There are three missing dots, therefore, 2010 + 3 = 2013.
Or just look at the cheat sheet: http://www.wrcase.com/case_college/tang_stamps/
Click on the individual decade icons for an expanded view showing each year within the range. This is the current range:
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Oh, I see. By mistake I thought my peanut was a 2016, but it's a 2015 (all xs, no dots), which caused a bit of confussion on my side. I didn't know when they started with this tang stamp, so I simply counted backwards from 2016, not taking in account that the knive was from the previous year ... We're learning every day and I sure have to learn a lot more about traditional knives.
We're learning every day and I sure have to learn a lot more about traditional knives.I filed down the "mushroom" as good as I could. It's not the same finish as on the other pins since I don't have the tools, but it certainly is more comfortable now. I bent the secondary a bit to prevent it from rubbing against the liner. Now I'm quite content with the knife (as much as I can be). I carried it for the last couple of days and so far so good, I already have a patina started on the main. I like the pattern, it meets my needs, which isn't much more than cutting apples, threads and paper. The test will come this week when it will be my EDC. I'll post some pics when I have more of a patina on the blades.
Last week I carried the toothpick, which didn't see much action, but did OK for what it did. Cutting a couple of apples to shreds gave it a nice patina, I noticed I preffer a bit bigger knives afterall though. It's amazing - had I stopped with the peanut, everything would be great. The peanut could be my perfect knife with ease. It did everything I wanted and had almost everything I wanted. If I never tried anything else I could easily live with only the peanut in my pocket. But no, I had to order these two Germans and now all hell broke loose. Although I think I'll be good for a while after John's muskrat arrives (sweet bajeesus, I can't wait). Then I'll have traditionals for pretty much every occassion I encounter. Now already, I feel like I have too many knives I don't use. I guess it's time to start a GAW or two to get ridd of a few old ones ...
Last week I carried the toothpick, which didn't see much action, but did OK for what it did. Cutting a couple of apples to shreds gave it a nice patina, I noticed I preffer a bit bigger knives afterall though. It's amazing - had I stopped with the peanut, everything would be great.
The peanut could be my perfect knife with ease. It did everything I wanted and had almost everything I wanted. If I never tried anything else I could easily live with only the peanut in my pocket. But no, I had to order these two Germans and now all hell broke loose. Although I think I'll be good for a while after John's muskrat arrives (sweet bajeesus, I can't wait). Then I'll have traditionals for pretty much every occassion I encounter. Now already, I feel like I have too many knives I don't use. I guess it's time to start a GAW or two to get ridd of a few old ones ...
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Don't sell any yet ISKRA! Check out some threads here, "knives I wish I still had". Only sell the ones you definitely can not use for any conceivable task! As in all collections, there will be knives you own that have been discontinued, and no longer on the market. You don't want to be chasing these down, 20 years from now!
Don't worry guys! I only have about a dozen. 4 modern traditionals (John's muskrat will be the 5th), 3 SAKs, one lockback and a few old traditionals. Nothing rare and nothing expensive. 3 of them are not even marked and I have no idea about their origin and age. I'm sentimentally bound to a few of them, for some I really have no use. You see, I am not and don't intend to be a collector, at least not a serious one. I like to carry and use knives, I fell in love with traditional slipjoints. They're hard to come by at my place, even the German-made ones. I wouldn't want to hamster lots of them, rather have a few that suit my need and which I can pass down to my kids and grandchildren, once I have some of either ... There will probably be one in for the good people on the porch in the not so far future, I just have to decide on which knife.
I only have about a dozen. 4 modern traditionals (John's muskrat will be the 5th), 3 SAKs, one lockback and a few old traditionals. Nothing rare and nothing expensive. 3 of them are not even marked and I have no idea about their origin and age. I'm sentimentally bound to a few of them, for some I really have no use. You see, I am not and don't intend to be a collector, at least not a serious one. I like to carry and use knives, I fell in love with traditional slipjoints. They're hard to come by at my place, even the German-made ones. I wouldn't want to hamster lots of them, rather have a few that suit my need and which I can pass down to my kids and grandchildren, once I have some of either ... There will probably be one in for the good people on the porch in the not so far future, I just have to decide on which knife.- Joined
- Feb 17, 2015
- Messages
- 42
It sounds like you have selected some to move out, congratulations ISKRA! You have already started to purchase quality, and decide what fits your hand and purpose. Some of my favorites were not expensive knives when they were first purchased. (Schrade cats paw 197UH , Schrade folding hunter 127UH for instance. Now they are discontinued, and Schrade has gone out of business here in upstate New York. The Schrade name and patterns were purchase by Taylor and being manufactured in China, with "less desirable results". The price of the original New York knives has gone through the ceiling.
So, you never know where the market will go. What is certain, quality tools will always be sought after and the price will match the demand! ( P.S. I don't think you will find 1 person here who started out as a "collector"!) The hand wants what the hand wants.
So, you never know where the market will go. What is certain, quality tools will always be sought after and the price will match the demand! ( P.S. I don't think you will find 1 person here who started out as a "collector"!) The hand wants what the hand wants.