Dating TL-29s?

[NAFix]

Howdy,
My first post here, and I suppose this question has been posed a number of times before.... I, like I suppose most collectors, seem to have gathered a pile of Camillus TL-29s... but I started noticing some distinctions, and was hoping someone could sort this out for me.... Probably a source for type and style of Camillus tang stamps thru the years would clear a lot of this up...
here's the pic, more distinctions questions below....

# 1 has deeper, thicker italic type in CAMILLUS logo, no lower finger cut-out near tang on screwdriver blade, and no handle pin near bolster.

# 2 has lighter Straight type in logo, a small cutout near tang on screwdriver blade, and no handle pin near bolster.

#3 has bolder straight type in logo, the small cutout near tang on screwdriver blade, and a brass handle pin near the bolster.

I kind of think #2 is oldest with finer stamp on logo, #1 next, and #3 the
youngest. If this is true, I find it interesting that they went from straight
type to itlaics then back to straight. Also not easy to see #3 has a glossier finish on the handles, perhaps just from being newer, but perhaps a more plastic composition? Plus the edges of the handles are different on the blade side. While the corner going from flat-side surface to edge is a bit rounded the edge itself is flat at right angles to the flat side in #1 & #2 for about 1/16" before it meets the liner. On #3, that edge is completely rounded, on a continuous radius from the flat-side surface to where it meets the liner -- no flatness at all....

Any ideas?

Thanx,
Barry

 

[CAMCO]

The electrician's knife is a #57 pattern and Camillus has produced this model since WWI. The knife with the pins that attach the handles is most likely older than the other two. Around 1970 Camillus started using studs molded onto the handles to attach the handles to the linings. If you open the blades you will see the studs.

Tom Williams

 

[JD Mandrell]

Gotta love these old classics, I have one that belonged to my late father. He was a teletype mechanic in the Air Force during the Korean War and was stationed at Baffin Island Air Station at one of the Distant Early Warning stations. I have learned that the Air Force did issue these knives to personel that did his job, but I do not know if this one is the actual one he was issued. After leaving the service in 1956, he went to work for GTE and workek there until he died in 1977. These were popular with linemen at GTE, so he may have got it while working there.

 

[NAFix]

Thanx for the input CAMCO and TLC. So I learned what I thought was the newest is actually the oldest. But the handle material on that one must be different from the newer ones... it actually has a glossy finish, whereas the others were dull. In the mid 70s I worked for a cable TV company and used one of these TL-29s (then I only knew it as an electrician's knife) which was indispensable. The screwdiver blade is truly an elegant design... it gets you into the outlet box, strips the wire, tightens the wire screw on the plug or switch, and closes the box... You don't need a bunch of tools. I remember my knife having the duller composition handles. According to Levine, this knife first came from the military specification "TL-29," TL standing for "Tool for Linemen."
Most of these that I find in my yardsale travels are Camilluses. Is there a listing of Camillus tang stamps anywhere that would held me date these some... that is, straight type vs. italic, bold lines vs. fine, underlines vs. not?
Thanx again,
Barry