Fight'n rooster sodbuster

[Yesteryear243]

Picked this up on the good Ole ebay the other day for hardly nothing.. I was just wondering if anyone has one like it? Not sure of handle material nor age other then what I could find on Google and that wasn't much! I have heard about the fight'n rooster knifes all my life and can tell this one has pretty good steel due to the patina on the blade

 

[eisman]

Frank Buster made a lot of different, good quality, knives under the Fight'n Rooster brand in the late 1970's thru the 80's. They ranged from 3.5" to 4.5" closed. Your knife has been rehandled. This is obvious for the following reasons. First all FR Sodbusters either had bolsters (rare) or had exposed pivot pins, usually the "Birds Eye" type. Second, your knife shows signs of having been subject to rust and out gassing of the original celluloid scales. Many FR knives had beautiful scales, but they were German celluloid and have a terrible reputation for self destructing, rusting and pitting any steel nearby. (Never store a knife with celluloid scales near any other knives you want to keep.) Last, the scales on your knife are nowhere near the fit and finish of a factory knife. I suspect they are horn, which FR did use, but only with exposed pins.

Here's a picture of a FR knife with Celluloid scales that have started to go bad:

These can be reworked, as per the picture below, but they are not very collectible. They are however, darn good knives if you get them cheap enough, and should be used.

 

[kvaughn]

Agreed on the FR celluloid. Some of the worst I've seen for outgassing. I've had a couple re-scaled as they are great knives otherwise. Most of them made by Olbertz iirc.--KV