Free To A Good Home: An Imperial Scout Knife In Need Of Surgery

[Jack Black]

Maybe it belonged to Tyrone Power, when he was a Yank in the RAF.
Duncan, that is very generous with the handle offer, on top of Jack's original generosity. I don't know how I'm going to respond to it all.
I think Thomas is right that I can fix this without chopping the pins, but I think new covers can be fitted without chopping the pins too, so I'll go ahead with my bit.
So in about a week I'll start to lend my eye a terrible aspect and let it pry through the portage of my head toward the mailman, to continue my earlier mis-quote.
Thanks everyone for the encouragement, and I'll keep you posted.

Of course there are all sorts of ways this knife could have ended up over here, and I guess it must have had a few adventures and misadventures over the years (including at least one bad case of prying).

I wouldn't start looking out for the mailman for a while Jer, knives I've sent previously have taken anything from 2 weeks to 2 months!

As for the covers, considering this is a 60 year old knife, and an inexpensive one at that, that has clearly had a lot of use, and some abuse, I'd say that the original covers and shield are in reasonable shape, and that they're worth preserving. I can see the reason for replacing covers on a modern knife or when the original ones are broken or missing, but in this case that doesn't apply. I'd be interested to hear other opinions on this.

 

[screened porch]

I saw one of these at a mall a couple of weeks ago with similar-looking covers, except they were shrunk about a quarter-inch lengthwise and an eighth sideways. There must have been some misadventures in the early search for suitable synthetics.

As for the covers on this one, my first thought was how do I deserve a custom handle job for asking to have a perfectly good knife sent to me for free.
My second thought was that we could have the fancy handles put on and send it back to you- it is your birthday knife, after all.
My third thought was to question whether antler could be cut thin enough to fit in the shallow space here. So maybe horn or tortoise-shell.
But could we keep the scout shield? (fourth thought). This knife doesn't deserve to be stripped of its insignia like Chuck Connors in "Branded".

So I'm leaning toward keeping what we've got, with gratitude and respect to Duncan for his offer.

{Off topic: I was watching Olivier's Hal V last night, and was surprised that he sanitized it by leaving out the "dogs of war"' speech to the burghers of Harfleur. (I don't think I dozed off.)}

 

[Jack Black]

This knife doesn't deserve to be stripped of its insignia like Chuck Connors in "Branded".

LOL! You know, I haven't seen 'Branded since I was a boy, and I hadn't realised it was Chuck Connors!

I'll leave it with you Jer, see what you think when it arrives, but don't worry about me, I had a very nice birthday as it is thanks

So I'm leaning toward keeping what we've got, with gratitude and respect to Duncan for his offer.

Absolutely. Duncan is generous to a fault :thumbup:

 

[glennbad]

I am flattered to be included in a discussion like this, so thanks for bringing my name up. I am, however, anxious to see what SP will do with the knife once he receives it. Whether he keeps it original, or pimps it out, the knife is going to get a proper treatment no doubt.

Looking forward to the final result, whatever it is...

 

[screened porch]

I wouldn't start looking out for the mailman for a while Jer, knives I've sent previously have taken anything from 2 weeks to 2 months!

Fingers crossed for 2 weeks. But I have more Barlows to bolster if I pine for handicraft before this project arrives.

 

[screened porch]

I am flattered to be included in a discussion like this, so thanks for bringing my name up. I am, however, anxious to see what SP will do with the knife once he receives it. Whether he keeps it original, or pimps it out, the knife is going to get a proper treatment no doubt.

Looking forward to the final result, whatever it is...

Thanks for stopping by.
I think I'll just fix the end (I have a plan for that which I hope will minimize bloodshed) and leave it as is otherwise. If I want to pimp out a scout knife, I'll work on a Kamp King, which needs it more.

But while you're here, I have a related question you could probably answer if you wouldn't mind. I recently dropped my favorite Camillus scout knife and broke the lanyard bail right off of one end of the pin. Is the end going to open up like the one on Jack's, or will the knife have been peened together before the bail was peened over top?

 

[glennbad]

Thanks for stopping by.
I think I'll just fix the end (I have a plan for that which I hope will minimize bloodshed) and leave it as is otherwise. If I want to pimp out a scout knife, I'll work on a Kamp King, which needs it more.

But while you're here, I have a related question you could probably answer if you wouldn't mind. I recently dropped my favorite Camillus scout knife and broke the lanyard bail right off of one end of the pin. Is the end going to open up like the one on Jack's, or will the knife have been peened together before the bail was peened over top?

If the pin went through the bail to the other side, then probably all that was holding everything in place was the peen over the bail on each side. There may be a little spreading of the pin inside the scales/liners, but that's probably not enough to keep it tight long-term. I see a lot of those bails get removed, and then the pin is peened over on the bolsters.

 

[Thomas Linton]

When you realized it was uncool to wear your knife on the brass clip on your belt, you noticed how many had their bails removed -- to fit better in the pocket it was said.

It was also said that it was wise to peen over the pin to "keep the knife together."

 

[screened porch]

Thanks, guys. I'll peen it.
I'm glad I resisted the urge to test it with a twist of a screwdriver.