Interest keen in Cutlery's auction

It was quite a difficult thing to attend for me.
So sad to to see the Old Girl torn apart.
It was really wonderful to see so many friends again though.

So happy that Ethan has his own name back!

I got the 1902 oil painting of the Factory.
Had to have it!

Rest in Peace Quiet Giant.
 
Phil Gibbs,
You seemed to have put a lot of your life into Camillus. I imagine it was difficult for you.
I read in one of the above newspaper reports that some members of the knife community wanted to buy the Camillus tang stamps (so as to destroy them to prevent illegal or immoral use of them in the future). Then I read that our own CAMCO has ended up with them. They are in safe hands, then. Good for Tom.

I read further that you now work for AG Russell. He is a fine knife man. Good for you.

Phil
 
Phil Gibbs said:
It was quite a difficult thing to attend for me.
So sad to to see the Old Girl torn apart.
It was really wonderful to see so many friends again though.

So happy that Ethan has his own name back!

I got the 1902 oil painting of the Factory.
Had to have it!

Rest in Peace Quiet Giant.
Click to expand...



When you have time and if you are so inclined, I'd love to see the painting in color. This 1944 black and white rendition from the Alfred Lief book is the only illustration I have seen of it. Was it comissioned by Adolph Kastor or by Sherwood, or is that known? According to Lief, '02 was the transitional year for the company.

Oh, and were there other artworks such as the Adolph Kastor portrait, or did it remain in private hands of the Kastor family?

Congratulations on preserving this bit of Camillus history!

Codger
 

Saturday, September 22, 2007
By Charley Hannagan Staff writer

Two American knife companies bought tooling, equipment and drawings at this week's auction of Camillus Cutlery and plan to begin making knives based on the defunct factory's patterns.

Knives made from Camillus' patterns will appear either this year or early next year in the catalogs of the Ontario Knife Co., in Franklinville, Cattaraugus County, and Bear & Son Cutlery Inc., of Jacksonville, Ala., their executives said Friday.

They will not, however, have the Camillus name. Acme United Corp. of Fairfield, Conn., paid $185,000 at a auction Tuesday for the Camillus' name, Web site, trademarks, brand names and patents.

Bear & Son owner Ken Griffey Jr. not the famous ballplayer said the Camillus knife patterns fill a niche for people who want to own an "old-timey" knife.

Bear and Ontario Knife bought the majority of the former knife plant's tooling, said Nick Trbovich Jr., president and chief executive of Ontario and chairman chief executive of its sister company Queen Cutlery in Titusville, Pa. Both companies are owned by Servotronics Inc., of Elma.

Camillus Cutlery closed in February and the contents of the factory were sold at auction this week to repay its debt.

This article from the Syracuse Post-Standard posted here by express permission of Charley Hannagan.

You can view the article online here:
http://www.syracuse.com/poststandar...iness-10/1190451805232730.xml&coll=1#continue

Codger
 
Hey Phil, it sure would be great to see that picture in color. Could you post a snapshot?
 
It's hopefully being loaded on a truck with the er, few other things A.G. & I bought.

Once it gets here I will try to get a good pick of it for you all too see.

In the mean time I have been motivated by all this to finally start to unpack my Camillus collection! I'll see if I can get a few picks up in a new thread.

I think it is time to celeibrate the life of the Quiet Giant !
 
Phil Gibbs said:
It's hopefully being loaded on a truck with the er, few other things A.G. & I bought.

Once it gets here I will try to get a good pick of it for you all too see.

In the mean time I have been motivated by all this to finally start to unpack my Camillus collection! I'll see if I can get a few picks up in a new thread.

I think it is time to celeibrate the life of the Quiet Giant !
Click to expand...

yes a celebration is in order, camillus made the first knife i was given 20 years ago, i still have that knife and ive added many others mostly camillus, and i will continue to collect them hopefully for many years. Camillus had quality and were affordable, even though the market dictates the prices will go up and their affordability will go away one thing will not change, they made a quality product.
camillus will be missed...
phil, i would love to see your collection, oh the knife envy:D
ivan
 
God for you Phil and good for Ethan. It will be nice for everyone to get on with their lives now that the runaway train has run out of steam.
 
Does anyone know who ended up with the CUDA Close Quarter Battle Knives that were in the lobby at the auction? I didn't stay at the auction very long, it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I had made a few trips to Camillus in the past (when thing were going well). When I walked trough the factory I kinda got a feeling like I was a Stephen Spillburgh movie. It looked like the folks that worked there got up from their work expecting to return but never did.

I heard the announcement that the new owners of the Camillus name were offering jobs to the old Camillus worker. Hopefully the new owners of the name will do better with it.

Tom
Chestnut Ridge Knife Shop
 
CRKS said:
Does anyone know who ended up with the CUDA Close Quarter Battle Knives that were in the lobby at the auction? I didn't stay at the auction very long, it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I had made a few trips to Camillus in the past (when thing were going well). When I walked trough the factory I kinda got a feeling like I was a Stephen Spillburgh movie. It looked like the folks that worked there got up from their work expecting to return but never did.

I heard the announcement that the new owners of the Camillus name were offering jobs to the old Camillus worker. Hopefully the new owners of the name will do better with it.

Tom
Chestnut Ridge Knife Shop
Click to expand...

I think that they were looking for the Sales and Marketing people. It looks like they plan to take the Camillus name to China like Taylor did with Schrade.

Camillus left thousands of knives in their repair department and it was funny as could be watching people bidding them to two or three time the prices for good ones on ebay. Different strory on the equipment and materials. Jerry Busse and I bought tons, yes tons of what was once called Carbon V, now replaced I understand by Chinese 1085.
 
So now that the auction is over, can we look forward to a few knives, accessories, parts etc being dumped on the market? (read Ebay) I'm sure there is not a lot of items, but I'm sure some people bought some items to resell.
 
Well the parts (work in progress) or WIP was bought by Smokey so you can expect to see it in their catalog and wewbsite. Bear, Ontario, Ka-Bar, Canal Street and a few other knife companies, including yours truly bought the machines and raw materials except when out bid by salvage dealers and you are unlikely to see any of it except when used to make or put into knives.

I would be careful and inspect closely those knives from the auction as that was the repair department they were sold from. The buyers may not know that, the auctioneers did not tell anyone that I know of. The workers all knew and thought it was funny.
 
Hi Mountainwind.

At most of the prices I saw paid, they will loose money on ebay.
I suspect they mostly went to locals who wanted one last REAL Camillus Knife.
 
Real, yes that sums it up. Even thought the name has been bought, it will still be "Camillus made by ....."
 
AG, I live down by Mountainburg, and I have tried to get by your business and have a look (and drool). One of these days I will make it.
 
I was at the Camillus factory last week picking up the items that I bought at the auction. Many great additions to my Camillus collection.

I met Walter Johnsen and Gib Katten from Acme United Corp at the factory. We had a long conversation and they told me that they will be offering high quality, American made knives bearing the Camillus and other brand names. They are also contacting former Camillus employees from the Sales Dept. They plan on opening an office in Camillus, New York. Some of the former Camillus employees will be rehired and the Camillus name will live on in Central New York.

Tom Williams
 
CAMCO said:
I was at the Camillus factory last week picking up the items that I bought at the auction. Many great additions to my Camillus collection.

I met Walter Johnsen and Gib Katten from Acme United Corp at the factory. We had a long conversation and they told me that they will be offering high quality, American made knives bearing the Camillus and other brand names. They are also contacting former Camillus employees from the Sales Dept. They plan on opening an office in Camillus, New York. Some of the former Camillus employees will be rehired and the Camillus name will live on in Central New York.

Tom Williams
Click to expand...


Tom,

I hope that you are right. I really need another U.S. supplier. I fear though that you are not right. If they plan a U.S. opperation why did they not buy the tooling, any machinery, or any material; God knows all of those things went cheap enough. We will see.
 
CAMCO said:
I was at the Camillus factory last week picking up the items that I bought at the auction. Many great additions to my Camillus collection.

I met Walter Johnsen and Gib Katten from Acme United Corp at the factory. We had a long conversation and they told me that they will be offering high quality, American made knives bearing the Camillus and other brand names. They are also contacting former Camillus employees from the Sales Dept. They plan on opening an office in Camillus, New York. Some of the former Camillus employees will be rehired and the Camillus name will live on in Central New York.

Tom Williams
Click to expand...


Tom,

I hope that you are right. I really need another U.S. supplier. I fear though that you are not right. If they plan a U.S. opperation why did they not buy the tooling, any machinery, or any material; God knows all of those things went cheap enough. We will see.
 
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