Military Camillus or just an old hunting knife?

[gben]

Hello all,

This is my first post on Blade Forums. I have always been familiar with Camillus knives because my father was a small tool dealer for a while back in the 60s and he sold Camillus electricians knives. I found this knife at a yard sale this summer and thought it was odd how the pommel(if that is the correct term) at the end of the handle was dark instead of being polished alloy or nickel. I bought it along with a real wwii ka-bar knife that was in really bad shape which I gave to a friend who likes wwii stuff. Thanks in advance for your input:

P.S.: I forgot to mention it is about 9 1/2" long and I did not see any other markings on it, but I will look again tomorrow if I get a chance. I don't know if you are supposed to clean old knives up much or not, I know it ruins the value and collector interest in some items...

 

[zzyzzogeton]

Are there any marks on the other side of the blade? That looks like a USN MK1 knife. I have one just like that one with USN stamped opposite the Camillus stamp.

Due to strategic materials restrictions, many knives made during WW2 had materials other than steel, brass and aluminum incorporated in their manufacture. Plastic and bakelite were frequently used.

If there is no USN stamp o the blade, then it might be a "we have hundreds or thousands of parts left over after the contract was cancelled when the war ended" knife. In that case it would be from the post- August 1945 era through when ever brass and aluminum finally became available for civilian production.

 

[gben]

I took another look at the knife and I can find no markings on it at all besides the "CAMILLUS N.Y." on the one side. It's blade measures five inches long.

I did find a pdf file about military Camillus knives in another thread and it shows a knife that appears to be the same, a Mk1 knife. I guess the question to research now is if Camillus made the Mk1 for the military without any marks on it, or if they sold them to retailers as hunting knives during WWII? Photos of the pdf below shows the sheath even has the right number of rivets holding it together.

 

[sac troop]

What you have is a late WW2 production knife. Several makers got approval to make some changes to models they had been providing to help defer costs. Remember that most of the knives made for the war effort were provided at very near the cost of manufacturing and shipping. Below are examples of the knife yours replaced.

When the changes were approved Camillus started producing the knife with the remaining stock of blades.

When those were used up Camillus continued production with the same pattern blade they had been making for the Navy's MK1 contracts.

These knives don't have a branch of service marking and are produced with a bright finished blade. IMHO most of these in collections are likely considered to be a variation of the Mark 1 contracts.

 

[gben]

Thank you very much Sac, I wanted to know what the knife is and you and the Blade Forum community came through! Thank you very much for your valuable time.

I went to visit my eldery parents for Thanksgiving and I asked my father "do you want another knife?" and he said "Always!", and I handed him this WWII Camillus knife. So it went to a good home where it will be appreciated.

I guess I can move on to the next old knife mystery.......

 

[gben]

P.S.: Today my father asked me if he should try to polish this knife, I told him I better check with the guys on this forum before he does in case doing so will ruin the value of the knife. Should he leave it as it is or is there a way he should clean it up that will not hurt it as a collector's item? Thanks in advance....

 

[zzyzzogeton]

My personal opinion is to NOT polish the knife.

95% of my military blade collection is of obvious users. I know I'm probably both wrong and in the minority, but I usually look at a knife that is a military blade from before 1975 that is "mint", "pristine", "NIB", etc., as possibly being a fake, so I pass on those.

Looking at your knife, it is obviously a used knife. I think polishing it would just enhance the "flaws". As it is, it looks just like what it is, a well used WW2 vintage knife with character. It "appears" to my old eyes that it might have some active rust spots in the pits on the blade. I would use some mineral oil (or your oil of choice) and some 0000 steel wool to try to "kill" the rust and leave it as is from there. Just my internet 2-bits worth of opinion..

 

[sac troop]

I agree with the above. Stay away from using any kind of chemical that changes the nature of the rust like (Naval Jelly). It's good for metal things that your going to end up painting, but for collectables it's one of the worst things you can do.
Think of it this way. Active rust is going to continue to eat away at steel. You want to stop it and remove as much as you can in the least aggressive way you can. Some black areas on the knife that represent where the rust once was is generally better than what you end up with once someone has tried to "(restore)" the knife. More collectors will respect a knife that has signs of having, "been there", than ones that have been attempted to be made "good as new".