Never Judge a Book by it's Cover

[eisman]

Here's a perfect example of what lurks behind a couple decades of neglect. I think this was stored near another knife with cell scales.

A little basic cleaning and a pretty nice little knife crawled out:

 

[Pinemoon]

Wow, nice work!

 

[Misplaced Hillbilly]

Really nice restoration!

 

[afishhunter]

Nice job.

Those covers might be celluloid though. They look a little shrunken in the pictures.

 

[Ernie1980]

Nice job of bringing it back without over polishing it!

Nice job.

Those covers might be celluloid though. They look a little shrunken in the pictures.

I think those are pearl, they don’t shrink but sometimes they were not fit too closely especially on double bolstered knives.

 

[meako]

good old fashioned elbow grease...works wonders....great job.

 

[eisman]

The scales are MOP, and yes it can shrink.

 

[r redden]

Amazing what a little TLC can do for an old knife. You did a great job on that one Kevin.

 

[PocketKnifeJimmy]

On the Culpepper's website, the following is stated concerning MOP...

"Pearl is just like any other material in that it has advantages and disadvantages. Mother of Pearl will not shrink, expand, bend, or move."

"It does take a little more care, but once a Mother of Pearl handle is in place, that's where it will stay. You may have had the experience of taking an ivory handle knife across the country, through changes in humidity and climate only to find that the handle has come back to life and practically crawled off of the knife. You will NEVER have to worry about this problem with Mother of Pearl."

 

[brownshoe]

Pearl will crack if it's dropped. It will get cloudy if it contacts acid. I have 2 pearl knives, 20 and 80yo with no shrinkage. The older one is "pocket worn".