Restore a Colonial Knife Co. Fishing Knife (Texas Toothpick)

F

Florida Jim

Joined
Jul 22, 2019
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I have my grandfather's vintage Colonial Knife Co. fishing knife, basically a single-blade Texas Toothpick with serrations for scaling. Unfortunately it was not well cared for, so I've been doing a little restoration. The aged yellow/green-colored "plastic" scales are not pinned, just snapped into the bolsters at either end, and they were loose and ill fitting. I carefully removed and cleaned them, and then cleaned up the blade and handle. Now I'm ready to install the scales, but I'm not sure if I should lightly epoxy them onto the knife handle or not (and fill small gaps at each bolster). Thoughts? Thanks.
 
Any way to share a pic of what you are looking at? Those shell handle knives were made differently by each manufacturer, so each used a slightly different method of attaching things. How they do it may influence our thoughts.

Thx.
 
I'm struggling to get pics posted on this Forum...just signed up for Imgur, so I'll see what happens. Imgur won't accept pics from a mobile phone, so I'll have to wait until I get to my home desktop. In the meantime, if you can access the following site: www.equip-bid.com/auction/3456/item/9077 , you'll see an almost identical knife except that mine has yellow/green scales. Notice, scales are not pinned, but "snapped" into the bolsters. Thanks.
 
OK, hopefully these photos uploaded from Imgur. As you can see, it's a rather interesting way to attach the scales (no pins) and to connect the bolsters. I think the scales are too beat up to snap back in place and get them to stay, so I'm thinking about epoxy. Thoughts? Thanks.
dOCsvb1.jpg

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Are your scales thin plastic shell construction? The red one on the auction looks celluloid...either way I'd get rid of them and go for a similar colour bone or new acrylic....if possible. That said ...its your grandads and a clean up and restore is probably best.
Cheers.
 
Ooh...the pics just came up. They might be cel?..
With his initials carved in theyre definitely worth preseving. Id go the clear setting epoxy....ive found the best results from the kind that sets over 24 hours not 5minute stuff...be gentle.
Cheers.
 
It's got to be an older Colonial. I never met my grandfather- he passed away in early 1945 while my Dad was still serving in the USAAF in Europe. So I guess my grandfather bought it sometime late 1920s or 1930s. As you see, he scratched his initials into the celluloid (?) scales, so I'd like to preserve them and hand the knife down to one of my sons. The knife still needs a little more clean up, but functions perfectly and holds a great edge- and I'll leave the patina on the blade. I figured that some epoxy might be my best bet, so I'll give that a try. Thanks for the feedback and advice.
 
After seeing the pics, the recommendation of clear epoxy seems like the best choice. Nice knife with a good back story!
 
Just to complicate the matter, has anyone read this article on celluloid knife scales? www.oregonknifeclub.org/celluloid_02.html

The author says that I may have a "ticking timebomb" when it comes to the celluloid scales, particularly the light colored scales...rusting of metal parts, possible flammable situation, etc. Anyone familiar with this phenomenon? I think I'll still try to epoxy them back onto the knife, but it makes me think twice.
 
Yes, celluloid can be a bit of puzzle. However, for the most part, I have not seen the type of damage that you are reading about happening on cell-wrapped knives, or the type of knife you have. I have primarily seen this on older cell handled knives, and some of the later German cell knives. The most I have seen cell on Imperial, Colonial, etc. knives like yours do is shrink.
 
The celluloid scales defiinitely shrunk in length, that's why I was thinking of filling the gaps with epoxy. What made me a little nervous was the "red powdery rust" that was on the knife and some on the inside of the scales. A couple of articles mention that as a warning sign of the impending self-destruction of the celluloid. I think that I will reattach the celluloid scales and then monitor the situation. I planned to store the knife in a curio cabinet on a glass shelf, not with any other knives. We'll see what happens! If things go south, I'll remove and trash the celluloid and rescale the knife.
 
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