Show your backspring patinas

[black mamba]

Robeson pen 1930s

Keen Kutter cattle 1930s

Boker stockman 1970s

Schrade Walden stockman 1950s

Ulster scout 1950s

 

[W.M.B.]

A utica cut master stock man. The springs are just about black. Maybe tomorrow I can get a pic in daylight.

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[seas165]

sorry pics too big

 

[W.M.B.]

here is my northfield 73. it rides here on my belt everyday since i got it.

Oh my that's nice.

Here's my Utica in better light

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[Railsplitter]

Great pics folks!

Many thanks to all who posted.

 

[mike Berkovitch]

Good stuff guys. I'm enjoying all the variations. Please keep them coming!

Mike, I thought you might remember that old Remington. I've enjoyed it immensely since it made its way across the sea. Thank you for letting this one go. It's in good hands.:thumbup:

How can I forget, I'm sure it's in great hands

Mike

 

[BearBug]

I agree with whoever felt that brass accelerates patina. i carry a 77 or a 73 everyday and brass darkens quicker regardless of what I cut.

 

[r8shell]

Boker Whittler with tapered backsprings:



GEC #83 Yellow Rose:



I rarely think to take pictures of backsprings, but maybe I'll take a few more when I have a chance. I have a couple Camillus made Buck 305s and 303s with really nice dark patina.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Has got to be one of the thinnest back springs I've ever seen on a Case ad it developed a deep natural patina over the last 90 years.

 

[arizonaranchman]

Sheepfoot 77 Barlow... Natural patina from a year of pocket time.

(This is one of Mike's early 77's with nickel-silver bolsters and liners)

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Now that's a nice 77, it's aging well, if I had to call it something, I'd call it distinguished.

 

[5K Qs]

...

Sheepfoot 77 Barlow... Natural patina from a year of pocket time.

(This is one of Mike's early 77's with nickel-silver bolsters and liners)

That's one I've been hoping to see show up here!
Thanks, Jeff! :thumbup:

- GT

 

[arizonaranchman]

That's one I've been hoping to see show up here!
Thanks, Jeff! :thumbup:

- GT

Ha! Thanks, I sure do love Mike's 77s, but this one's got everything I like in a pocket knife... Single sheepfoot with long-pull, African Blackwood scales, nickel-silver bolsters, pinchable blade with a perfect "7" pull. It was a "10" in fit and finish when I got it new in Feb 2015. It's so comfortable in the hand and has aged beautifully. :thumbup:

 

[btb01]

Here are a few GEC's that are starting to darken a bit along the backsprings.

This old stockman belonged to my grandpa.

And here's a well-used old TL-29 I bought at a flea market a while back.

One thing I like about this thread is you get to see knives from an angle not always shown in photos here. :thumbup:

 

[Guy McVer]

Large stockman, Schrade Imperial Diamond Edge, made in USA vintage.

The poor guy was pretty beat up when I found it. Blades were dull, rusted, and difficult to open. Massive amounts of pitting. I cleaned it up as best I could, polished the outside, got the blades oiled and moving freely again with good snap, sharpened them up, forced a patina on them with mustard, and then I cold blued the springs.

Some say you shouldn't cold blue a knife because the bluing substance is toxic, but if it's just the bottom of the springs then I think it should be okay.

 

[Will Power]

That's a great restoration of a knife, I'm no fan of worshipping rusting hulks as 'authentic'

Loss of many pix here but let's hope this thread gains fresh traction soon

 

[Guy McVer]

I'm no fan of worshipping rusting hulks as 'authentic'

Exactly. How am I supposed to enjoy the knife if it's too rusty and beat up looking to carry and use? I'd be embarrassed by it more than anything else. How sad is a knife that sits in bad shape never getting used, wearing the signs of abuse and neglect from its previous owner? Tools are created to be used. A good knife should be carried and enjoyed. So then why shouldn't I make the knife truly mine?

 

[birdsbeaks]

I just scrolled through all my knife pics - hundreds of pictures of knives... aaaaaaaand, not a single one shows off the backspring patina.

Clearly, my priorities have been all out of whack and I will certainly be addressing this deficiency - but, not tonight. Tomorrow.

 

[lithicus]

I've posted about this knife before. It is from a time when I didn't know a Schrade from a Utica or what a 4 line Camillus was. I couldn't have even told you a spear point from a sheepsfoot. I used what my grandpa gave me and if it worked for him it certainly should work well enough for me. Ironically, receiving this item for my full time possession a few years ago and wanting to date it is what led me down the rabbit hole of pocket knife collecting. I realized it was hard to date, but that Schrade made a damn good knife. Grandpa had good taste!

Story has it that this 127UH was a knife my grandfather purchased in 1980 or so after a buddy accidentally threw away his '65-'69 Case 5165 fat stag folding hunter with some rolled up messy newspaper off the garage floor when cleaning whitetail. The 5165 was a Christmas gift from my grandmother to my grandfather and they were both pretty upset! But, life goes on and he used this Uncle Henry knife and sheath for years before I was old enough to hunt. It always had this leather lanyard and I've done my best to keep it all in good condition. Once I was old enough to hunt, we used it for literally all of our game; mostly deer and rabbit but occasionally pheasant as well. The blade is stainless, but per usual Schrade shenanigans the backsprings apparently were not This spring has decades upon decades of natural patina, history, and amazing stories to tell from truly being put to hard work.

 

[birdsbeaks]

I've posted about this knife before. It is from a time when I didn't know a Schrade from a Utica or what a 4 line Camillus was. I couldn't have even told you a spear point from a sheepsfoot. I used what my grandpa gave me and if it worked for him it certainly should work well enough for me. Ironically, receiving this item for my full time possession a few years ago and wanting to date it is what led me down the rabbit hole of pocket knife collecting. I realized it was hard to date, but that Schrade made a damn good knife. Grandpa had good taste!

Story has it that this 127UH was a knife my grandfather purchased in 1980 or so after a buddy accidentally threw away his '65-'69 Case 5165 fat stag folding hunter with some rolled up messy newspaper off the garage floor when cleaning whitetail. The 5165 was a Christmas gift from my grandmother to my grandfather and they were both pretty upset! But, life goes on and he used this Uncle Henry knife and sheath for years before I was old enough to hunt. It always had this leather lanyard and I've done my best to keep it all in good condition. Once I was old enough to hunt, we used it for literally all of our game; mostly deer and rabbit but occasionally pheasant as well. The blade is stainless, but per usual Schrade shenanigans the backsprings apparently were not This spring has decades upon decades of natural patina, history, and amazing stories to tell from truly being put to hard work.

Gorgeous specimen!

It looks as though between the lanyard and the backspring, at least a few nights around a campfire could be consumed by those stories, and I'd love to hear them!

For me, a lanyard is about more than securing a knife in my hand or easy retrieval from my pocket - one of the primary benefits is having the ability to hang the knife on something; a nail on the wall, a twig off the trunk of a tree, etc - anything to keep it off the garage floor concealed in a pile of dirty newspaper!

I'm glad this one wasn't lost, and even gladder that it found the right steward! Thanks for sharing it with us!