In the end, I would like this line to be a go-to reference for future looks into the history of Delrin handles on Randall knives. So... I'm going to post any pictures of Randalls-with-Delrin that I come across with brief comments, best I can do. Please feel free to add comments or correct my assumptions. We all gain from other's shared wisdom or opinions.
The pictures of this first knife are ones I borrowed from Miles Welze's site. They are of a knife he sold back in 2011.
http://www.mileswelze.com/Randall_Vintage_2-5BKD.html
He did not attempt to date it in his description but he was confident about his identification of the spacer arrangement, all thin, all red and white. Wickersham mentions that upon the cessation of the use of 7-spacers for non-leather, all remaining spacers where piled into a common bins and used thereafter. Most of these were thin.
Based on this thin gruel and perhaps the look of the shape of the coolie cap nut, I suspect a date for the knife of about 1973 ... but that could be totally wrong. There are a number of Delrin handled knives that have some combo of 5 spacers and that may be earlier than '72-'73.
This next knife is one I found somewhere ... perhaps E-bay. It is pretty unique given the separate S, post-1966 type 3 blade stamp, 7-spacers, and handle shape. I'm not sure it is Delrin... it may have some type of grain... but it doesn't look Ivory either. Whatever, lets include it here.
This last knife is one of Guido Bitossi's collection that he posted elsewhere. I don't think he'll mind my using it here. It does seem that Bowies and Toothpicks used a fair amount of Delrin. Perhaps the shop was instrumental in steering customers to handles for these presentation type blades instead of ivory.
