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Again, you will note the primary purpose of Rhett's article with lines from photo to photo denoting the characteristics of the stag handle that are the same from photo to photo, therefore the same handle. Again, stag is like a finger print.
I don't see the knife being "destroyed". He rebuilt it in a fashion that exhibited a bit more refinement than the first incarnation. For all we know he could have finished it, took the photos, looked at the Scagel knife and said "I can do better than my first attempt, and took it apart the next day. We don't know exactly when, but I would bet it was not long after the original photos were taken, perhaps a matter of weeks or months at most.
There was also conversation if Bo ever really completed the original knife as shown in the 1937 photo. It is not pinned, and the discussion revolved around whether he had the tang just stuck in the handle for the photos. It seems likely no pitch was holding the tang within the stag and the hilt wasn't soldered to the blade.
I think it is a mistake to believe Bo sat there in awe and would not consider upgrading this knife to something that pleased him more because it was "his first". I think that lends itself that the rebuild is even more plausible because he wasn't satisfied.
I am not versed in the building of flutes, and correct me if I am wrong, but if you built a flute that was not satisfactory to you for whatever reason and were able to modify said flute, you would do so until you were satisfied with your work. I think that would hold true with any craftsman.
I do remember some conversation that could have been with Bob Gaddis that Bo really liked that piece of stag.
I can only surmise Bo etched the logo on there with an electric pencil or engraving tool prior to having a stamp made.
I have seen only one other Orlando forged Randall of similar style sans logo from the period outside of the museum collection.
I at one time had a late 30's Henkel stainless blade carver. I think the oldest Randall I ever owned.
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