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Old 09-15-2014, 08:18 PM
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Jacknola Jacknola is offline
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I thought I might as well post all the Delrin handles I could find on line in one place for posterity. There is a mystery though about Delrin. There are at least two knives with Delrin handles that are 1963-65. .. an "SS" and a "low S." But apparently Delrin was not offered in the catalog until 1968-69. This disconnect is not that unusual with Randall, but Delrin is a specialty handle, not mentioned in earlier catalogs so how the customers knew of its existence prior to the catalog listing is unknown. And Delrin when it was listed was not cheap. It was almost as expensive as ivory... in 1969 a Delrin handle on a APFK was priced at $11.00. A couple of years earlier ivory on the same knife was $12.00..

Here is a unique group of 7 spacer (?) Delrin handles that was published years ago on another site.



The next knife is the only one I?ve found thus far that has finger grips. There could be a reason however. By the way, this is likely to be the same m19 shown in the group photo above, just a much better picture. (Very recently it was posted elsewhere that this knife belongs to Michael Mason...)



Here is another knife most likely the same one pictured in that old group photo above. This is a m2-7 picture taken from Joe Dorsky's site. I don't know if he owns this knife or posted it from general reference.



I received an E-mail from Tom Dehart. He sent me a copy of a page from Pete Hamilton?s book, the Randall Chronicles. Here is what Mr. Hamilton had to say about Delrin:

Q. What is Delrin and when is it used?

A. This material was the first attempt at a replacement for ivory. Delrin came in white and off white. Both were tried. The material was fairly soft and easy to grind. Sanding and polishing was very touchy. The uses of this material went from the late 1960s to early 1970s.


This is good and interesting information and could explain the lack of finger grips. Given Mr. Hamilton?s comments, Delrin may have been difficult to work into final polish which would be especially touchy on fine details such as finger grips.

Below is Gary Clinton's Delrin-handled RMK brass-back Confederate or Thorpe Bowie he showed at his lecture at Blade Show this year (2014) from a picture I took.



I think this might be formal picture-portrait of Gary's Confederate/Thorpe Bowie shown above because the black marks on the sheaths in both pictures align... but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, though it is a good study I'm going to consider it to be the same knife as Gary's. It sold on E-bay last year for about $1,950. Nice





(Note: Gary referred to this knife as a "Thorpe" in a post on another site. Though it appears to be a "Confederate," it will be cataloged as a "Thorpe" hereafter.)

Here (next page) is another brass back 12-11 Smithsonian bowie supposedly dated 1969. It was advertised as having an "ivorite" handle. Well, it should be Delrin if it is 1969 ivorite. The white and linen Macarta had not yet been marketed... to my knowledge. This knife also may have nickel silver collar and coolie cap which would be unusual ( there was a picture here, but I decided that it was the same knife bought by "dax" and shown on the next page).

Last edited by Jacknola; 07-18-2017 at 09:59 AM.
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