Camillus 72 handle question

[MountainEd]

Hi folks, my first post on this forum. The 72 has been a favorite whittler to use even if it isn't made in a classic "whittler" pattern. I'm a bit OC about them, have 8 or 9 in different handle materials. Light Jigged Delrin, dark Delrin, one of the Wildlife bones, fav is a jigged peachseed bone from the 40's. My question concerns the old black handled pre-delrin models. Somewhere along the line I picked up the idea they were all dyed bone. Black bone is always hard to ID for me cause it's so dark the dye hides the pore structure. I recently got one old black model and it's made me wonder about the material. It's shrunk quite a bit as old plastic does, and it's not worn down near as much as the other black models. Were different materials used for the old black handled 72's? I'd hate to mutilate the poor thing with a hot needle just to find out. Thanks for any info someone might provide.
Ed

 

[Phil Gibbs]

I have seen jigged black celluloid. Be cautious to keep away from your other knives if that is what you have as off-gassing causes corrosion!

 

[MountainEd]

Phil, thank you for the response. I hadn't thought about it being celluloid. I'm one of those old retired farts who have too much spare time and looking back to their youth. My dad had taught me to take apart, repair, and put back together pocketknives about 65 years ago. I'm trying my hand at this again. Delrin became so prevalent, that it's easy to identify. But beyond that, I find it hard to distinguish between types of plastic. Wanting to learn more about celluloid, I found a knife that appeared to be damaged from outgassing. It is and is currently in isolation. Gonna head to the local knife shop and see if they have the materials I need to put new wooden handles back on the knife after I remove the celluloid and clean it up. I have a Schrade 863 and a couple of others that look like the same plastic as the Cam 72. The knife shop has a forge and teaches the skills for making fixed blades, seem fairly knowledgeable. Now I'm wondering why I don't take some of my questionable knives along and see if they can give me some pointers for telling the difference between the plastic types. Thanks again. Ed.