Christy sliding knife variations?

[Bartleby]

I have become something of a family historian as an offshoot of being the person in my family that inherits pocket knives of all types. One of the items that a fair number of family members carried is the little sliding Christy Knife. I am trying to match up several of these that were given to me in an old shoe box to family members who would have carried them.

I had not really given much thought to them, but I have noticed that there are some variations. Some have a sheet metal bail, others a bent wire bail; some are single bevel blades, some double bevel: some have stainless blades, some carbon; some have a patent number, others do not etc. Has anyone tried to figure out when changes were made on these? Thanks!

 

[jackknife]

When the Christy knife came out in 1936, there were knock offs when they got popular. Like in WW2, when the Christy Company got military contracts for sale in PX's and Navy Exchanges, and were even put into some pilots survival kits. After WW2, some government agencies bought them for some personnel. When money is at stake, there will always be some contenders around trying to horn in. Any real Christy knife will have the name and Freemont Ohio on it. If you look at the opposite side plate from the locking button, a patent number is there, or on the lock button side.

The hight of popularity of these knives were the WW2 and 1950's era. Early 1960's was good as well. One way to tell is, there has been subtle change in the blade tip, with older ones (1950's and back) having a more pronounced clip point and later ones under Earl Christy having more of a almost modified wharncliffe, and the latest under Hal Christy going back to a more definite strait clip point.

Give Hal Christy a call. He's the horses mouth of what his dad and granddad made. Heck, order a few to have around. They are a neat little knife with a strange history in the cutlery trade. They have not faired well in modern times with the one hand knives now on the market, and Hal has had to vacate the old building and is making the Christy knife in a one man shop. My own father was a huge fan of these knives, and always had one around. When he got older and had some arthritis in his hands, he retired his Case peanut and carried a Christy knife the last ten years of his life.

 

[Bartleby]

Thanks for the quick reply! One of them is a "Clauss" Fremont Ohio knife, the others are all marked "Christy". I sent an email to Mr. Christy on this one earlier in the week, but have not yet heard back. I did order a couple of the knives and a few spare blades a year or so ago (when I first received the shoebox mentioned above) and have been carrying one on my keychain. They are good little knives! Since I have an extra blade, I have put mine to a lot of good use (I was initially cautious because the blades are so thin, but it is holding up surprisingly well).

 

[jackknife]

Can you post up some photos?

 

[Bartleby]

Don't have any to post, but will see what I can do when I am back at the house. My guess on the Clauss one is it was an early advertiser, before they started etching the blades. This one is stamped "Clauss. Fremont. O." on the button side, nothing on the other side. The parts interchange with the others, so I figure an early contract if not an advert.

 

[Bartleby]

After doing a bit of on-line research, the earliest reference I have found to the Christy Knife (other than the patent drawing) is an ad on page 125 in the March 1938 issue of "Popular Science" magazine. The oldest one I have, with the single bevel carbon blade an wire bail is a dead ringer for the one in the ad. The key ring chain is also marked "ball chain" on the connector. The ad states that the frame on the earliest ones would be chrome plated brass, while the one I have is steel. We have long thought that this belonged to my grandfather, who worked for Republic Aircraft during WWII. He had served in WWI. I recall him carrying it when I was very young, but as he passed in 1968 my memory may be faulty.

 

[Bartleby]

When I started this thread, I went to the Christy website and sent Mr Christy an e-mail and also ordered a couple of the knives for my daughters, and a few spare blades to keep with the older knives. I think Mr Christy is on a trip to Florida as this was the return address when I received my goods. He has not as yet responded to the e-mail, but I guess he will get caught up when time permits. I hope to update when I hear back.

I have been carrying one on the keyring, and have been pleasantly surprised at how useful it has been. I can see why grand dad liked it so much for urban carry in the '40s through the '60s. The thin little blade makes short work of most cutting chores, and the sliding blade makes it very discreet, especially with the shortest setting. I am also kinda liking the streamline moderne art deco look of the thing.

 

[shecky]

Thanks for the info on these knives. I'd been curious about them and the slight variations I've seen.

I've been thinking about making a couple replacement blades for a Christy, maybe out of M2. I have some thin stock laying around collecting dust. Maybe a sheepfoot, and a spear point. Yet another project for my to do list...

It really is a great user, a pocket knife for the person who has nothing to prove.

 

[Bartleby]

Given how thin the blades are, I have at times wondered what effect such an experiment might have. I think if the blades were much harder they would snap like a razor blade. Any softer and they would take a set way too easily. I am actually kinda surprised that the used ones generally don't have broken blades and can be resharpened fairly easily, especially since the idea behind the patent seems to emphasize replacing the blades like in an old school safety razor.

 

[Pjake]

I just received an executive yesterday (shipped from FL) and have bee playing around with it. I like it. It's a little to long for me to put it on my keyring. Maybe I'll keep it in my desk tray for mail and such. Pics later this weekend.

Peter

 

[jackknife]

Given how thin the blades are, I have at times wondered what effect such an experiment might have. I think if the blades were much harder they would snap like a razor blade. Any softer and they would take a set way too easily. I am actually kinda surprised that the used ones generally don't have broken blades and can be resharpened fairly easily, especially since the idea behind the patent seems to emphasize replacing the blades like in an old school safety razor.

This is my dad's old knife that he carried for many years after he retired his Case peanut. He used it hard, and did everything with it that he did with his Case, but even more so. He'd lock the blade out at the first or second position and use the back of the point or clip bevel as a scraper or pick tool. Because the blade wouldn't fold over like a slip joint, he'd actually use it harder than his peanut and I think the fact that he could replace the blade in a minute or two was a factor in how he abused it. But the blade never did break. He did wear one down to a sharpened toothpick after a ten year period, but it was still there when he tossed in the trash can and put the new blade in. He then started to scrape paint off a hinge of a door he was painting.

 

[Bartleby]

I have been surprised at how well they hold up. When I started carrying one around it was mostly for those situations that I did not want to risk harming a higher end knife knife, but I have found that the little Christy has exceeded expectations. It is kind of liberating to know that you can replace the blade if you are abusive, and kind of satisfying to discover that they keep bouncing back.

 

[Wardo46]

When the blade is fully retracted is it normal to have a large gap between the sharpened edge and the handle frame or is that just because so much of the blade has been sharpened away?

 

[jackknife]

When the blade is fully retracted is it normal to have a large gap between the sharpened edge and the handle frame or is that just because so much of the blade has been sharpened away?

No, it was used a heck of lot and sharpened. Dad was NOT easy on this knife. Here is a shot of my own well used Christy with a blade that was replaced abut 4 years ago and well used. Pay no attention to the bit of remaining black Sharpie where I recently touched up the blade. I use this knife when I don't want to mess up a "good" knife on things that I know will ruin an edge, so I guess I may be as hard as dad was. There is some liberation that comes with the knowledge that if you really screw the pooch, you can just drop another blade into it.

 

[r redden]

When the Christy knife came out in 1936, there were knock offs when they got popular. Like in WW2, when the Christy Company got military contracts for sale in PX's and Navy Exchanges, and were even put into some pilots survival kits. After WW2, some government agencies bought them for some personnel. When money is at stake, there will always be some contenders around trying to horn in. Any real Christy knife will have the name and Freemont Ohio on it. If you look at the opposite side plate from the locking button, a patent number is there, or on the lock button side.

The hight of popularity of these knives were the WW2 and 1950's era. Early 1960's was good as well. One way to tell is, there has been subtle change in the blade tip, with older ones (1950's and back) having a more pronounced clip point and later ones under Earl Christy having more of a almost modified wharncliffe, and the latest under Hal Christy going back to a more definite strait clip point.

Give Hal Christy a call. He's the horses mouth of what his dad and granddad made. Heck, order a few to have around. They are a neat little knife with a strange history in the cutlery trade. They have not faired well in modern times with the one hand knives now on the market, and Hal has had to vacate the old building and is making the Christy knife in a one man shop. My own father was a huge fan of these knives, and always had one around. When he got older and had some arthritis in his hands, he retired his Case peanut and carried a Christy knife the last ten years of his life.

Good info. :thumbup: Thanks for posting Carl.

 

[jmarston]

I certainly do love my Christy knife. I carry it around the house or town for odd jobs when I know a larger knife won't be needed. I like tha I can discreetly carry it, open it one handed and trim a fingernail or open an envelope while out and about.

Mr Christy has always been extremely helpful and prompt when I have emailed him in the past. I wish I could purchase one or two directly from him but wih his international shipping charges and the poor Canadian dollar right now, it ups the price to 3 or 4 times what the knife itself costs.

 

[Bartleby]

I wonder if the postal rates are tied to paying duties on the shipments overseas? I have a friend in England that can ship things here to me no problem, but if I try to ship anything in that direction there is a 30% import duty (goods are held by the carrier until these are paid).

I'm sure I'll hear something from Mr. Christy when he gets back in town.

 

[Wardo46]

I certainly do love my Christy knife. I carry it around the house or town for odd jobs when I know a larger knife won't be needed. I like tha I can discreetly carry it, open it one handed and trim a fingernail or open an envelope while out and about.

Mr Christy has always been extremely helpful and prompt when I have emailed him in the past. I wish I could purchase one or two directly from him but wih his international shipping charges and the poor Canadian dollar right now, it ups the price to 3 or 4 times what the knife itself costs.

It's not just the international shipping charges that are high. I went on the website this morning and was going to order one until I saw the domestic shipping charge. I decided to pass.

 

[Bartleby]

When I ordered I didn't really think about the shipping so much, but I got two knives and several replacement blades for the same flat shipping rate as for one knife. I guess if I had bought just the one knife the cost of shipping would have been a third of the total price which would seem pretty steep in comparison. It does put it in the same price range as the delrin handled Case peanut or the little Buck Companion.

 

[jackknife]

Given how thin the blades are, I have at times wondered what effect such an experiment might have. I think if the blades were much harder they would snap like a razor blade. Any softer and they would take a set way too easily. I am actually kinda surprised that the used ones generally don't have broken blades and can be resharpened fairly easily, especially since the idea behind the patent seems to emphasize replacing the blades like in an old school safety razor.

Since I've had a certain familiarity with Christy uni yes from an early age, I recognize them when I see them in displays at gun shows, knife shows. I've never seen an old Christy knife with a broken blade. I think we can deduce two things from this. One is, Christy knives are well made and sturdier than we think, and two, my old man was right when he said a pocket knife is something used once in a while for some little cutting job, but carried a heck of a lot in the pocket.

I think that for most pocket knife jobs, you really don't need a thick blade. Look at the blade on the most abused knife in the world; the sliding blade Stanley utility knife. It has a blade just about as thin as a Christy knife blade, yet it cuts sheetrock, strips wire and cable, slices open all kinds of containers on construction sites. If it's not a Stanley, then it's one of the folding utility knives like Husky or Super Knife brand or no name made somewhere in Asia. You have this thin razor blade in a large handle so you can get a good amount of force on what you're cutting with that thin razor blade that is all of one inch in length fully extended. Yet they go dull far more than break.

As knife nuts, I think we way over estimate how much blade we need on a daily basis. I love the way Shecky put it; It's a great pocket knife for someone who doesn't have anything to prove.:thumbup: