Off Topic Help With This Vintage Imperial Congress Knife

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Schroeder Cross-Dunn

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May 7, 2017
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Hello, i purchased this really old Imperial Congress knife with what appear to be white cracked ice handles on eBay. I did a little research before bidding and couldn't find anything that even resembles this knife. According to a dating guide i found online it was made between the 1930 and 1936. Seeing as i could not find anything else like this around i went ahead and spent near $25 bucks on this knife. Has anyone else seen anything like this from around this time period? Is it rare? Did i spend too much money or did i get a good deal? If you have something similar i would like to see some pictures and if anyone knows anything about the knife itself (Not the history of Imperial or Schrade themselves i have studied up on them already, i mean like the product line kind of thing) i would like to know. And does anyone think i should or shouldn't attempt to clean the knife and or re finish the blades? Do you think that a restoration is a bad idea? Thank you :)

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If you care about the knife you must remove the active rust or it will keep rusting.

In my experience, Imperial knives are not rare or collectible in that condition. Where I live, at a flea market and in that condition, it'd be worth considerably less than $25.
 
Most of us think "restoration" is a cussword. Rubbing the blades with an oily rag should take off the red rust while preserving the patina. I don't think you paid too much, as I don't recall ever having seen an Imperial Congress pattern before, and in that condition I'd have snapped it up in a heartbeat.
 
brownshoe said:
If you care about the knife you must remove the active rust or it will keep rusting.

In my experience, Imperial knives are not rare or collectible in that condition. Where I live, at a flea market and in that condition, it'd be worth considerably less than $25.
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I know Imperial knives are not generally collected nor were they an expensive product line. I have picked up vintage Imperials for $6. The reason I was willing to pay $25 for it was 1. I like congress knives and 2. I couldn't find a similar knife online from the same time period. When i google search for "Vintage Imperial congress knife" i can't find anything like this. I would think that there would be at least some reference or picture of a similar knife Imperial made but i just can't find anything like it. And it isn't really in that bad of a shape. The blades are mostly there and it is fairly easy to clean the rust off and the handles are not cracked.
 
yablanowitz said:
Most of us think "restoration" is a cussword. Rubbing the blades with an oily rag should take off the red rust while preserving the patina. I don't think you paid too much, as I don't recall ever having seen an Imperial Congress pattern before, and in that condition I'd have snapped it up in a heartbeat.
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There are Chinese made Imperial congress knives but i have never seen one this old. Frankly I've never seen a USA made Imperial congress from any time period at all.

Here is a modern China made one.

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yablanowitz said:
Most of us think "restoration" is a cussword. Rubbing the blades with an oily rag should take off the red rust while preserving the patina. I don't think you paid too much, as I don't recall ever having seen an Imperial Congress pattern before, and in that condition I'd have snapped it up in a heartbeat.
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And i wasn't going to take sandpaper to it or anything. ;)
 
And this is another Imperial knife i purchased recently made in the same time period. I have seen a couple of these so I'm not assuming that they are rare. They look to be from the same product line due to the handles. Maybe this can help someone with finding the product line.

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And this is the dating chart i saw on another thread here.

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They both would be from Imperial's premium line, whatever it was called. Most of the Imperial folders I'm familiar with have hollow shell handles hiding all the pins. Those look to be much better made than the typical ones. I personally don't consider the new stuff coming out of China to be Imperial or Schrade, let alone both.
 
Okay so they are from a premium line, thats good to know. Now i just want to know the scarcity the Congress knife (if it is indeed scarce). And I agree, I've never considered defunct American to Chinese products to be authentic.
 
Imperial did not always make shell handled knives. The knife in question above was almost certainly made before 1935, which is approximately when the shell knives started. Its not a "premium line", its just how Imperial made knives then. Before 1935, Imperial Knife Co made pocketknives that were as good as any. Here is another that is of similar age with the same handle material.
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This bone handled junior scout is even earlier, from the 1920s
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Schroeder Cross-Dunn said:
Hello, i purchased this really old Imperial Congress knife with what appear to be white cracked ice handles on eBay. I did a little research before bidding and couldn't find anything that even resembles this knife. According to a dating guide i found online it was made between the 1930 and 1936. Seeing as i could not find anything else like this around i went ahead and spent near $25 bucks on this knife. Has anyone else seen anything like this from around this time period? Is it rare? Did i spend too much money or did i get a good deal? If you have something similar i would like to see some pictures and if anyone knows anything about the knife itself (Not the history of Imperial or Schrade themselves i have studied up on them already, i mean like the product line kind of thing) i would like to know. And does anyone think i should or shouldn't attempt to clean the knife and or re finish the blades? Do you think that a restoration is a bad idea? Thank you :)

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It obviously was worth $25 to you so don't worry about what I think about it . I would clean it up and make it look presentable because I think it could look pretty nice . B brownshoe has given you some good advice but I would also use some 0000 Steel wool on the blades plus I also use the sawn edge of a Pine 2 X 4 on the blades . You have nice project to work on Sir !!! Please post some pictures after you are done with it .

Harry
 
Arathol said:
Imperial did not always make shell handled knives. The knife in question above was almost certainly made before 1935, which is approximately when the shell knives started. Its not a "premium line", its just how Imperial made knives then. Before 1935, Imperial Knife Co made pocketknives that were as good as any. Here is another that is of similar age with the same handle material.
b8IdnUQ.jpg


rAkjaMHl.jpg


This bone handled junior scout is even earlier, from the 1920s
rbMqEmUh.jpg


mlL45Bxl.jpg
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Thanks for the reply. So it is pre 35, at least i have a more specific date on it. I am still curious on how prolific this knife is. By the way that is a neat pair of knives, especially that scout! what a rustic beauty!
 
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Old Engineer said:
It obviously was worth $25 to you so don't worry about what I think about it . I would clean it up and make it look presentable because I think it could look pretty nice . B brownshoe has given you some good advice but I would also use some 0000 Steel wool on the blades plus I also use the sawn edge of a Pine 2 X 4 on the blades . You have nice project to work on Sir !!! Please post some pictures after you are done with it .

Harry
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Thanks for the reply. I think i am going to clean the rust off of the blades but leave the patina. I can't bring myself to remove genuine patina on a knife this old and also I don't trust myself to be able to able to do it properly. I do think i will attempt to refinish the bolsters and backsprings on both knives though and definitely give it a thorough cleaning and then oil and sharpen it. I will posts some pictures when the work is done..
 
I wouldn't call the knife rare, but it is in decent shape (other than the rust) for it's age. Not a very common pattern for Imperial, but they are out there. The blades are over all pretty full. I would have paid $25 for it.
 
glennbad said:
I wouldn't call the knife rare, but it is in decent shape (other than the rust) for it's age. Not a very common pattern for Imperial, but they are out there. The blades are over all pretty full. I would have paid $25 for it.
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Thanks for the reply. Yeah I'm not assuming that this is one of its kind, but i just haven't seen anything else online about it. No google search results, no forum results, nothing. You would think that there would be one for sale online somewhere or a old transaction but nothing has come up yet. I'm not giving up and I'm going to keep looking till i find something.
 
I know that restoring generally just removes rust and such, but with that knife you might want to consider new covers since they look like celluloid. If it has not already, it will eventually break down and destroy the knife. For what is worth (not much) I have never seen an Imperial congress and would have picked it up myself:thumbsup:
 
Ernie1980 said:
I know that restoring generally just removes rust and such, but with that knife you might want to consider new covers since they look like celluloid. If it has not already, it will eventually break down and destroy the knife. For what is worth (not much) I have never seen an Imperial congress and would have picked it up myself:thumbsup:
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Thanks for the reply. That was my reasoning exactly, I have just never seen anything else like it and had to have it. The handles haven't developed any cracks yet so i don't think that i am going to attempt to re handle it as it goes way beyond my skill level. Now I don't know if I'm going to carry it or just leave it home. I would never forgive myself if i lost it.
 
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