Vintage Camillus Electrician's Knife

I picked up this old Camillus electrician's knife off eBay for a whopping $11.50 shipped.



It showed signs of use and some neglect, but no outright abuse. E.g., it was dirty and had some rust which I removed by an overnight soak in Evaporust. (That's what turned the carbon steel blades black.) The blades snap into position nicely with no side-to-side wiggle. The brass liner lock positively keeps the screwdriver in the open position.

After cleaning it off and blasting out some gunk from inside, I started sharpening it. I still have a ways to go as it was very dull when I received it. However, I expect the spear point blade to take a keen edge.

I plan to keep the edge on the screwdriver blade relatively dull for use as a scraper. I expect it to throw sparks from a ferro rod rather well.

Anyone else use such a knife?

I cleaned off most of the black stuff leftover from the Evaporust bath, and then spent about an hour using my DMT fine diamond bench stone, and Worksharp field sharpener to put a shaving sharp edge on it.



In a couple weeks I'm going camping with a friend. He's starting a project to make the cabin on his property powered by solar, and I'll be helping with the wiring. Naturally, I'll be bringing the TL-29 with me for the job.

Based on a link provided by @hso in another thread, it was made between 1960 and the late 1970s.

Last weekend I got to put the TL-29 to good use, stripping the ends of pigtails for a 12VDC electrical system a friend is installing in his cabin. The pigtails will connect to Anderson Power Poles on one end, and the main bus on the other.

I like that sheepsfoot blade.