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TL-29 Electricans Knife


dustin
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This is inpart the original drawing for the TL-29 elctricans knife, May 1919.

 

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Amended specification with its official nomenclature, the handle is detailed to be constructed of cocobolo wood.

 

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norwegian blue

Hello, great information, I did not know the TL-29 was such an early design

If I may ask, Dustin, what do you think of this one, is is an earlier pattern?

Note the screwdriver blade is broken, the grips appear to be made from some kind of exotic and durable wood

It was found in France in a WW1 leather inspector's kit

 

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I really have no other imput or incite really, having never made a study of these patterns of knives. I was merely dishing up some food for the fodder. The handle material on your Ulster is most certainly cocobolo wood from Central America. We have to consider there were procurements through the 1920's and 1930's, a long time span. Now the drawing does specify the shield is to be stamped TL-29, even the specification as of 1935, so I don't know how the US SIGNAL CORPS marked types fit in to the mix. An authorized deviation perhaps ? But I am more inclined to think this type was manufactured prior to the approved drawing of 1919, meaning yours was manufactured 1917-1918 !?!

Also after doing quick cursory investigation, the screwdriver shape is different on these SCUSA stamped shields than that detailed for the TL-29. So in a quick overview, the TL-29 is a revised pattern that has lasted the test of time, for a very long time.

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Ulster is one of those Companies where it's hard to uncover a lot of in-depth information, especially before about 1941. You'll find a lot of different names stamped on them instead of Ulster before Albert Baer bought the company.

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Sorry in taking so long to reply to your question. Like I said the history of Ulster knives can be a little hard to track down. Most of what I have seems to center around the research of a local historian from the Ellenville N.Y. area. At least she has uncovered supporting documentation to help establish dates and events. The history of the American knife industry can be and often is complex and convoluted.

In the late 1800’s the town/village of Ellenville N.Y. was actively trying to attract business and industries to them. Those efforts saw the formation of the Ellenville Co-operative Cutlery Company in 1871. One of the people involved in investment any management of this company was a man named Dwight Divine.

By 1875 the original company was struggling and was reformed under the name Ulster knife Company. Still the various stock holder continued to bicker among themselves and in 1876 Dwight Divine stepped forward and purchased the outstanding shares of the Company and became the sole owner.

By the early 20th century the firm became Dwight Divine & Son, and latter Dwight Divine & Sons. Buy though out that time Ulster Knife Co. appeared as the operating body.

Dwight Divine dyed in 1933 over the age of ninety. His sons continued operating the company until selling it to Albert Baer shortly before the United States entered WW2.

I’ve included a link to Marion Demond’s article in case anyone would like to read more about it.

http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/articles/409-01.pdf

From 1875 to 1941 a variety of markings appear on Ulster made knives, and I’ve yet to see a good representation of the chronology of these different stamps.

IMHO, the tang stamp on your knife does pre-date WW2. But I”m not too comfortable with trying to narrow it down beyond that.

 

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Sorry there are some grammatical errors that snuck through before I could edit, and I can't correct them now.

Also I should mention that Ulster is the name of the county that Ellenville is located in.

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norwegian blue

Hello SAC troop and thanks very much for all this information and the pdf link, which indeed is a very interesting story of Ulster, Schrade and Imperial, all names that are very familiar to collectors

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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry that this is late, however I believe it is safe to say that this is a WW1 knife. Generally the smaller size electrician knife that say signal corps are from world war one and the larger sized ones that are marked TL-29 are post.

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Yes I beleive that these pliers are also WW1 as well, my resources mostly concern knifes however in his book on us military pocket knives Mr. Silvey includes a nearly identical pair in a signal corps inspectors kit. The markings on those pliers appear different but in this case I believe SC USA does stand for Signal Corps United States Army. The WW2 version would have been marked TL-13 and not have had jaws that narrowed at the end like those do.

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  • 1 year later...

I'm doing some research on TL29s. Can I ask where that documentation came from? I wasnt aware Fort Monmouth existed in 1919, at least not named that till 1925, so I'm curious about that document.

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Frank Trzaska

The drawing is Revision B and dated 12-9-1930 so was most likely updated with the name change as well as the spec changes. I would like to see the original dated 1919 to see what it says and compare.

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Ah, slipped by me that it was a revision. Didnt even notice that over to the left. Im not even sure where to begin to try and dig up the original drawing. Maybe after all this corona virus stuff drops off Ill send a letter over to NARA and see if it can be dug up.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi everyone, 

Again, I’m so thankful for all the informations here in the Forum. I was super lucky and got one of the SC- knives! It’s the same as @norwegian blue posted, made by Ulster. So if I got it right, the knife could have been made between 1916 (WWI Ära) and around 1930? Amazing how old it could be! The walk and talk is still very good.  I do have a TL-29 from PAL Blade Co. and this could be the type after the revision from 1930, the drawing Dustin posted above. It is smaller than the once from WWII e.g. my Kutmaster is. I love collecting military pocket knives. Looks like I have one from each century starting with the 20th Ulster, 30th PAL Blade Co, 40th Kutmaster wooden handles, 50th Kutmaster plastic handles  and 60th Camillus. Would be nice to narrow the manufacturing dated of the SC Knives a bit more down. 

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