Delrin Handles, Randall knife

[Jacknola]

It was kind of Ron to let this refugee find its way to its kinfolk. Of course Ron can now afford to corner the vintage model 3 market... LOL.

[Ta2bill]

I love that knife Jack! Actually ALL of your Delrin knives!

[jeepster]

Very nice.
Ronnie

[BoBlade]

Jack,

It was my pleasure because it found the best home possible. I love Randall endings like this. I hope you get a ton of enjoyment out of it.

Best,

[Jacknola]

Above are pictures (again) of my models 1-8 and 2-8, Delrin handled set including the original green butcher paper that accompanied the knives when delivered in early 1967. Ron Mathews asked me how it is that the original butcher paper has survived for 50 years. Therein lies a story that I think would be of interest.

These two knives were ordered in 1966 by a Randall dealer in Houston named Kenny J. Young. According to an RMK collector friend, Tom Dehart, Mr. Young was a long time RMK Authorized Dealer, and was something of a special character. He had a gun-knife SCUBA shop in Houston, and was a little ? er ? peculiar with some obsessive and hording instincts, but, he was also a ?sharp? business man. For instance, he apparently had his mother-in-law working at his shop selling rifle scope mounting screws because no one else wanted to mess with them and he didn?t have to pay her because she was living in his house.

Below: Kenny J. Young in his shop:



Below: Kenny Young and wife in 2015 shortly before he passed at age 93:



Mr. Young never threw anything away? he had saved balls of twine of every conceivable type of thread and color. He had rubber band balls up to 16-in in diameter, etc. But the good part was his RMK collection. When he got a knife/knives he always left them in the green butcher paper and wrote his retail price on them. Years later in the mid-1980s, Houston-based RMK collector Tom Dehart started trading with Mr. Young. Apparently Mr. Young wanted guns and Tom wanted RMKs so frequent trades were made.

At that time Mr. Young had a store room full of brand new knives, mostly RMKs. Apparently Mr. Young especially liked ordering knifes with mis-matched hilts and butt caps, and he would put double hilts and commando handles on hunting knives, etc., he just liked to order weird combos. Mr. Young obsessively kept the ?order sheets? and confirmation letters for all of his orders. Later, when a trade was made he would give the original letter to the collector if he acquired the listed knife from him. Tom said it was a strange experience to pry a knife out of his stash and away from Mr. Young ? but he ended up acquiring quite a few 1960s RMKs, 35 to be exact from Mr. Young.

Well, when Mr. Young first heard about Delrin, he immediately ordered the Delrin set pictured first. Notice that RMK shop listed and referred to Delrin as "Ivorite." It is pretty certain that this is the original order confirmation letter from RMK (below) with notes on it by Bo Randall himself.



According to Tom Dehart, Bo thought a 7-inch blade was the perfect size for a combat knife and would deliberately default to that size if an order did not specify length. Apparently Mr. Young sent a return note requesting the Delrin pair have 8-inch blades. Notice in the hand written portion of the letter the underlined sentence indicating Mr. Young also requested two 6-inch Faisel sets in this order.. and Mr. Randall?s comment that they would be a first in that size.

I think this is all very historically interesting. For one thing it is a strong indication that the RMK dealers were aware of Delrin at least as early as 1965 (which we already had deduced). In any case, the butcher paper pictured is the original because the dealer who ordered the knives was an odd duck who obsessively kept detailed records and assorted stuff such as the original butcher paper. He then traded the knives to a serious RMK collector, Tom Dehart, who faithfully maintained the records, paper, etc. I am now the third owner of this pair and will make every effort to continue the tradition of preservation.

edit note: Apparently the "L" means the note was by The secretary "Mrs. Landing" typed on behalf of Mr. Randall.

As a postscript, here is a very nice m8 personal knife of Mr. Young, owned by Tom as a memorial. I'm not sure what the June 2, 1988 date signifies.

[Jacknola]

To continue the theme of posting Delrin handled knives as they surface, Ron pointed out this one that is on Gary Clinton's website.





A nice fat Delrin handle similar to another fat-handled Delrin m2 previously posted, but that one had an escutcheon plate. This one I would guess is right at late 1972-early 1973, or the sheath is a replacement. Here is my reasoning. The knife has an external tang nut. These were generally superseded by the inverted tang nut in late 1972. The sheath does not have a model number, only a length number. This was a feature that became the norm in 1973 or so.

It is a nice knife... I'm thinking about it so back off!!! LOL

This is a bad picture I found on the net of a similar fat Delrin handle m2-7(?), but with plate. Have no idea where this knife is now.



Here is a better picture of the same knife taken from Joe Dorsky's site. I don't know if Joe owns this knife or not. This is the same knife pictured in the old group photo of six Delrin handled RMKs on page 1, post 15.



Edit comment: Ya'll snooze you lose. Made deal with Gary. More to come. Ciao

[505Gibbs]

Both of the delrins that were on Clinton's sight are now gone. Don't know if sold or if they were consignment pcs.
Usually if sold the pics are there for a few days.

[Jacknola]

Gary Clinton was kind enough to accept an offer from me for his two Delrin knives. And they are unique enough that I thought additional pictures would be of interest.

Here is a m1-8 (a model-1 with Delrin is itself rather unique because of anecdodal information about a later proscription by Mr. Randall against using Delrin on model 1 combat knives... ). This one is unique to my knowledge because it has a Delrin handle and a recurved hilt...fortunately still paired with the matched original sheath. I've regressed the date about a year to between late 1970-early 72 based on information that the model 1 sheaths were being marked in this manner at that time. The exposed tang nut also speaks to that time period. This places this knife inside my personal objective of "could have been carried in Vietnam."









I am really pleased with this knife. I know of four model 1s (edit: five) with Delrin handles and I now have three of them. Cool, thanks Gary.

[Jacknola]

Here is the other one from Gary Clinton. It too has some unique features, especially the finger grips. Apparently finger grips were difficult to cut in Delrin and only about three or four knives are definitely known to have them (though there are probably others). I have two of the known examples.

This one is likely 1972 vintage, the late date being based entirely on the five spacers. It does have a yellow-paint stone and other characteristics that make it no later than that....again under the wire of my target dates. That is good because each of the six Delrin handled knives I have are individually interesting. And they all fit my collecting timeline limits.







Here are my two six inch Delrins, the m1-6 with saw-teeth, from Ron Mathews, and the m3-6 from Gary Clinton, both with finger grips. Notice how differently they are cut.





Here are the latest three Delrins that have found a home, all together in a poorly lighted composition.




Again, thank you Gary. I hope others enjoy the pictures.
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[505Gibbs]

I'd say that they both found a good 'home'!!

[Ta2bill]

This is an absolutely great thread! Jack has done a fantastic job doing research on many different Viet Nam era edged weapons, but this thread is super!

Hats off to you my friend!

[Tom D.]

Great collection of Delrin, Jack. Who/what got you started? I somehow missed the picture of the #19 if, in fact, you posted one.

I meant to ask if discussion of ivory is acceptable on this Forum? I've run out of places to try to sell my 6" King Faisal set (in original green paper); could someone please nudge me in the right direction. I'm the second owner.

[Jacknola]

Hi Tom. Here is the m19 with finger grips (not my knife, don't know where this one is. Note edit: 3-24-2017 - on another site Michael Mason is the confirmed owner of this fine and unique knife) that I posted a couple of times on page 1 and 2 (I originally mistook it for a m11). It actually is important for dating Delrin because this was apparently a transitional blade shape from the older version to the newer one that was finally completed in 1967 after about a year of experimentation (note picture and discussion in Sheldon's book p. 80, and Gaddis pp. 210-211). It is almost certainly dated in mid 1966 based on type 3 post early-1966 blade stamp with separate S, as well as the blade shape.



Note: this knife is probably the same m19 pictured in the old group photo of Delrin handled knifes on page 1 post 15.

Yep Tom, you started this Delrin focus by selling me that 1-8/2-8 set. Actually the process began as an offshoot in the "dating Bowie" line... Questions about a Delrin handle Bowie led to research and eventually splitting the Delrin posts into this line. That led to finding pictures of your knife set. Since they were Vietnam era, I needed them and you obliged. Unfortunately, since most Delrin is from the Vietnam era, I was then required to find them some friends and family to make them comfortable. $thousands later it has become a true cancerous growth....thanks a lot (LOL).

Discussions* beget discussions and new lines. "Bowie" started with dating coolee caps. That discussion then begat Delrin handle research, which begat escutcheon plate dating, model 3 chronology, etc.

Re: Ivory handled sale. I'm not sure of rules here. "Moosehead" could advise, or you could post a bunch of pictures in a new line here, or in the photo gallery. You could post a note as part of the presentation to contact you. Also, the wider knifenetwork site may have a sale site...I know they have an "exchange" gallery.

*Discussion here is generally characterized by polite exchanges of thoughts backed up with examples and explanation, not what occurs elsewhere with strident ego-driven avowals, zero examples, explanation, research, or backup, followed by name calling. This board is probably the best on the net for discussing vintage Randalls ... by far.

[Moosehead]

Hi Jack!

Those are two great acquisitions!

You are definitely the king of Delrin!

Unfortunately Google Maps cannot find out where Delrin is located ("We could not find Delrin")... But you're still the king...

Cheers!

David

[Melvin-Purvis]

That Delrin handled Model #19 is pretty sweet Jack. Sure got my attention. I'll keep an eye out for Delrin handled RMK's for you. Nice collection so far, and from I've read here, some great historical research and enthusiasm too. It's been a good read.