Antique Pocketknives 101

waynorth

waynorth

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Nov 19, 2005
Messages
32,748
I have just gone back to school! :rolleyes:
I thought I'd share my first new lesson with you all!
Being a little greedy for Schrade's old peachseed bone, I bid on, and won this interesting looking knife, on the auction site we all love to dis! The pictures weren't as bad as some, but were not the best either. I had misgivings, but had a strange urge to hold this knife in hand, so I bid and won it at just under $80.
If it were as advertised, I would have paid twice that!!
There are myriad details that reveal the flaws in this so-called:
Great looking peachseed bone handled Schrade Walden that is in excellent++++ to near mint condition!!! [unquote]
It is actually a great lesson in what to look for, and please comment to your heart's content!! It is just under 3 5/8" long, so a nice sized Jack!
Here it is; what's wrong with it???
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Click to expand...
 
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I think the blades look wrong for that knife The main looks short & thinner than it's spring Also,both being sunk joint look odd on that frame So,I'd say it was put together,if I had to guess at it PS the pen looks swedged on the wrong side,witch adds to what I'm thinkin' here
-Vince
 
It looks like there is a nail nick on the obverse side of the blade,opposite what I think is the incorrect swedge .I say,the blades were put into that knife,but not original blades there!

But then,that added image just now,changes that idea ,lol
 
Its the blades ! All wrong!
 
There is no swedge on the pen Vince. I added a picture of the back to show it. It is one of the problems though. If the pen hides the pull on the main, the back of the pen should be swedged to allow your thumbnail to get to the main's pull!
 
Actually, that pattern had a clip and a pen, very similar to what is in there . . . . .but not exactly!!
 
waynorth said:
There is no swedge on the pen Vince. I added a picture of the back to show it. It is one of the problems though. If the pen hides the pull on the main, the back of the pen should be swedged to allow your thumbnail to get to the main's pull!
Click to expand...

Besides that,the tip of it,& it's full,is about above the liner,so again,those blades!
 
Also,look at the size of the tangs in relation to the bolster The pen,seems bigger (taller) than the main So I'd say the blades were put in there
Yeah,it's nice though :thumbup:
-Vince
 
Wouldn't that pen have some type of mark on the tang,as well ?
 
The main blade looks like it doesn't fit the spring, it doesn't match up at all and extends over to one side. Also, he way the main blade is ground, it looks like it was meant to fit against a blade from the opposite joint (I know there's a word for that, but it escapes me now. Not "crinked" or "swedged", but ground to mate with an opposing blade).

Also, the wear on the pen blade looks funny. It looks worn too far up the tang for that particular joint to have causes.
 
Without the pattern number on the other side of the main tang,to see,I'd bet that pattern never had a long pull on the main,only a common nail nick
 
Well Waynorth here is my guess. That looks like a Schrade 236 pattern and I think the nail nick resembles a 236 as it is fairly long, but the main blade does not have the right pattern number on it. I sure could be wrong but if that is a 236 I think it would of had that on the blade. Just my guess. I'm not the expert. I just thought of one other thing. The only 236's Ive seen were black I have not seen a peachseed 236---just another guess. That's the wrong blade in that knife.
 
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I don't know about the blade shapes, but the blades look NEW and maybe not the right alloy. They don't match the age appearance of the rest of the knife.

I'd kind of say the blades look to be made of stainless where I would expect carbon steel. And if they were carbon steel, they should show some age. Not sure that I can describe it correctly, but they don't match to my eye.
 
Thats a cobbled together knife if I ever saw one. The way the spring on the master blade sits is a dead giveaway the the blade doesn't belong in that frame. The pen blade is all wrong too. This workmanship looks all too familiar. There was a guy on fleabay, brett something or other, that sold knives that looked like this. Some had newer blades welded on original tangs, most had pen blades with very long odd looking nail nicks, out of proportion for the size of the blade. This knife looks very much like his work.
 
If that's really an antique, those blades look much too clean for something so old. Liking the bone though.
 
I don't have much knowledge about old Schrades, but I'll take a guess...

The Walden N.Y USA tang stamp looks to big and to my eyes looks like different stamps were used.
With the blades open, the tangs don't look like they match the springs correctly.

The pic of the bottom, it looks like one of the springs has a slight bend where it mates up with the tang.


Still a good lookin knife
 
Charlie,

The master looks too short, plus it should have a cut swedge right up against that pull, plus it doesn't fit too well against that spring as has been stated above.

The pen has a tang that's not at crisp right angles, but rather angles down like some of the newer blades that were put out in the nineties and later by Imperial Schrade.

Definitely lots of questions with that one, with that bone it should be from the late fifties, early sixties, but those blades just don't add up for that time period. Is there a model number stamp on the pile side master? It should be a 236, based on the Cut. Co 2364 3/4. The Walden wasn't changed at all from the Cut. Co. specs, so they're basically one and the same.

One other thing I might add is the bone does NOT look like most of the peachseed I've seen from those older Schrades. It's too sloppy, and lacks the defined jigging and pattern you find on the original examples, plus the shield is wrong as well.

Eric
 
Yes, the stamp does look odd, look at the n in Walden, looks different from the rest. A good close up pic will tell.
 
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