Are taylor schrade fixed blades any good?

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winchester73

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Jan 6, 2008
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I have heard the Taylor fixed blade Schrades are better that the slipjoints. Does anyone have any experience good or bad with The Taylor Chinese made Goldenspike, Deerslayer, Woodsman and Mountain Lion? Thanks for any input.
 
I have a Taylor-made Pro Hunter with desert ironwood scales that was a gift from one of my best friends. The fit and finish is fair, not great; the scales are not quite square with the guard and blade tang. The leather sheath isn't very good, although it has decent retention... It has some sort of coating that makes it feel plasticky. I've not used it much, but I remember the steel being rather soft. I'll have to dig it up and take another crack at it. I'll post results when I do, hope this helps a little.

All this said, you can still find US-made Schrades online with a little looking... Spring for one of those instead... You'll be much happier.
 
Although ive never used the Taylor brand fixed blades..i can vouch for the original stuff,good solid hard working steel...........FES

stagtimers002.jpg
 
Taylor seems to hedge when describing the type of steel being used in the imported Schrades. In contrast, the old Schrades were either (excellent) 1095 or (as I understand it) the Schrade+ was often 440C. Most reports on the non-specified steels in the current Schrades is that it's no where near as good.

The patterns you have listed are all pretty much traditional hunting style knives. If it were me and I wanted stainless, I would try to save up the extra scratch to afford a traditional Buck fixed blade like the 119, 105 or 103. They have a range of blade lengths and shapes and careful shopping can find them in the $40 range. Buck uses 420HC and, by all accounts of most reports you read, they do a very good job with their tempering.

If you really need to stick in the $30 and under range, I would look at the Buck Bucklite series or Packlite series. They use the same really good 420HC blades with less expensive handles (including none).

I should note that I'm a pretty big fan of the old Schrade knives and while it's nice to see the old patterns being made (and they made some really wonderful ones), I really prefer the US made ones. The steel is a big part of that.
 
I'm a huge fan of the USA Schrades. I seem to buy one or two every month. If you are patient you can stumble on a really good deal for a NIB schrade on the big auction site. It's not quite as convenient as grabbing a RR or a Taylor, but it's worth while when you consider that you're getting a new knife that's at least 8 years old. I paid less than $50 for a brand new USA golden spike, but lost 10+ auctions before hitting this one.

Mark
 
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pinnah said:
the old Schrades were either (excellent) 1095 or (as I understand it) the Schrade+ was often 440C.
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The carbon steel Schrades were 1095.
"Schrade+" is known to have been 440A. It was well heat treated 440A, but it was not 440C
 
knarfeng said:
"Schrade+" is known to have been 440A. It was well heat treated 440A, but it was not 440C
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Frank, this is very interesting. It's a question I've posed in several forums some of which are devoted to Schrade. The general response I've gotten was that Schrade+ was usually (but not always) 440C.

I'm very aware (from areas where I know more) that just because you read it on the internet, doesn't make it true. I also understand that pinning down "truth" when it comes to the old Schrade knives is somewhat elusive.

In any event, you're the first person I've bumped into whose said it was typically 440A. Do you have any links or sources you could point me to where this is discussed in more detail?

In any event, possibly more justification to restricting one's attention to old US-made Schrades if one wants 1095 and Buck (one of many good alternatives) if one wants stainless.
 
i have the schrade schf 9 great knife 1095 steel designed by brian griffin a member here i think mistwalker is the name. this knife is super strong very sharp try one got min on amazon for 36 bucks!
 
pinnah said:
Frank, this is very interesting. It's a question I've posed in several forums some of which are devoted to Schrade. The general response I've gotten was that Schrade+ was usually (but not always) 440C.

I'm very aware (from areas where I know more) that just because you read it on the internet, doesn't make it true. I also understand that pinning down "truth" when it comes to the old Schrade knives is somewhat elusive.

In any event, you're the first person I've bumped into whose said it was typically 440A. Do you have any links or sources you could point me to where this is discussed in more detail?

In any event, possibly more justification to restricting one's attention to old US-made Schrades if one wants 1095 and Buck (one of many good alternatives) if one wants stainless.
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Take a look at this leaflet published by Schrade regarding knife terms and knowledge. First page mentions 440A.

Russell

http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/articles/knife_knowledges.pdf
 
winchester73 said:
I have heard the Taylor fixed blade Schrades are better that the slipjoints. Does anyone have any experience good or bad with The Taylor Chinese made Goldenspike, Deerslayer, Woodsman and Mountain Lion? Thanks for any input.
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No,they are horrible is the reports ive heard from actual users.Poor edge holding ability.Some of them do look nice.
 
Rusty1 said:
Take a look at this leaflet published by Schrade regarding knife terms and knowledge. First page mentions 440A.

Russell

http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/articles/knife_knowledges.pdf
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Thanks, Russell. That web site devoted to Schrade documentation is indeed the source, and it might even have been that specific document.

Growing up on the West Coast, Buck was my brand. But I have known fellas from other parts of the US who swore by Schrade+. They did a dinkum job with the heat treat.

As an extra confirmation, back in the 60's & '70's I knew more than one fella who traded in his Buck 110 in 440C and switched to a Schrade in Schrade+ because they had so much trouble sharpening the 440C on their Washita stones, but had no trouble sharpening Schrade+. That also tells you that Schrade+ was not 440C.

While we are on the topic, if you look at the '93 Camillus catalog here:
http://www.collectors-of-camillus.us/Catalogs/1993-Catalogs.pdf
You will see that that Camillus also used 440A as their main stainless. That's why it is a reasonable bet that the Camillus Bucks were 440A. It was their standard stainless. Why would they use anything else when making the Buck 300 knives? I have one of the old Buck 303's which I carried for many years. From the edge retention and ease of sharpening, I can tell you for certain that it was not 440C.
 
I thought the issue with the 70s era Bucks was that they used something like a double concave grind, which made the blade a bit thicker just above the cutting edge. The idea was to make the edge stronger, but it made it harder to sharpen. I have a 2 dot 110 and a 2 dot 112, both from that era, and you can feel that bump. I'm not saying that 440C is as easy as 1095 to sharpen, but the 110s/112s of that era took extra work to "break in" the edge because of the grind.

I also note that the Schrade "knife knowledge" document uses the same font and styling of their catalog from the mid 80s. This would have been about the time that Buck moved from 440C to 425Mod, if I recall correctly. If Schrade was following Buck's lead, it may be the case that they changed from 440C to 440A around the same time. That's pure and entire conjecture on my part. But, as I noted above, others have told me that much of the Schrade+ was 440C. That could be incorrect internet optimism.
 
IMO, it is incorrect internet optimism. There is absolutely nothing concrete to suggest that Schrade+ was ever 440C.

Schrade would not have followed the lead of a smaller company.

Edited to add: You have to remember that Buck changed alloys so they could expand production. Schrade already had enough production rate. They had no reason to change alloys.
 
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I can say that I have never heard that Schrade + was 440c, nor have any I owned behaved like they were made from it. Between the higher cost of material, and higher fabrication costs, I seriously doubt they used it for mainstream models.
 
they trademarked Schrade Plus for 440A which had a special heat-treat, enabling the steel to come out of the heat-treat with two points more carbon than it went in.
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You mean the post which also claimed that Schrade had a special heat treat for 440A which increased the carbon content? Since that comment about heat treat increasing the the carbon content is obviously untrue, why would I place any credence in the first part of the post?
 
Kevin,

I know discussions about Schrade can get heated and I'm not trying to cause a stir. Like all of us who didn't work there, all I have to go on is the literature and talking to people who claim to have talked to people who worked there. Several of those people I've talked with have told me they were told that Schrade did use 440C. I obviously can't prove anything one way or another, but its definitely something I've heard in numerous discussions.

I think there are 3 closely related but different questions here:
a) Did Schrade ever use 440C?
b) Did Schrade ever use 440C in the Uncle Henry knives (that Taylor Brands is reproducing)?
c) Was Schrade+ ever 440C?

Here's what we know from the catalogs and other printed materials...

1926 (first catalog?)
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1926_Schrade_Catalogs.pdf
Lists multiple stainless steel knives


1959
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/articles/Ulster.pdf
Old Timer started with bone handled barlow, 2OT

1960
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/ULSTER/pages/UK-60_7.htm
Old Timer appears in Ulster catalog.

1961
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1961-SW-CATS.pdf
First mention of Old Timers as Schrade brand in catalog.

1964
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1964-SW-CATS.pdf
First mention of branded stainless, "Razor Blade Stainless (tm)"

1966
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1966-SW-CATS.pdf
Full page add on the "Revolutionary New Razor Blade Stainless Knives".
No mention of Uncle Henry knives.

1967
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1967-SW-CATS.pdf
First mention of Uncle Henry in Schrade catalog. Made with Razor Blade Stainless.

1969
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1969-SW-CATS.pdf
127UH Folding Bowie listed with "High-Carbon Stainless Steel"

1977
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1977-CATS.pdf
127UH listed as made from "Schrade Steel".

1978
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1978-CATS.pdf
First mention of Schrade+ stainless


Here's my hunch. My hunch is that "Razor Blade Stainless (tm)" was a somewhat generic, maybe improved from older forms of stainless. Maybe 440A? Plain 440 I dunno.

My second hunch is that the "High-Carbon Stainless Steel" used in early 70s was 440C. We know that a higher carbon content is one of the distinguishing features of 440C. And we also know that other companies (like Buck) were using 440C during that time period.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume that Schrade+ was 440A for most of it's history. It certainly was in the mid-80s as the "Knife Knowledge" document shows. Did it change to 420HC? Who knows. Wouldn't surprise me at all.

I'm very glad for this thread. I was under the impression that Schrade+ was 440C and digging deeper, I see that I was wrong on that.
 
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