Elusive Schrades

Bumping the thread with interesting (but not elusive) Schrades.....

Left: 194OT, middle: 194OT/SC503 mis-stamp, right: correct Schrade+ SC503

194OT-SC503comparevert_zps6c207a56.jpg
 
SAK Guy said:
Bumping the thread with interesting (but not elusive) Schrades.....

Left: 194OT, middle: 194OT/SC503 mis-stamp, right: correct Schrade+ SC503

194OT-SC503comparevert_zps6c207a56.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice group. Depending on when and where the middle knife was acquired, it could be one of the famous "End Of Days" knives. When the production workers at Imperial Schrade showed up for work one morning in July of 2004, instead of time cards they got layoff notices. Production of new parts was esentially halted and a skeleton crew of workers was kept on until nearly the eve of the October assets auction with instructions that, "If it fits, assemble it", from the trustee in order to fluff the inhouse inventory of finished knives to the max. This resulted in a number of oddities emerging from the truckloads of finished knives hauled off by the two main inventory buyers, to be sold in boxed lots to resellers (many on eBay), and through their own respective stores. However, some oddities rejected from the earlier production were sent over to the in-plant employee store for discounted sales to employees. Early on, these usually had a strike or removed tand stamp. Apparently later they just moved them from the QC bins to the store.

OK, after prattleing on, the blade isn't misstamped, it matches different covers... earlier (prestainless) scrimshaw editions of the pattern. Apparently the frame/covers is misbladed. :)
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Michael - sorry to ask this so you are saying that the middle 194OT is NOT mis-stamped, but having had OLD TIMER scales assembled to the knife? - it looks to be a Stainless - is the nail nick an indication of blade age - or purely the Stamping I cant tell the difference between the stamping - well yes I can they are arranged differently - but what is what - is above me.
 
Oh, minor details. Blades were made with the marks on them and then assembled. Not assembled and then stamped. Make sense? Like saying that car has the wrong tire, not the tire has the wrong car. ;)
 
What I noticed is the 194OT (bottom) and the middle one have the same blade profile and the nick is in the same place. The blade has spots of patina on the back and I believe it's 1095 (and it doesn't have the "+" after the Schrade stamp either). Notice the correct Schrade+ SC503 (top) has a different blade profile and the nick is in a different spot.

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The 194OT/SC503 knife in the middle was purchased from a collectors estate and appears to be NOS so no patina but I think its carbon.

Robert
 
Codger_64 said:
Nice group. Depending on when and where the middle knife was acquired, it could be one of the famous "End Of Days" knives. When the production workers at Imperial Schrade showed up for work one morning in July of 2004, instead of time cards they got layoff notices. Production of new parts was esentially halted and a skeleton crew of workers was kept on until nearly the eve of the October assets auction with instructions that, "If it fits, assemble it", from the trustee in order to fluff the inhouse inventory of finished knives to the max. This resulted in a number of oddities emerging from the truckloads of finished knives hauled off by the two main inventory buyers, to be sold in boxed lots to resellers (many on eBay), and through their own respective stores. However, some oddities rejected from the earlier production were sent over to the in-plant employee store for discounted sales to employees. Early on, these usually had a strike or removed tand stamp. Apparently later they just moved them from the QC bins to the store.

OK, after prattleing on, the blade isn't misstamped, it matches different covers... earlier (prestainless) scrimshaw editions of the pattern. Apparently the frame/covers is misbladed. :)

-snip-
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Ok, that's it!!!!!! It's the earlier pre-stainless SC503 blade fitted with 194OT covers! :thumbup: I had faith that the answer would be found in this thread!!!!!!

Thank you sir!!!! :)
 
We do find some real oddities from time to time. Sometimes the answer is right in front of us and sometimes it take some real sleuthing and research. And sometimes there is no answer but... it is what it is. I'll give an example in a bit.
 
About eight years ago, not long after the Schrade auction, all sorts of Schrades appeared on the great internet market and elsewhere. People cleaned out dealers' supplies, box stores and mom & pops, and of course the two big auction inventory buyers began moving boxed lots to resellers. Collectors joined in unloading some hoping to take advantage of a feeding frenzy. And Aunt Lucy pulled those knife boxes out of storage thinking to make some milk money. A real hodge podge. Yours truely was a buyer, not a seller. And ibought. And bought.

Now one of the knives I bought was in the usual 1980's-mid '90's tan "Sharp Idea" bannered box, a 152OT Sharpfinger. But when I got it, something wasn't right. The seller told me that he bought it new at a retail store and put it on a shelf, it didn't get mixed up with another box or anything like that.

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So I researched. And asked questions. Bit by bit the story came to me. A box from there. A sheet from a forgotten file drawer for a tang stamp order from the factory. Dig some more through production records. Find some internal communications documents.

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The knife, a stainless 152 pattern had been ordered along with several other patterns with special tang stamps, to be placed in special black laqured boxes for an order to go to their European sales representative.

The records for 1991 indicate only 25 shipped, and none shipped for the following four years. But the total inventory of 2,181 pieces produced dwindled from 2,156 to 1,077 to 221 to 0, indicating that they were salted into the regular 152OT production to unload the excess inventory for which there was no market beyond the initial 25 samples sent out in 1991. Their appearance on the U.S. market in regular production boxes supports this theory. The fact remains that while they are uncommon, they were not an error, except in judgement perhaps of the European sales office and the factory New Products Office for tooling up the order and running off 2,000 pieces (plus the normal 200 pc. +/- over run). Ditching them in the regular production boxes was a smart move in recovering the production costs, less the cost of the new tang stamp. No one really noticed the difference on the retail end, except that the order used stainless blading, the odd stamp. These did not have the later introduced stainless blades with hollow grind.

A truely uncommon and elusive Schrade. That does not mean they are worth a fortune however. ;)
 
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Incredible information Michael.
I picked up this 194OT Parker frost - made by Schrade, its a nice piece..., in fact it seems to be built just that much better f&f is near perfect.



 
Very nice! Interesting backstory on the Schrade-Parker-Frost knives but I won't get into it here. Needless to say, Albert Baer did not see fit to mention it in his unpublished memoir. :D

Oh... and never try to out-horse-trade a horse trader that has been at it since 1922. ;)
 
I did read the thread where it had a good deal about the history of this knife - interesting history - *interesting* people!
 
That's a fine looking knife Duncan!!! :thumbup:

Can you guys give me the link to that Parker Frost info (esp the one on that Parker Frost/Schrade 194)?
 
SAK,

I cannot provide the info you request on Parker Frost, but if memory serves, I did acquire a couple of P/F Fire & Ice from Mike Latham within the last two years. Mike also currently lists (under "other knives") some 1990s DU Schrades at what I consider reasonable prices - I defer to the experts.

Mike is a dealer on BF and a very good guy.

Mike H.
 
reader1 said:
SAK,

I cannot provide the info you request on Parker Frost, but if memory serves, I did acquire a couple of P/F Fire & Ice from Mike Latham within the last two years. Mike also currently lists (under "other knives") some 1990s DU Schrades at what I consider reasonable prices - I defer to the experts.

Mike is a dealer on BF and a very good guy.

Mike H.
Click to expand...

Thank you Mike!
 
Campbellclanman said:
SAK-
I did have it - it was kindly provided to me by the seller of the knife I just posted above ^^^
Heres one, but its not the correct one..
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...from-the-80-s-Have-one?highlight=parker+frost

AHA!!!!...I found it...great reading, a somewhat familiar guys pops in and helps out with his usual fantastic information.....
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Preferred-Series-1978?highlight=parker+frost
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Thank you Duncan!!!! A couple more for my archives!!
 
Read it all with a grain of salt and a lot of long-view perspective. It was a cross between Mr. Haney meets Minnesota Fats and High Noon at the OK Corral with a bit of Cannery Row thrown in. Charactors are Charlton Heston (Moses), John Wayne (Rooster Cogburn), W. C. Fields, Jimmy Olsen (Of the Daily Planet), Lee Marvin (Paint your Wagon), and Paul Neuman (The Sting). Knife drama. But important industry history if read and assimilated with the correct perspective. A veritible "Who's who in the zoo", so to speak. :)

ETA: The Expert BRL once told me regarding his interview with one of the main players, "I was asked my opinion of Albert later. I replied that he certainly still had his marbles. And everyone else's".
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