Elusive Schrades

[KnifeHead]

Whatever ...those "French Ivory" knives are just flat cool.

 

[zerogee]

While awaiting more bone info, let's veer off into other handle materials for a while.
I love the way french ivory looks! Even though it is comprised of the sometimes fickle Celluloid, lots of stuff in life is transient, so I'm willing to take a few chances, for the beauty it presents!

While I normally stay away from most celluloid like the plague, I do love the old French ivory cel. I've found it to be quite stable normally -- if it's managed to make it this long without serious shrinkage or breakdown, it seems to be good for the distance. I think there's enough filler in it to stabilize it pretty well in general. Love that equal end - that's a beauty, even has a nail ease notch for the budding blade. Charlie, do you have one of the Schrade shadow roostercomb patterns in ivory cel? Those are sweet.

 

[ea42]

Quite a tale of disaster, Eric!! Is that from a former employee??
Can you show an example or two of what is meant by a fairly rough jig??

To the faithful readers herein: This is a great little segue! I find stories like this as interesting as the knives, but don't worry - there are more knives coming!!

Charlie, OK, but mind you it's only a hypothesis on my part so far. I do have a couple of people I can talk to who might know for sure, but I just haven't had a chance yet. Now, being on a paupers budget, I've had to resort to scouring the web for examples. Charlie, I modified one of your pics as well. Out of the three, the only company that seemed to have held on to this basic jigging pattern was Walden/Keen Kutter. The thing about the handle company that I'm not sure of is did they have the jigging done en-masse at the stag shop for all three cutleries, or did each company have it's own jiggers who took over once the bone was cut? Schrade's jigging does seem to differ a bit from the other two, although the Walden and NYK handles are VERY similar. Here you go; Walden Knife Co congress, a NY Knife Co Hawkbill, and Charlie's early Schrade Cut Cos:

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Eric

 

[waynorth]

The Schrade jigging of that era has a Zig Zag quality to it, whereas the Walden and NYK are more uniformly random.
Barry's knife is more random, but the "jigs" vary more in size.
We need an expert in fractals!

 

[ea42]

Yeah Charlie, there are some big differences there. I thought at first that Barry's knife may be a Kastor/Camillus contract knife, but the pin alignment definitely points much more towards Schrade. I'm not even sure that Kastor bothered to use a top scale pin on his EO's. As far as the Schrade jigging, looks like they definitely went a different route, what with 'ol George inventing jigging machines in his spare time

I'll see if Dave has an answer to that if I ever see him again. Sure looks like NYK and Walden were sharing equipment though, eh?

To get things back on track, here are a couple more elusives, a Wall Rope knife and a bone hawkbill:

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Eric

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[waynorth]

A couple of nice ones, Eric. Great Hawkbill!
The bone on that one, especially the pile side, could be mistaken for NYK bone!

 

[KnifeHead]

I hear tell these are very elusive. The blade is etched "Hunter's Pride" but it is very hard to see. Handle is simulated MoP celluloid and closed length is 4 13/16". This knife works very well and the blade appears to be full...practically unused.

 

[waynorth]

That's a real nice switch, Kerry, with a full blade!

. I would take a close look at that cell though; it might be going bye-bye!

I never knew that Schrade made this fancy pattern Jack with imitation pearl, until just a few months ago.
I wish the blades were as full as that Hunter's Pride up there!!

 

[waynorth]

While we are on the subject of Celluloid, here is a picture of some of the colors that Schrade used over the years. They are stored separately from other knives, because of the known unpredictability of the handle material.

Question for you folksy folks; if we know that Celluloid can deteriorate, and while doing so corrode metal near it quite severely, why do otherwise sane knife collectors STILL BUY IT!!

For me, I love the way it looks, as long as it doesn't cost too much at the beginning!!

 

[6.0stroker]

Charlie you answered your own ? Cause it's knives like the ones you posted:thumbup: ESPECIALLY the "Butter and Molasses" example!!!

Shawn

 

[waynorth]

Charlie you answered your own ? Cause it's knives like the ones you posted:thumbup: ESPECIALLY the "Butter and Molasses" example!!!

Shawn

Yeah, I guess I did Shawn! It's like chasing the prettiest girl in school!
Somewhere in me, I knew I'd never get to eat breakfast with her, but it was fun fooling myself for a while.

 

[waynorth]

Well, breakfast is over! :thumbup:

Time to get back to this thread!!

These are not the prettiest knives that Schrade ever made. They were undoubtedly the inexpensive line, with glazed single blades, and plain wooden handles.
But I suspect they did a good portion of the work that was ever done with knives. And played a LOT of Mumbly-Peg!!
It's nice to see a few survived to tell the whole story!

The two at the right, or the top, are ca. pre-WWII, and the other three are post War.

 

[aggiebuilder2003]

That's a real nice switch, Kerry, with a full blade!

. I would take a close look at that cell though; it might be going bye-bye!

I never knew that Schrade made this fancy pattern Jack with imitation pearl, until just a few months ago.
I wish the blades were as full as that Hunter's Pride up there!!

Am I wrong in saying that this fellow looks an awful lot like a 2OT? If so, how does this one compare to the "rarity" of stumbling across the 2OT?

Chuck

 

[waynorth]

Chuck, it is the predecessor to the 2OT. Same handle pattern, 20-30 years older, at least.
You don't see too many of either knife, but I don't know who might have production records.

 

[aggiebuilder2003]

Thanks for the info. Your collection absolutely floors me. I guess these beauties didn't/ don't make it as far down as Texas from Ellenville. Oh well, at this stage in life they are probably out of my range anyway. Thanks for the great thread and I look forward to the next round of pics.

Chuck

 

[waynorth]

Well, this thread itself has been elusive, but I managed to reel it in!

Here is a nice variation on Schrade's Serpentine Jack, also known as a trapper to some. Take the blades seen in a Toothpick Fishknife, and put 'em in the Trapper's handle. Then put a fish shield on it so's nobody mistakes it for a saw trapper, and cast a line!!
Looks like this one was used a little, but avoided the ignominy of the bottom of a bait box!

 

[VCM3]

Charlie ,I got one off the bay once,it had a main blade spring that was snapped,I sent it back.
But I saw,what I always thought that blade was a scaler,on those,its an aggressive saw,that cuts! Basically useless as a scaler.Any thoughts on that ? I dig those knives,BTW,very cool shield
-Vince

 

[waynorth]

You are the fisherman, Vince! If it's too sharp to scale a fish without tearing it up, maybe it just needs to be dulled a bit??
Is there an application for a saw when cleaning moderate sized fish??
It's not the first one I've seen with a "saw-like" cut to it, but
I guess even the "Great Schrade" could screw up!

 

[VCM3]

I'm sure it could be used as a flesh ripping scaler,but it is an effective saw,if I ever saw one.When I had that one,checking it out,to me,the scaler blade made that knife a cool hunter (bone saw).
I dunno,I was just surprised. Nice knife though,for sure.
-Vince

 

[aggiebuilder2003]

When I was growing up we used to fish for catfish on trot-lines. When we cleaned them we would gut them out and take off the heads just behind the fins. Then we would cut them through in chunks and fry them up. The thick bone behind the head had to be sawed through, especially on the bigger ones (5 lbs and up). Maybe this one was geared toward that end? Just a thought.

Chuck