This MOP oldie had lots of ugly staining when I bought it but after some TLC today it shines once again. Unfortunately my new mirror-polish shows as black when scanned but I'm happy with the knife's new appearance even if my pics are less than stellar. Mine is now "crocus polished" on both sides and the file tip is a mirror too. The F7426 as listed in the 1926 catalog on page 34 has a spear blade and a sharp nail-file blade. The tip is not dull like on later files. The knife has half-stops, MOP handles, nickle-silver pins and brass liners. Before pics: After pics:
Hi-res scans of another 2-1/4" shadow lobster. This time a Scissors Knife. The S8606 Shac from 1936 supplement. Shown beside its bigger brother the 877, some handy pearlescent friends and the huge Schrade I*XL Texas Stock Knife.
I recently added two more 2-1/4" Schrade Cut. Co. pearl lobsters to my collection. I just had to take some pics of them all together. Enjoy! Edited to add a comparison pic of the liners. All the pearl knives have milled nickel silver liners except for the knife with five visible pins. It's the one with no liners at all.
I staged them for a pic of the pile side. I flipped the whole group like a pancake so the knives are in the same relative positions.
I just cleaned up a 2-9/16" Schrade Cut. Co. Oval Lobster with smooth, sterling silver handles. This pattern can be found in the 1934 and 1936 supplements. There were a number of variations. My knife, with it's easy-open cut-out, is most similar to the 8729GOLD Shac as seen in the 1936 supplement. Sterling handles were not listed in the catalog as a standard option. I'm thinking it's likely a SFO (for "BB" ?) or perhaps "BB" bought the skeletons and put on the sterling handles themselves. Schrade would have called it a 8729SS Shac. Knife was super filthy when I got it. None of the blades would close on their own. The blade wells were full of nasty gunk. I gave it a complete clean and polish and now the handles are scratch free and gleaming. All three blades snap shut again. I decided not to be a perfectionist and started wet-sanding the blades at 1500 grit (instead of 600 grit). This removed the worst of the rust and scratches but left some faint staining and scratches. By the time I got to 10,000 grit all the blades had their mirror-polish back. I like that the initials are on the pile side and find the sharp cuts used for the font quite attractive.
A pair of SS7099SI knives. One a salesman's sample, the other a SFO for I.T.E. Circuit Breaker Company. Their all stainless construction has kept them looking good for the past 80+ years. First listed in the 1930 supplement. I.T.E. adopted that name for their company in 1928. This may have been when the SFO was ordered, or not. https://www.npeinc.com/the-history-of-ite-low-voltage-circuit-breakers
