Codger_64
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- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
- Messages
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Camillus was one of the first makers to produce a knife of the "Sharpfinger" pattern after the demise of Imperial Schrade. Out of curiosity, I bought one to compare it with the originals made by Schrade. I found that while it was very close in size and shape, it was not an exact duplicate. The differences were subtle, yet obvious when I had examples of each laid side by side. It did not appear to me that Camillus had used any of the Sharpfinger components in the Sharp Hunter's manufacture.
Curiosity satisfied, I put the knife away in my Sharpfinger drawer. Time passed and Camillus closed in 2007. Last week I was going thru the drawer and ran across the GP152. I decided to give it a try, turning what might some day become a sought after collector knife into a user. And what better way to try it out than in the skinning, quartering, boning out and processing of a buck, the same task I had used Sharpfingers for for many years.
There were no surprises. It felt and handles exactly as it's predecessor. It kept a keen enough edge throughout the job as well as the Schrade. The only surprise was finding a few light stains on the blade when I washed and oiled it after I was done. The blade was not stainless as I had mistakenly assumed! As I prefer carbon steel in my Sharpfingers, this was a pleasant revelation for me!
I do have a few questions for any former employee, however. What was the steel used for these blades? Were any of them produced in stainless?
Assuming they were produced only from circa 2005 through early 2007, any idea of the total production quantities?
Earlier research has shown that Camillus did assembly work of some Sharpfingers for ISC (among many other patterns) and still had some of the required tooling. The handle mold is obviously new. Did the remaining ISC tooling require a lot of modification to produce the GP152?
Michael
Curiosity satisfied, I put the knife away in my Sharpfinger drawer. Time passed and Camillus closed in 2007. Last week I was going thru the drawer and ran across the GP152. I decided to give it a try, turning what might some day become a sought after collector knife into a user. And what better way to try it out than in the skinning, quartering, boning out and processing of a buck, the same task I had used Sharpfingers for for many years.
There were no surprises. It felt and handles exactly as it's predecessor. It kept a keen enough edge throughout the job as well as the Schrade. The only surprise was finding a few light stains on the blade when I washed and oiled it after I was done. The blade was not stainless as I had mistakenly assumed! As I prefer carbon steel in my Sharpfingers, this was a pleasant revelation for me!
I do have a few questions for any former employee, however. What was the steel used for these blades? Were any of them produced in stainless?
Assuming they were produced only from circa 2005 through early 2007, any idea of the total production quantities?
Earlier research has shown that Camillus did assembly work of some Sharpfingers for ISC (among many other patterns) and still had some of the required tooling. The handle mold is obviously new. Did the remaining ISC tooling require a lot of modification to produce the GP152?
Michael
