Just got an old 787 improved muskrat from my grandfather who just passed away. This thing looks old, blades sharpened so much they are missing some metal. Any idea how old this knife is. It has Scherade Walden NY USA on one side of the long blade and 787 on the other side. Looks like SS caps on the ends. The sheild says Improved Muskrat. Other than sentimental value, is this worth anything? Thanks for any info.
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Improved Muskrat
- Thread starter redfish23
- Start date
Codger_64
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Welcome to the forum!
The knife you describe isn't too uncommon. It was made between 1946 and 1973, likely 50/60ish. Nice knives, but in the condition you describe, it isn't valuable to a collector. Maybe $15-25. WHere it's value lies is in your hands, knowing who held and loved that knife, and valued it above all the fancy newer glamor knives that had come along since he bought that one.
I will offer you a suggestion that I've given others many times. Take the knife and gently clean it. Lightly oil the joints with a good machine, sewing, or gun oil, and mount it in a small shadow box. You might include a favorite small photo of your Grandfather, and possibly a signature from a letter or check. Then go buy another exactly like that one in new or nearly new condition and carry it for a while. Learn from handling and using the knife exactly what it was that made that knife so special to him. Maybe someday your own grandson will put your knife in that box too. And use it to fondly remind him of good times and a special man in his life.
Codger
The knife you describe isn't too uncommon. It was made between 1946 and 1973, likely 50/60ish. Nice knives, but in the condition you describe, it isn't valuable to a collector. Maybe $15-25. WHere it's value lies is in your hands, knowing who held and loved that knife, and valued it above all the fancy newer glamor knives that had come along since he bought that one.
I will offer you a suggestion that I've given others many times. Take the knife and gently clean it. Lightly oil the joints with a good machine, sewing, or gun oil, and mount it in a small shadow box. You might include a favorite small photo of your Grandfather, and possibly a signature from a letter or check. Then go buy another exactly like that one in new or nearly new condition and carry it for a while. Learn from handling and using the knife exactly what it was that made that knife so special to him. Maybe someday your own grandson will put your knife in that box too. And use it to fondly remind him of good times and a special man in his life.
Codger
Codger_64
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Leave the patina on it. If there is rust scale, use a very fine steel wool to remove it, adding oil while you work it gently. Then wipe it down with a dry lint free cloth. You might use an oiled pipe cleaner or Q-tip to get the crud (and bits of steel wool) out from between the liners. Don't try to make them shine like a new dime. The aging and patina gives it charactor, and no matter how hard you try, you will never make it new again. A knife is only new once. After that, it reflects it's life just like the hands of it's owner. Serious collectors will tell you that you remove value from a rare knife by deep cleaning. I'll tell you that you would remove a part of it's history, your connection to your Grandfather.
Codger The Deep
Codger The Deep
Codger_64
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I use a photohosting service like tinypic.com
http://tinypic.com/
Click "browse" and go to your photo files on your computer, pick the picture to upload, then click "upload image". It should resize it for you, then give you a few links. Pick the middle one (turn it blue) then copy it, paste it here.
This is what it will look like, but without the spaces. This is what hapens when you paste it here (and don't break it like I did the one above to illustrate):
http://tinypic.com/
Click "browse" and go to your photo files on your computer, pick the picture to upload, then click "upload image". It should resize it for you, then give you a few links. Pick the middle one (turn it blue) then copy it, paste it here.
This is what it will look like, but without the spaces. This is what hapens when you paste it here (and don't break it like I did the one above to illustrate):
waynorth
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Nov 19, 2005
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- 32,711
Hey redfish, I wouldn't clean that knife very much!! I might try a little solvent to take the yellow(?) paint out of the "jigs" on the handle. Make sure it doesn't affect the delrin(plastic)!
Maybe the finest steel wool to get the red rust off, but I likely wouldn't even do that. Just a few drops of oil in the joints, and on a rag to wipe it down. Don't erase any memories. If you are concerned about value, the only value is in how it reminds you of your ancestor. Cool knife, cooler history!
Maybe the finest steel wool to get the red rust off, but I likely wouldn't even do that. Just a few drops of oil in the joints, and on a rag to wipe it down. Don't erase any memories. If you are concerned about value, the only value is in how it reminds you of your ancestor. Cool knife, cooler history!
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2005
- Messages
- 1,771
redfish,
Was your Grandfather a whittler? The modification on the shorter blade is a modification often found on the knives of whittlers. That blade shape helps them cut an inside corner, I am told, not being a whittler myself. If he wasn't a whittler perhaps the blade was broken and he modified it to make it useful.
Here is my Grandfather's knife. A 34OT that he modified the clip blade so it is similar to the blade on your Grandfather's knife. My Grandfather was a whittler & a wood carver. He made clocks and bookends out of maple burl. He would spend hours picking the bark out of the burl with his knife and a dental pick, so he could get down to the bare wood. I can still see him seated at his little work bench on an old chair in the shed out behind his mobile home. A little lamp for light, working on a piece of maple burl with this knife. It is one of my most treasured knives.
Dale
Was your Grandfather a whittler? The modification on the shorter blade is a modification often found on the knives of whittlers. That blade shape helps them cut an inside corner, I am told, not being a whittler myself. If he wasn't a whittler perhaps the blade was broken and he modified it to make it useful.
Here is my Grandfather's knife. A 34OT that he modified the clip blade so it is similar to the blade on your Grandfather's knife. My Grandfather was a whittler & a wood carver. He made clocks and bookends out of maple burl. He would spend hours picking the bark out of the burl with his knife and a dental pick, so he could get down to the bare wood. I can still see him seated at his little work bench on an old chair in the shed out behind his mobile home. A little lamp for light, working on a piece of maple burl with this knife. It is one of my most treasured knives.
Dale
waynorth
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Great old knife, with a priceless personal connection, Dale!
I've seen that blade modification before. There was a local guy around who would buy a bunch of Camillus Yellow-jacket stockman knives (cheap but good steel, like a Schrade!) and regrind/reshape some of the blades for local carvers. One was always a rendition of a wharncliffe, like your grandads.
I've seen that blade modification before. There was a local guy around who would buy a bunch of Camillus Yellow-jacket stockman knives (cheap but good steel, like a Schrade!) and regrind/reshape some of the blades for local carvers. One was always a rendition of a wharncliffe, like your grandads.
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- Mar 8, 2006
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Nice knife. I only wish I had one from my Grandfather. I do have my Dad's stockman (a Schrade by the way) that he used all the time. Wouldn't trade it for the most valuable Schrade ever produced. Too many knives have left the families of the ancestors who owned them. Good for collectors, bad for the family member that too late realizes what was lost.
My father was a rancher, hence the spey blade having seen alot of use. It is a 882Y. I bought one on Ebay to use because I liked the knife, but then Schrade closed the doors, so I'm out a carrying knife.
My father was a rancher, hence the spey blade having seen alot of use. It is a 882Y. I bought one on Ebay to use because I liked the knife, but then Schrade closed the doors, so I'm out a carrying knife.
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- Mar 7, 2006
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NIce job indeed! Clean, but with the honor still intact. Congrats on having the kind of knife that money simply can't buy. I hope you get many years good years with it and a chance to hand it down to someone who will cherish it too.
I recently picked up a Schrade USA 787 Improved Muskrat, recieving it in the mail just the other day. Reading about and seeng your Grandad's Schrade Walden has added to the enjoyment of this one. A good thread.
I recently picked up a Schrade USA 787 Improved Muskrat, recieving it in the mail just the other day. Reading about and seeng your Grandad's Schrade Walden has added to the enjoyment of this one. A good thread.