It's Old Timer time, fellas: Show your U.S.-made OTs

[koldgold]

We should move back to the Old Timers. Schrade only made the 8OTY for one year. 1990.

 

[315]

I like how rounded the bolsters are on this one, no sharp edges anywhere other than the blades.

 

[GBPacker]

Great looking knives on these pages! Are brass bolsters common on the 108OT? I may have a line on one for sale, but am new to Old Timer knives other than the two my grandpa used.

 

[koldgold]

Schrade 108OT . Always check the tang stamp, look for "U.S.A."
I have never seen a 108OT, with brass bolsters.
I have seen the "106 DUCK" with brass bolsters and green handles.
Some of the "SKOAL" knives, had brass bolsters and green handles.
If the blade is stamped U.S.A. it may have been made up "a Parts Knife".

315. That 8OT is a 1973 knife. Most did not have the match-strike. Ken

 

[HeathH]

If ever i was going to have a full on custom knife made for me.... It'd be this one with better materials...

 

[koldgold]

Old Timer Classic, with bone handle.
Give-A-Way 194OT.
The Red Bone Old Timer Set, is my pick of Schrade's knives.
Red Bone 34SS 25th Anniversary.
Pre 1973 Old Timer 8OT match-strike.

 

[hsherzfeld]

Here are my two Old Timer USA 104OT knives. I accidentally snapped off the pen blade of the upper knife, so I left the blade stump open and ground the tang flush with the bolsters so that it just looks like a steel spacer.

I bought both of these knives on EBay last year, and as y’all can see the blade of the lower knife has taken on a nice patina. The blade of the upper knife has not changed color at all, and the steel feels different; more like the steel in the China-made Taylor brand Old Timers. Also, the blades on the lower knife are ground much thinner than the upper knife. Did Schrade use stainless steel and change the design of the Minuteman at some point before they closed?

 

[TheChunk91]

Here are my two Old Timer USA 104OT knives. I accidentally snapped off the pen blade of the upper knife, so I left the blade stump open and ground the tang flush with the bolsters so that it just looks like a steel spacer.
View attachment 1092078
I bought both of these knives on EBay last year, and as y’all can see the blade of the lower knife has taken on a nice patina. The blade of the upper knife has not changed color at all, and the steel feels different; more like the steel in the China-made Taylor brand Old Timers. Also, the blades on the lower knife are ground much thinner than the upper knife. Did Schrade use stainless steel and change the design of the Minuteman at some point before they closed?

I have heard that in the very late days they were switching to stainless in all of their knives. I do not know if that is the full truth, partial truth, or heresay. Normally they would stamp the + for stainless but sometimes they did not.

Maybe some late day 104's were made in stainless and not marked? Maybe a stainless 804UH blade snuck into the 104OT line and got the old timer stamp? Speculation, but with schrade it's hard to know what happened sometimes.

 

[Misplaced Hillbilly]

Maybe it is "end of days" type deal, still a neat knife.I'll be keeping an eye out for one of those now. But even from the picture you can see differences, nail nick looks different to me

 

[Fodderwing]

 

[black mamba]

Here is an unusual one in smooth green bone. A Heritage shield, but marked 8OT on the clip main.

 

[TheChunk91]

View attachment 1092226

I love the 108ot, including all it's precursors and variants.

 

[TheChunk91]

As Ken mentioned at the top of the page the 8OTY was made for one year. There was also a 34OTY that was made the same year.



A perfect working mans knife.



Minty 33OT 3 5/16" jack.



Minty 61OT 4" slim stockman.



Some OT's hard at work, just what they were made for.

 

[koldgold]

Here is an unusual one in smooth green bone. A Heritage shield, but marked 8OT on the clip main.

The knife shown here looks to be a green bone "8 OTGB" it should not have that shield. It also could have been put together from parts, in the last days.

Schrade made a red and a green bone knives, both knives did not have a shield. They came in a white box marked "8 OTGB" and "8 OTRB"
The Heritage knife also had a different Main Blade [maybe made by camillus]

[/QUOTE]

 

[koldgold]

This is a NEW Old Timer - 2004 Anniversary 8 OT.

 

[black mamba]

I've got one new one as well, the big boy 858OTB with bone handles. Good knife, cleaned a whitetail with it this past season and it did great.

 

[TheChunk91]

Some working knives.

 

[tongueriver]

delete

 

[TheChunk91]

61OT with what I believe to be through pins; not Swinden. If this is true, then it could be very early Delrin, as the two protocols revolutionized Schrade's assembly lines at about the same time. Otherwise, it could have been assembled over at the Camillus cutlery a little later. ?View attachment 1092814 View attachment 1092815

Those definitely look like pins. The 61ot was introduced in 1976. As we know the pattern goes back much farther than that.

 

[hsherzfeld]

I have heard that in the very late days they were switching to stainless in all of their knives. I do not know if that is the full truth, partial truth, or heresay. Normally they would stamp the + for stainless but sometimes they did not.

Maybe some late day 104's were made in stainless and not marked? Maybe a stainless 804UH blade snuck into the 104OT line and got the old timer stamp? Speculation, but with schrade it's hard to know what happened sometimes.

That’s interesting. I had always assumed that all of Schrade’s OT knives were carbon steel, because all of the Old Timers that I had as a kid (early 2000’s) would rust quickly in Houston’s humid climate. I vaguely remember going to a sporting goods store with my grandfather because he had lost his OT and wanted a new one, and I had to show my knife (a 104OT) to the employee at the knife counter to show him what my grandpa wanted. The employee was surprised I had one because he said they were no longer available. I think we went to several different stores in Wichita Falls (which isn’t very many in WF) looking for one.