L.L.Bean 2OT

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kootenay joe

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I have read many of the posts in this forum related to the Schrade-Walden 2OT. There seems to be some doubt as whether there were 2OT knives that left the factory with an LLBean etch. Also it is said that all 2OT's have milled liners along the backsprings and that if a 2OT is not showing milled liners then it has been buffed.
I have two 2OT knives. One has an etch "Made For L. L. Bean Inc." and the liners are not milled. The master blade has a bit more of an upswept edge at the tip and is 2mm shorter than my 'regular' 2OT (67mm vs 69mm). This might have been a factory grind or a minor post factory re-tipping.
There are 2 options: 1) knife was made for LLBean and the specs called for regular liners to differentiate it from the regular Schrade-Walden knives. or, 2) this is a 'regular' 2OT that has been buffed and the LLBean etch applied to infer 'never buffed'.
#2 would seem more likely but i do not see evidence of buffing other than possibly the non milled liners.
Raining hard & dark outside so indoor pics are not the best but i think allow for assessment.

LLBean knife is uppermost:

















I would appreciate the opinion of those who are familiar with the 2OT as to the status of my 'Bean' 2OT.
thank you, kj
 
I'd say it looks like the blade was tipped and reground. If it happened pre-release at the factory, I think it would be a factory second. I've seen a good number of 2OT, and it seems some are milled liners and some are not (most are, but I've seen them both ways.). I do not see any correlation to milled liners and buffing. You could not easily buff out milled liners without grinding down the springs in the process, and even the bolsters since they are all flush. Even the blades are flush with the springs.
 
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Hal, buffing off the milling on the liners has been discussed before: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/768457-Some-Pertinent-2OT-Info?highlight=2ot
in this Eric says "it's not a very deep cut on those liners, I dare say with the right belts and abrasives they could be wiped clean in under a minute."
Some of the old posts say that a 2OT without milled liners is a buffed 2OT. More recently enough non milled 2OT's have surfaced that they are now accepted as all original. But there is still the possibility that a 2OT has had it's milling buffed off.
kj
 
"Keep looking at it."
I don't see anything that is outside of the normal knife to knife variation within a run of knives.
I have quite a few 'fakes' 're-builds' and quite often the spring action is overly snappy, likely because the tang of the blade being put in is not an exact match to the one being replaced. This LLBean 2OT has a very nice normal walk & talk, same as the milled liner 2OT.
I don't think it has been apart, but i have been wrong before so i am open to changing my mind if there is reason to.
Do the 2OT's have a Swinden key construction ?
Thanks, i do appreciate your interest Codger_64.
kj
 
kootenay joe said:
"Keep looking at it."
I don't see anything that is outside of the normal knife to knife variation within a run of knives.
I have quite a few 'fakes' 're-builds' and quite often the spring action is overly snappy, likely because the tang of the blade being put in is not an exact match to the one being replaced. This LLBean 2OT has a very nice normal walk & talk, same as the milled liner 2OT.
I don't think it has been apart, but i have been wrong before so i am open to changing my mind if there is reason to.
Do the 2OT's have a Swinden key construction ?
Thanks, i do appreciate your interest Codger_64.
kj
Click to expand...

I don't believe they use the Swinden Key. And a knife doesn't have to be taken apart to be "Bretted". Get a few more opinions from people familiar with the 2OT.
 
Quote: "Get a few more opinions from people familiar with the 2OT"
Yes, that is why i posted it here in the Schrade forum.
kj
 
Then exercise patience. We have members here who are cutlers. Members who worked for Schrade and members who have multiples of these knives in their collections, some new in the box as issued. They will pop in in time and give there opinions on the OP knife.
 
Yes, i am aware that there are true 'experts' here with regards to Schrade knives. Your disparaging comments have got me anxious to learn what the experts have to say.
I have not seen another "L.L. Bean" etched 2OT so i don't know if the etch on my 2OT is correct. If it is not, then the knife is a re-work.
And, do the other L.L. Bean 2OT have milled liners, or not ?
I'm sure there are members with examples of the L.L. Bean 2OT and i'm hoping pictures will be posted.
Codger, are you chanelling Bernard Levine ?
kj
 
I've not seen another L.L. Bean etch on one either but that doesn't mean they weren't etched for that retailer. I don't consider that to be a determining factor in my evaluation.

As for "disparaging remarks", put your feelings aside. To my eye this knife has been reworked by someone at some time. Others may see it differently. As to milled liners, the milling is often light and in a very soft metal. I have more than one knife whose milling is faint just from normal pocket wear over the years. I can't say with any certainty that this knife had or didn't have milled liners originally. All of the ones I have seen did have unless the knife had been enthusiastically buffed.

Not sure what you meant by "channeling Bernard Levine" but I'll take that as a compliment.
 
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Codger, what you say regarding the milling is 'bout exactly what i stated in post # 3. Point of agreement. At this point absence of milling proves nothing.
In my search of this forum i saw that a guy in Australia has a few 2OT's still in the box they came in, and a Sears 2OT as well i think. Wonder if he knows about LLBean ?
kj
 
That would be Larry303 I believe. He'll drop in before long as will several others.
 
I'm no expert, and not technically a cutler, but this is my take on the subject.

The top knife looks to have been reworked, at least to me.

The bone is very telling. It looks to have been buffed heavily, especially where it meets the bolsters.

The bolsters are too worn as compared to the overall look of the bone.

The blade itself is head scratcher. It looks to have been tipped and then the swedge re-ground. I also wouldn't be shocked if the blade was a re-weld to an existing tang. I could be totally off on that, but it just doesn't look "right".

I cannot comment on the "LL Bean" portion, as that would be pure speculation.
 
More looking going on...

The knives have different length long pulls, and the swedging starts at different spots. More space on the tang of the LL Bean knife (more space above the stamp). Clearly the blades were not exactly the same to begin with. I think the non etched clip was longer. Similar but different blades. I've owned and sold two of these knives. Both of mine were like the unetched version. Longer blade, longer pull, milled liners. Small sample size but that's information I have to offer.

Not sure what this tells me.

Thanks for your observations Glenn.
 
glennbad said:
I'm no expert, and not technically a cutler, but this is my take on the subject.

The top knife looks to have been reworked, at least to me.

The bone is very telling. It looks to have been buffed heavily, especially where it meets the bolsters.

The bolsters are too worn as compared to the overall look of the bone.

The blade itself is head scratcher. It looks to have been tipped and then the swedge re-ground. I also wouldn't be shocked if the blade was a re-weld to an existing tang. I could be totally off on that, but it just doesn't look "right".

I cannot comment on the "LL Bean" portion, as that would be pure speculation.
Click to expand...

You are seeing very much what I am seeing. Thus my mention of the infamous late great Brett. He had amazing skills.
 
If fakers like Brett used their skills for good instead of evil, they'd make some amazing knives.
 
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