LB7 Bear Paw LB Survey

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This probably is not exact. I notice much has been submitted by people who know a whole lot more than me on this but maybe some of this helps.
 
I ran across an LB7 that belonged to my grandfather and well, I am a bit confused, It has the Shrade LB7 on the blade but there is no Plus sign behind Shrade, Now the Serial # 796### so if I read the other threads right that would make this a 1980 production. Is there a difference between the Shrade and the Shrade+ blades? By the way new to the forum and I have a China Cabinet full of old knives, Lots of Shrade and Camillus and a hand full of turn of the century BOKER knives as well that have been in the family for generations. I come from a long line of Knife Hoarders LOL
 
I'll add mine. Found it in some knives my dad had.
R34789 - three pin
SCHRADE+
U.S.A. LB7
 
WELCOME Aboard Big Ugly & Jbwest. :)
Big Ugly said:
I ran across an LB7 that belonged to my grandfather and well, I am a bit confused, It has the Shrade LB7 on the blade but there is no Plus sign behind Shrade, Now the Serial # 796### so if I read the other threads right that would make this a 1980 production. Is there a difference between the Shrade and the Shrade+ blades? By the way new to the forum and I have a China Cabinet full of old knives, Lots of Shrade and Camillus and a hand full of turn of the century BOKER knives as well that have been in the family for generations. I come from a long line of Knife Hoarders LOL
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Well, we have an old knife thread kicking around here somewhere that some of your stuff might fit in, oh, here it is.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/527126-quot-Old-Knives-quot ;)
Feel free to post photos of them.
 
Ballenxj said:
Well, we have an old knife thread kicking around here somewhere that some of your stuff might fit in, oh, here it is.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/527126-quot-Old-Knives-quot ;)
Feel free to post photos of them.
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For the focus of that particular thread, Schrade lockback knives are not old and not an appropriate entry. They generally like to see knives there which were manufactured before WWII, if possible. The turn-of-the -century knives you mention would be spot-on in that thread and we would all love to see them!
 
3 pin
Uncle Henry (script)
Schrade+
LB7 USA


#AX69411

If anyone can tell the year I'm curious.
 
just thought i would bring this forward to help in review.

Codger_64 said:
Here is how the serial numbers shake out so far. Ready? Drop your dimes in the can to your right.

1977 - Serials #0001 - #17693
1978 - Serials #17694 - #334585
1979 - Serials #334586 - #785250
1980 - Serials #785251 - #999,999, #A00001 - #A99999, #B00001 - #B18423
1981 - Serials #B18424 - #B99999, #C00001 - #C81575

I'll add more after I count my dimes.:D

Michael
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Alot of 3 pin and 4 pin stuff. Can't figure out why Schrade made 3 and 4 pin LB7 lockblades? I one worth more? I one older than the other?
Thanks,
Clay
 
CLAYBORN said:
Alot of 3 pin and 4 pin stuff. Can't figure out why Schrade made 3 and 4 pin LB7 lockblades? I one worth more? I one older than the other?
Thanks,
Clay
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Generally, an LB7 with the 4 pins is older than a 3 pin. You will notice the tang stamp minus Uncle Henry in script is an older tang stamp too. Condition is probably more important than age, but the older ones may be valued a bit more. The LB7 were made starting in 1979, so they are not too old as far as knives go.
 
thawk said:
The LB7 were made starting in 1979, so they are not too old as far as knives go.
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That's interesting. I believe I had mentioned earlier in this thread that I bought mine brand new in 1979.
Is there any record of what number the serial numbered ones started at?
 
#0001. Schrade did not keep records of what serials were produced by years. The above ranges were extrapolated from year end production figures for the pattern. And the further from the beginning we extrapolate, the greater the error because of rejects, sfo's etc.

The original purpose was for internal warranty control. Eventually the numbers became so great that serials were abandoned altogether. This holds true for almost all serialized patterns produced by Schrade except for smaller run commems, SFOs etc.

Four cover pins was the original configuration. Later it was decided that three cover pins would suffice, a slight savings in materials and labor. After a brief time a memo went out to resume four pins on the smooth Delrin covers (warpage I assume), but the Fibron handles continued with three pins (more dimensionally stable?). Yet if you tear apart the three pin pieces (smooth Delrin or Fibron) you will see that the holes for the fourth pins remain in the liners.
 
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Codger_64 said:
#0001. Schrade did not keep records of what serials were produced by years. The above ranges were extrapolated from year end production figures for the pattern. And the further from the beginning we extrapolate, the greater the error because of rejects, sfo's etc.
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Well then, in theory there should only be 7,099 ahead of mine. :rolleyes: ;)
 
thawk said:
Generally, an LB7 with the 4 pins is older than a 3 pin. You will notice the tang stamp minus Uncle Henry in script is an older tang stamp too. Condition is probably more important than age, but the older ones may be valued a bit more. The LB7 were made starting in 1979, so they are not too old as far as knives go.
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My post from 2007:
Codger_64 said:
So far, this is how the numbering system is shaking out:

First serial numbers were four place digits. I have 0326, so there is a 0001 out there, possibly a 0000, and a 9999.

Serials up to 17693 were produced in 1977.

Serial numbers 17694 - 334585 were produced in 1978 when 316,892 LB7's were made.

Serial numbers 334586 - 785250 were produced in 1979 when 450,665 LB7's were made.

Highest all numeric would be six places, 999999. I have recorded serial number 914569. Thus the first million knives had no alphas. This point was reached some time in 1980. A total of 1,106,906 LB7's had been produced by the end of that year.

When the single alphas were added, the serials still kept to six places max, so only 99,999 knives were made of each alpha. Lowest alpha recorded so far is A25594.

When the rotation went to double alphas, the serials went to seven places. I've recorded BB56630 as the highest double alpha. Some time after this, the serialization ended.

This is what I have so far.
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