New Schrades

Schrade Taylor has some great looking ironwood folders. That's about as far as it goes. The knife itself felt sound but I took it back because of construction issues.
 
Schrade Taylor has some great looking ironwood folders. That's about as far as it goes. The knife itself felt sound but I took it back because of construction issues.
 
I like the current Schrades better than the old ones.

I have used quite a few. Yes, some have loosened a bit, but can be easily tightened up. The old Swinden key knives were hopeless in this regard - and all of them I ever had loosened up and were unfixable.

I have found the current ones take and keep a good edge - as good as any of the old ones.

I know there are all kinds of other issues at play here, but look at the knives themselves. Use them for more than slicing an apple. Cut some wood. They work.
 
I replace the delrin with wood on my schrade usa old timers so they are fixable, just takes good bit more effort than just reattaching the plastic. Mind you they werent broken to begin with, i just wanted wooden scales not plastic.
 
Please maintain focus on the knives.
 
I have a few of the new Schrades. Here's my impression of each:

104ot: I have two, and both are very bad quality. One of them will not open all the way and the blade was bent strangely. Both could not cut paper with factory edge. The factory edge looked like someone tried to hand sharpen it with a steel file. IMHO the Schrade pen knife blades have a terrible profile - it's a narrow, flat ground blade so the edge tends to be thick, which is hard to sharpen. I know this because I bought an 18ot 30+ years ago (still have it), and I could never get it very sharp for this reason.

3ot, 1011ot, 11ot: Acceptable. The liner edges seemed a little sharp. Factory edge was not super sharp but would cut paper. A few minutes on an Apex Pro gave it a pretty good edge.

Summary: Larger knives seem ok. Smaller ones seem to have QC and factory edge problems.

Toshi
 
Bob6794 said:
My issue is I associate Schrade with American made, it's weird thinking of it being made in China. And being made differently with how it was before, it just doesn't feel like it's Schrade to me anymore. I associate Schrade with the type of knives my older relatives used, and to me this is just a knockoff. It's not the "real" thing and would remind me of that constantly if I bought it, so if I buy a Schrade it be one of the older American made ones. I don't have the whole only buy US made knives thing going, just can't get past this one.

I agree with Bob, I will only buy the older USA made Schrades. Just made better with better 1095 carbon blades. As with this 18OT, there's no comparison between this and the Chinese version IMO. The dying on the Delrin handles looks more like bone and the newer Chinese also add some nonsense to the shields to get your $$$. Plus the older ones I remember seeing in those hardware stores, pre Walmart, when I was a kid.
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LEOGREG said:
Bob, surely you must have noticed that there are precious few quality American made knives that "working men" can afford anymore. I wish this were not the case .....but it is.
BTW, where's your computer made?
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Working men can easily afford many of the original USA Schrades though, and they aren't hard to find.
 
LEOGREG said:
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[/IMG]Bought this one the other day out of curiosity and because it has the flat bolster treatment that Schrade USA abandoned years ago and that nobody else is making these days. Very sharp out of the box, a glaze finish on the blade instead of the RR mirror, strong springs, snap and very solid construction overall. Now that being said, as a charter member of the Ancient Order of RR Fans, I don't think it merits the fifty percent greater cost over RRs. Even if it does include a handsome commemorative tin.
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I think it was asked, but I couldn't find an answer....tell us, is that NOS or new manufacture, and what exact model is it? Oh, and I think those "flat" bolsters are called Washington bolsters, and yes, they are attractive.
 
I don't like them because they are not what they were. They capitalize on a once great name. In that price range, I much prefer the Rough Riders. They came up with an original name and weren't trying to cash in on a legend. F&F is usually pretty good on those knives..... especially at the price.
 
Cutty73 said:
No longer made here= I don't want it.
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Some are made here but you have to sleuth them out. Like the Schrade Walden previously shown. Queen I think. Camillus also made a few of that genre before closing in '07. Taylor has gotten pretty consistant about marking country of origin on the pile side if imported. And most of the Walden marked ones are domestic SFOs for leasees of the trademark like SMKW.
 
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I's really up to the seller to show the marks or the buyer to ask. Or to know the difference without asking. Read the knife! ;)
 
I have an Old Timer Uncle Henry lock back. My first knife as an adult. I bought it when I started my Millwright apprenticeship in 1982. I won't buy the new crap:barf:. Too many good manufacturers out there to give my hard earned money to like GEC and Case for traditional knives.
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I can remember conversations between my father, grandfather and other men about products that were made in Japan after the war and how it was destructive to our base. But the point of the Marshal plan was to rebuild the country and make our products for us on the cheap. I don't think anyone could foresee all the brick and mortar companies that made this country great falling by the wayside. The list must enormous. I don't think the founders of Schrade or any other major cutlery company speculated on the future of their companies 100 years down the road being benchmarks in the industry. Many products made today pale in comparison to the same products made during the industrial revolution as well as the skilled hands that made them. I wonder what the conversations would be now?
 
Well said, back fifty to a hundred years ago competition was stiff and everyone was trying their very best to make a product that would outdo their competitors. Creativity and innovation ruled the day. Today it's all about money and how to get more. In my work it's still about how to be creative and innovative but sadly not the case overall in the US.
 
William Schrade said:
I can remember conversations between my father, grandfather and other men about products that were made in Japan after the war and how it was destructive to our base. But the point of the Marshal plan was to rebuild the country and make our products for us on the cheap. I don't think anyone could foresee all the brick and mortar companies that made this country great falling by the wayside. The list must enormous. I don't think the founders of Schrade or any other major cutlery company speculated on the future of their companies 100 years down the road being benchmarks in the industry. Many products made today pale in comparison to the same products made during the industrial revolution as well as the skilled hands that made them. I wonder what the conversations would be now?
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Good points. However imported cutlery, in all price points, has been a major factor in our own cutlery industry from the beginning. I seem to remember that George Schrade made several forrays overseas, mostly Europe, selling his inventions like the machine that jigs bone and some of his automatic designs. George was quite the inventor and evidently smart as a whip. Brothers force you out and take your inventions and try to sue over subsequent inventions? "We don't need no stinking lawyers", says George. Beat them soundly in court on his own because he knew his patents better than they did. The more things change, the more they stay the same. ;)

PS- For those not knowledgable about George, his inventions included the player piano and the dime bank as well as a machine to inlet knife shields, previously done by hand..
 
Great timing on this thread. What about the schrade honing steels? Has anybody had experience with the new ones? I can't see there being just a huge difference, but one never knows. A buddy had one of the old ones. This was around '95. I couldn't find one then. Now I see they're making them again.
 
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