Old Dealer Display stand

textoothpk

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Some of you regulars will recall last summer when I bought an old Schrade Cutlery Corp floor display at a flea market for the price of $20. It was a mess. Besides smelling bad, it had displayed 'Beanie Babies'. I made a comment at the time about wishing I had the beanie babies as well, to test the cutting ability of my big old BTO-1.

Well, the recent thread on display panels got me down into the basement today to finish my project up. I painted the inside red, as Schrade seemed to have used that color alot for back grounds. LT does it seems, in his display cases as well.

I added roller casters to the bottom. The thing had been dragged around so much the bottom edges were beat. I then cut some 'valence boards' and painted them brown to cover up the bottom and most of the rollers from sight. There was the remainds of the original 'Dealer- Schrade Cutlery' sticker on the front, but it just plain would not come off, period. So.... I made use of something LT had sent me when I won a hat in his contest. A bumper sticker. I still need to run some trim tape around it, but it looks and works great. Thanks, LT!

Being an electrian, I added some rope lighting up under each shelf, then cut and installed more valence boards to hide them. Under the last shelf, where a dealer would have kept stock and boxes, I put in a nice, bright, Xenon undercabinet light. To control the rope lights only, I installed a radio freq remote control.

It is not a fine piece of furniture. It is what it is, a veteran of the knife retail wars from years past, but I think I have restored some of it's former glory. Still a bit of touch up to do here and there, but not much. Hope you guys approve.

The items it contains are not necessarily old and valuable Schrades, just some I like. My small collection of Schrade/Loveless/Professional Hunters, a few special issue trappers, a little of this and that.

Phil
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Thanks for the compliment, Goodman.


As long as I am showing my displays, here are a couple of more old Scrhade ones. I think Dealer display cases are just the perfect way to show off knives. Here is a 'Salt & Pepper' that I bought at a hardware this winter as the owner was having a closeout on Schrades. Nice storage when you drop the front down, and it locks.

Also, a larger one, which I am going to make a challenge to fill. Any idiot (as I proved with the first display shown here) can insert factory knives into the proper slots. Or buy it like that. What I am trying to do with this one is find the proper models numbers, but those with something extra, like a blade etch or whatever. I have a couple 'compliments of Schrade' etched ones, and a couple 'NRA' marked knives, and a 'Guns and Ammo' sharpfinger that I bought today on Ebay. Again, this has the storage inside for boxes and extras.

Phil
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That is very nice! And it begs the question "when is a knife / knife memorabilia special?" When it has meaning to YOU! I don't see a single item there I would be hesitant to display. Maybe I could work the rope lighting into my series of wall frames. A brilliant idea!

Trim for the bumper sticker? Car pinstriping. Metalic foil gold. It would fancy up the glass too. OOCH! Gota get me some! You guys are tops on creative ideas. My wife is gonna hate you all as much as I like you!

Codger
 
Cool display cases. Many years ago my parents bought a 1970s-1980s Schrade floor display cabinet, and two years ago my mother asked me if I wanted it. I said, "Heck no. What's that good for? Besides, I don't have the room for it".

I'm going to ask if she still has it...

-Bob

p.s. Aren't you concerned about storing the folders half-open? I bought a display model 8OT and one spring is considerably weakened. Personally, I wouldn't store knives like that. Maybe they're just like that for your pictures?
 
Yes, Bob, I am concerned about the back springs weakening. Me being me, I am into those cases frequently and open and close the knives when I oil them (mineral oil). I really don't know how long it takes that to happen, but I think it is probably years, not months. You make a very good point.

I also take precautions about sunlight hitting and fading the knives. I've seen plenty that have been affected like that. Also, when using the foam backed cases, where the glass presses the knives into place, I am very careful about using on super-color fast backings over the foam. Where I buy my 'frames', the dealer is also very concerned, and uses something he knows will not bleed off the color onto the knife handles. I've seen that situation in old knives have been ruined, the pale bone a weird color on one side.

Would be a lot easier to just put all these things under lock and key, wrapped in archival paper, kept in the dark and out of sight. Not for me, though.

Again, thanks for posing that! This is why these forums are so valuable. Anyone else have tips/ideas/advice?

Phil

(ps... Call your mother!
 
All I can think is "what a lucky dog!" Not only is it cool for what it is, but it's the display case that grumpy retailers would tell you "can't be opened" when the last one in stock was in the case. I'M OPENING IT NOW SUCKER!!!
 
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