Old Hickory = Schrade ??

R

rprocter

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Here is a link to an Old Hickory 2 blade Folding Hunter, which seller states in personal communication, that he is "pretty sure these were made by Schrade". http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=280315628862
the seller is knowlegeable, honest and an active BF member who posts frequently in BRL forum. however i don't think he would describe himself as a Schrade expert, and i have not seen any mention here of O.H. knives being made by Schrade. i thought Old Hickory were made by Queen.
looiking at current bid price, i consider myself lucky to have recently picked up the same knife for $24.99, as the sole bidder. like the listed knife, mine too has "gator like snap" and rock solid lock up, with perfect tang/backspring alignment. whomever did make these, they are very well made.
roland
 
Interesting for sure. It sure looks Schrade to me, but it might be a good idea to line one up with the Old Timer equivalent folding hunter. It has the Delrin similar to the K-Horn / Old Timer look. Did you think yours is a Schrade, Roland?
 
Hal, i'm still separated from my knives. hope to be able to get up the driveway in a few days, so i can then check it against my 25OT, 227UH, 225 and 225H (i think those #s are correct). i also have a current Queen FH to compare with as well.
i figured if it is a Schrade, one of the "old boys" here is sure to remember it.
roland
 
Noted differences are a lanyard hole (lack of actually) and a 4th pin, but not sure either of those points mean anything.
 
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rprocter said:
Hal, i'm still separated from my knives. hope to be able to get up the driveway in a few days, so i can then check it against my 25OT, 227UH, 225 and 225H (i think those #s are correct). i also have a current Queen FH to compare with as well.
i figured if it is a Schrade, one of the "old boys" here is sure to remember it.
roland
Click to expand...


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4 pins vs 3 pins???
Maybe the older 1971 OT's had 4 pins?......
 
Thanks Mr. T. U. Rock, think i'll need to hold them side by side to know for sure.
perhaps front bolster on O.H. is a bit more Copperhead-like ?
roland
 
Auction's over now so I'll go ahead and comment. Seeing Trent's comparison photo, I'm really not sure. I had seen a printed reference at some point in time that said these were Schrade made, I just can't remember where. Queen and Ontario Knife Co. were both owned by Servtronics, so Queen would certainly make the most sense as the manufacturer. I'd love to find out for sure though. Either way, the knives are just super well made. I sure wish they hadn't used those cheesy Delrin scales though.

I'm going to compare the knife to my Schrade-made Chicago Cutlery knives and see what they look like.
 
What !! Schrade made Chicago Cutlery knives too !! Folders, FBs, or both.
i have a couple of CC knives, now i may have to switch them over to my Schrade storage rolls.
the list of knives made by Schrade, but wearing other branding, is ever expanding.
roland
 
rprocter said:
What !! Schrade made Chicago Cutlery knives too !! Folders, FBs, or both.
i have a couple of CC knives, now i may have to switch them over to my Schrade storage rolls.
the list of knives made by Schrade, but wearing other branding, is ever expanding.
roland
Click to expand...

I know Schrade made some of the folders, but the fixed blades where made in house by CC as far as I know. I believe there may have been another contractor that made some as well...Camillus maybe.
 
Trent Rock said:


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4 pins vs 3 pins???
Maybe the older 1971 OT's had 4 pins?......
Click to expand...

One distinctive feature on this knife is the prominent sway-back design of the spey blade. I haven't seen such a pronounced curvature on any other knives of this type.
 
I'm leaning more towards Queen as the manufacturer, or made by some other division of Ontario. There are too many differences for the knife to be comparable to an Old Timer. Two very prominent differences are the spines of the spey blades, note how the spine on the OT's blade has a prominent bend near the tang, while the Ontario's is straight. Also, the center swell on the OT is more to the rear, while the Ontario's is dead center. The clip blades are also worlds apart, the Ontario blade is much wider, and has the nail nick more forward on the blade.

At least that's my opinion, now we really have to hear from Larry on this, if anyone's got some kind of info on it, he does (or maybe Codger);):thumbup:

Eric
 
I agree with Eric and tvranesic had in fact yped out a message before I saw the auction was still active.
I looked at Imperial and Schrade and could not find a spey that had an up-sweep nor the bull head bolsters. Also the blades and back springs look stainless. The 4th pin and and the clip blade are all non schrade-ish.
But you never know...
 
Here's a shot of Queen's present day folding hunter (Picture from Bill Horn's site), notice the similarities in the blades, bolsters, and pin placement:

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Definitely looking more Queenish. I compared it to my Chicago Cutlery knives and while there are some similarities, the Queen is closer. Now the bigger question...if in fact Queen made this one, did they make all the folder for O.H., or did O.H. use multiple contractors?
 
Queen made the full line of OLD HICKORY pocket knives that were marketed by Ontario, I believe only made for a few years in the early to mid 1970's maybe up to the early 1980's.

All OLD HICKORY patterns that you will find share Queen's tooling and in that era Queen used 440C stainless.
 
Thanks Knifeaholic, that's what we needed: to hear from a Queen Man !
experienced folks here can rule it out as a Schrade, and now someone who really knows Queen can "rule it in". and it is as solid and right-on as my Schrade Folding Hunters of the same age, and much better than my 3 year old Queen of the same pattern. only the scales are poor. i think i'll get mine replaced with some neat stag or bone or mammoth ivory, because the action and fit are so very good, it merits it. but what about the blades ? do you know which steel and it's reputation with regular use ?
sorry guys, as this is no longer Schrade-talk, but hey, it's a nice knife, eh ?
roland
 
Nice work knife folks. A teamwork thread for sure. I enjoyed seeing the blade experts coming in, and seeing details I had not noticed. That stag handled Queen with the sabre ground blade looks like a workhorse, by the way. A beautiful knife. It would look a little better, IMHO, with a traditional shield instead of the round coin looking one though.
 
rprocter said:
Thanks Knifeaholic, that's what we needed: to hear from a Queen Man !
experienced folks here can rule it out as a Schrade, and now someone who really knows Queen can "rule it in". and it is as solid and right-on as my Schrade Folding Hunters of the same age, and much better than my 3 year old Queen of the same pattern. only the scales are poor. i think i'll get mine replaced with some neat stag or bone or mammoth ivory, because the action and fit are so very good, it merits it. but what about the blades ? do you know which steel and it's reputation with regular use ?
sorry guys, as this is no longer Schrade-talk, but hey, it's a nice knife, eh ?
roland
Click to expand...


Well you are in luck...it is most likely 440C. I have documentation from Queen from 1977 that they were still using 440C at that time...so good chance that is what yours is.

If you ever get the chance to look at a number of OLD HICKORY pocket knives in hand you will see pretty quickly that the knives are typical Queen tooling/finishing and totally unlike Schrade. For example, Schrae made knives would have Swinden construction. But the tooling is a lot different as well.
 
Thanks K.A., i appreciate the help and it's neat to get the definitive answers without having to re-post in Traditionals.
roland
 
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