A comment made in "My latest Schrade" thread made me look into this connection again and I think there are still mysteries involved that have no clear answers as of yet.
I waded through all the threads on the Schrade/I*XL connection but I'm still not 100% convinced we know where all the knives were made.
This thread has lots of info:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/477491-Searching-for-info-regarding-Wostenholm-blades?highlight=Wostenholm. The most direct sources of info are Phil Gibbs [and the experiences of his father Tony at Wostenholm(?)] and Sebago (Jim Taylor) who worked at the Richards factory at the time.
To quote Sebago:
"The Schrade/I*XL knives were made at the Richards of Sheffield, factory, Moore St, (not Morse St,) This was in 1980/81. Five patterns were made and the bolsters were stamped (hallmark fashion) S W (head device) 0. The zero would indicate 1980 production. The S W would indicate Schrade / Wostenholm. The patterns were; Three different size lockbacks (White micarta. Stag and Red Bone, as well as a three blade stockman in Red bone and a three blade canoe in Stag."
To quote Phil Gibbs:
"Regarding the IXL Schrade knives, the lock backs were made at Camillus, sent as skeletons to Sheffield where they were hallmarked on the bolsters, the handles were added, & the knives were finished. I believe it was a set of 5 knives, 2 Camillus, 2 Schrade & 1 Wostenholm."
The original 1981 Schrade I*XL flyer clearly states the five knives are "Hand crafted in Sheffield England":
http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/IXL/pages/IXL-11.htm
Here's how I interpret these statements:
1. If Phil Gibbs remembers lockback skeletons being made at Camillus then I take it as fact because his Dad (and maybe Phil as well) was at Camillus at the time. Also the lockbacks look just like Camillus patterns. This is backed up by CAMCO as well.
2. If Sebago says "The Schrade/I*XL knives were made at the Richards of Sheffield, factory, Moore St, (not Morse St,) This was in 1980/81. Five patterns were made..." then I tend to accept that as fact as well because he was at the Richards factory at the time making him a pretty reliable source.
My questions/thoughts:
1. Phil Gibbs said he "believed" it was a set of five knives. We know first there was the giant stockman then the release of the other 5 knives that make up the "Master Set". There were also 5" SFO/Limited Edition Camillus-like lockbacks with the I*XL branding such as this one in post 28 in this thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/545739-Schrade-IXL-Wostenholm-lockback?highlight=ixl. I have also seen these large lockbacks as an Alberta Anniversary LTD in natural stag.
This makes at least 7 different patterns branded as Schrade/I*XL not five as Phil recalls.
It seems well established the original giant stockman was an English knife so lets move on about that one...
According to Phil Gibbs the set has "2 Camillus, 2 Schrade & 1 Wostenholm". What does that actually tell us? The "2 Camillus" are lockbacks because that is what Phil is speaking to. Problem is that leaves three more knives to figure out. Another problem is that there were three different lockbacks in the set not two so if Camillus made all three lockbacks we are only left with the canoe and the bone stockman. Now supposedly these must be Schrade skeletons and we are left with a mystery as to which one was the Wostenholm.
This is problematic to me. I believe this proves to us Phil may be remembering incorrectly in some way. 30 years ago was a long way back so that's not unexpected. What is the "1 Wostenholm" he refers to? Is it the original giant stockman because that's not part of the 5 knife master set. Which are the "2 Schrade" knives? The stockman and canoe perhaps?
We must keep in mind that Sabago was not at Camillus and Phil was not at Richards. Was Phil at Camillus when his Dad was in '80-'81 or is this info is second hand? CAMCO confirmed that lockback skeletons were made at Camillus for finishing in England but he never produced the paperwork so exact dates are still missing
I think it's possible that all 5 knives in the very first master sets hallmarked as 1980 (not 1981) were fully crafted in England. That seems to be what Sabago remembers. Maybe Schrade management found it too expensive to do it this way and subsequently made a
change to producing the lockback skeletons at Camillus. This would fit with what Phil remembers as well.
I think it's possible that the bone stockman was a Schrade or Wostenholm skeleton and the canoe is in the same boat. We have not established what
""2 Camillus, 2 Schrade & 1 Wostenholm" means and really because of the tentativeness of any "I believe" statement I'm not sure we can draw any firm conclusions at all from what Phil said other than the fact that some lockback skeletons were made at the Camillus plant for finishing in England.
To me the origins of the bone stockman, stag canoe and perhaps the very earliest lockbacks are still vague. Any of these still might be Schrade or Wostenholm skeletons. I hate it when I muddy clear waters but there are contradictory and ambiguous statements all over the place when you start going deep into what has been said.
I'm hoping Phil Gibbs will chime in again to clear this up...