Rarest Schrade? Nope... One of the Nicest? I think so!

[ea42]

ea42: "Black delrin handles, liquid blued blades, brass bolsters (yours weren't made to appear golden, they're patina'd from not being polished for nine years". When you are right you are right and your guesses bout blade, bolsters and handles seem dead on. I prefer the actual sheen to this blade better than what I expected to see in a flat-black coated blade so to me blade difference is a pleasant surprise so I'm taking the good with the bad.

I'd definitely agree with you on that Dave, I'd take the blued blades hands down over coated, they've got a much more refined finish. You could stick a red hot pin in the handle to see if it's delrin, but I wouldn't recommend that . It's really not necessary anyway, ebony handles aren't finished off like a piano key, there's still grain visible and they're not shiny like delrin, more of a satin finish actually. Here's a closeup of a Canal Street stockman with ebony handles as an example:

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Larry, I believe Baron did a good number of the more intricate etches for Schrade, especially the gold inlayed ones such as the National Parks knives, Handy Man PH, Harry Gant LB7, etc, even did the legendary diamond encrusted bowie:thumbup:

Eric

 

[Dave Thinkstoomuch]

You need to post a picture. If you can't post a pict email it to me and I will for you.
Schrade could and did most anything to their blades. They did farm out a lot of the coating so more digging is required. I was reading and saw that they used the "extra" blades from their WWII set in DU orders. Not much went to waste.
The gold etching was called "Baron". I don't know what Baron is so more research required there.

Found Baron http://www.barontechnology.com/services.htm They did the WWII set in the early 90's

In another thread entitled "Black is beautiful!" there is a COPE knife very close to mine. My blade appears blued so black its like a mirror just as this guy describes though the sharp edge itself shines bright white. In that thread it says stainless can't be blued. My blade likely carbon steel? If so should I keep it oiled? Will that hurt gold etching? I will work on taking a picture or two tomorrow. Thanks a lot Irv, Ikedoc and ea42, your continuing info is invaluable to me. Baron's site certainly displays some nice etching etc. Dave

 

[Dave Thinkstoomuch]

I'd definitely agree with you on that Dave, I'd take the blued blades hands down over coated, they've got a much more refined finish. You could stick a red hot pin in the handle to see if it's delrin, but I wouldn't recommend that . It's really not necessary anyway, ebony handles aren't finished off like a piano key, there's still grain visible and they're not shiny like delrin, more of a satin finish actually. Here's a closeup of a Canal Street stockman with ebony handles as an example:

[/IMG]

Larry, I believe Baron did a good number of the more intricate etches for Schrade, especially the gold inlayed ones such as the National Parks knives, Handy Man PH, Harry Gant LB7, etc, even did the legendary diamond encrusted bowie:thumbup:

Eric

I'm not gonna burn the handles. Still appears delrin or micarta to me for all the reasons you just mentioned, thx. Check out http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369690 very similar blade treatment and my "Schrade USA LTD" on tang is etched and gold filled in the same way as the ducks not stamped. The ducks etching on mine is very intricate so perhaps it was a Baron Technology job. I will work hard on getting some good pics. I gotta flat-bed scanner but knife is way too reflective for it: any tips that might work with my scanner? Dave

 

[Dave Thinkstoomuch]

Heres a pic...I am working on good ones.

 

[Dave Thinkstoomuch]

As time goes by I can't find more examples of etchings by Baron on Schrade knives. The Schrade in-house ones are nice but the detail is nowhere near what Baron did on this one. It is outstanding. You can see it from 20 feet away shining against the deep mirror blueing. Each individual blade of grass is beautifully golden as is the etched not stamped tang markings. Any good pics of super-detailed Baron etchings on other Schrade knives out there? I'd love to see them!!!

 

[Dave Thinkstoomuch]

Sorry I took so long in posting these numbers. I'll look for the orders
Here are some numbers for the LB7DU
Stock # S0904605
1995 57 were made 0 shipped
1996 32 shipped
1997, 98 , 99 1 each were shipped
2000 5 shipped.
by 2001 the inventory was at 0.
Rare Yes, Rarest no.

as it turns out these #s don't apply to my particular knife I don't think. lrv told me he missed the "February 2000 State Convention" part when he looked it up. He is a prince for doing so though. Thanks Larry!

 

[Dave Thinkstoomuch]

I never tire of this knife which was the first Schrade I bought as a collectible as opposed to a user and it turns out it was indeed as addictive as cigarettes.

I just scanned it and thought I'd add the pics to this thread. The etch is awesome imo. Baron did some real nice work on Schrade blades.