Schrade 152OT Sharpfinger

tongueriver said:
Were the stockman, muskrat & trapper in that NYK series all stainless?
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According to the archive documents I have seen, yes. R8Shell showed one in relic condition in the Traditional forum and the blades were nice though the covers were near rotted. I think hees may have been the 2002 issue. There is a near mint one in the exchange as well, sold I think but the picture is still there.

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Some time back I showed a SC205 Scrimshaw Sharpfinger made on special order for Kmart. It was the same basic design as the 1983 production 502SC Scrimshaw except that the pattern number was reversed (502SC/205SC), tang stamped blade left instead of blade right, and the artwork was reversed to fit the left side cover.



This example was sent to me by friend Duncan from New Zealand. I recently acquired it's regular production mate as well.



There were so many production and special order Scrimshaw Sharpfingers that there is no way for me to acquire examples of each. Still I can't help but pick up a new one occasionally as "targets of opportunity" present themselves.
 
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Here's my only entry, I bought them both in the early 80s, the Sharpfinger was constant companion on my motorcycle. It looked Bad a** hangin' of my belt. :)

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Yep, I still have two of the Schrade 152 model. Actually, I had three of these but one got 'misplaced' at a camp one night after a bout of heavy drinking. I always wondered if anybody ever found that knife. It was a well used, early version of the now famous Sharpfinger.

Not sure I can add any more to this topic but just to say that I like the blade shape...plus the fact that I never noticed the knife much when it was on my belt. It seemed just tucked away until needed. I can't say that about too many fixed blades that I have.

Lastly, they were easy to sharpen and seemed to take a fine edge. Mine developed a nice patina and are now pretty much relegated to the fishing tackle box. An excellent little blade that does not cost much but ranks high on performance. Good stuff!
 
The 1985 SC502 Scrimshaw, a fawn deer by F. Giorgianni. Note the SAS-17 sheath included.


 
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My current attention to the Scrimshaw variant of the 152OT pattern has two-fold reasoning which I'll try to explain.

First, collector/buyer interest in patterns of Schrade knives seems to go in cycles, year to year and also time of the year. Market prices rise and fall accordingly. Interest in this pattern variant has been down recently so I have been able to pick up a few new examples for relatively modest prices, usually below their inflation adjusted MSRP when new.

Secondly, complete NIB examples, aside from being nice to have in one's collection, show me the year to year changes in sheaths and paperwork (such as logos and slogans used etc.), far better than one can glean by looking at the catalogs and photo sample knives in the old flyers. On the whole, the Scrimshaw knives are closely dateable by the art used. While production would start and examples be shipped, first to salesmen then dealers, before the public introduction in flyers and catalogs, the bulk were produced during their target issue year. Then remainders sold through the beginning of the next issue cycle. The details I have mentioned closely relate to changes in regular production examples of the 152OT. Which are not that easily datable themselves, even NIB.

The dates on the scrims accompanying the artist signature are usually but not always accurate for dating the issue. F.G. would date the art when it was made for the die. Occasionally the art would be issued the following year. Or be reissued at a later date. The latter did happen in the late 1990's. Issue dates can be found on the COSRUS site in a repro of a page provided by Bernard Levine from his "Guide" publication. If I remember correctly, the information was supplied to him by Ms. Chase, the former historian at ISC. So the information is documented correct.

In going over archived production reports, it is apparent that it was common to ship previous years issues remaindered the next year with the current issues. The page I mention, by the way, lists most of the Scrimshaw patterns for each year, not just the 152 pattern. So it is an excellent resource to be aware of, even if you do not collect the pattern I am discussing in this thread.
 
I found in my camping box, a Sharpfinger I got off ebay a half dozen or so years ago - well before I found BladeForums.

It is marked on the tang:

SCHRADE
U.S.A. 502SC

But has brown wood (walnut colored) handles (they look like they might be laminated/layered), not the Scrimshaw I would expect to see with the 502SC designation. Is this a fake? or a 1095 USA made blank that was re-handled elsewhere? Also the pins seem smaller diameter than most I see.

I'm not so much worried about it from a collectors standpoint, I just want the good steel.

Your thoughts are very much appreciated.

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edit, I see a black one a few pages back that seems similar, small pins, mismatched stamp from handle style - which was probably a USA blade, finished elsewhere. Looks like this is probably the same boat. I just hope the HT was done well.
 
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IMHO, yes, yes and yes. For a while I questioned the genesis of these but I now accept Eric's opinion that HT and grind, if not final edging, was complete when these pallet blades were shipped overseas to be completed with the wood laminate covers. So I think that, for the price (don't overpay), they are good candidates for use as is or for custom cover work.
 
Thanks Codger - I'll sharpen her up and use her a bit to see how things go. If she plays nice, maybe I'll get her some new, nicer pants.
 
It's been a long several months since I packed up my collection and moved across the country and a bit longer since I thought about buying another Sharpfinger scrimshaw example. At the insistence (and assistance of) a forum member, I played the auction game again for amusement (and research doncha know). This morning I bought this example of the c. 1977 issue "Liberty/Justice/Mayflower" scrimshaw, NIB for less than usual as an only bidder. It seems the interest and market is down currently, at least for this genre in that venue.

This second issue in the series continues the nautical theme of the first and uses the same style "parchment" packaging. Note also the inclusions in the original set. This issue is still serialized though a high number, a feature that was eventually dropped except on the expanded SGMO sets and a few other limited editions.

Sheath styles are important to note as well though the exact type of sheath leather is seen varied even among the same issues. As to the tang stamp, it was decided to change the nomenclature from 152SC for the first issue to 155SC for this second. In just a short while it became the more familiar 502SC and they generally stuck with that from then on.





 
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Codger_64 said:
Not if it is for purposes of identification, not deal spotting, and not the poster's auction.



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The knife in the auction is what I have come to call a post-auction pallet blade. One of the many unmounted blades hauled away on pallets by the truckload and warehoused by the two buyers of nearly every knife and knife part in the factory in October, 2004. They have been kept in storage until recently as the finished stock has been sold off. Now they are down to bits and pieces. It is one of the blades shipped to China and finished there. That one was originally held in stock for use on future limited editions with stainless blades. Schrade, to my knowledge, never used that particular unspecified dyed laminated wood and small brass rivets. The sheath has a U.S. Scoville marked snap so it was likely sourced domesticly. I note that while both knife and sheath are "new", there is no box shown or mentioned. That would be because the two exporter/importers of these aftermarket finished knives ship them to their wholesale buyers in bulk. Though if you look hard, you will find a seller who does have a supply of old stock "pallet boxes" and papers, whether original or reproduced.
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I bought one of these last year. I finally got to put it to the test on a small mountain buck yesterday. I finally see what all the fuss is about in the design. It zipped through gutting duties like a champ. While its not a classic its a very servicable knife that will give me years of use.
 
Good for you StickbowVA! That is how I used one for many years and as I became more accustomed to the blade, I carried it more and found it suitable for many more tasks than just in gutting, skinning and butchering game, fowl and fish.
 
Here is another SFO made for SMKW and found in their circa 1991 catalog. It listed for $14.99 and was advertised as a "Special Production Run" (no notation of quantity). It is essentially a stock 152OT with added blade etch and black Delrin covers. I have not been able to buy one myself yet due to the sellers invariably overpricing them. But I thought it might be good to post one here for future reference.

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Not to rain on the parade I find the little sister to the sharp finger the drop blade without the gut hook to be my favorite skinner especially on those legs of a white tail. But I could be talked into spending some money on that Sharpfinger with the pierced blade my wife even thinks it's pretty. Last time she said something like that I wound up with a really spiffy Flintlock.
 
That is why they made the other two variants based on the Sharpfinger. The base 152OT knife was produced 1973-2004. The 154OT was produced 1976-1988 and the 158OT produced 1988-2004. And nothing says you can't own both or even all three. I do. Multiples of them.
 
Although I don't own a 154 OT nor a 152 OT, or variants thereof, The first Schrade knife I ever owned was a 154 OT and I liked it pretty well for field dressing game. This was back in the 1970s. At that time I would have looked quite incredulous if someone were to suggest that I would be a knife nut some day. To me they were valued tools and a pleasure to use, but certainly not collectibles. I have no idea what happened to that first knife, but a lot of stuff has come and gone in my life.
 
Earlier in this thread I showed the 1983 SFO for K-Mart, a scrimshaw with reversed art of a bear and hound with unique pattern stamp, SC205 in place of the stock 502SC. Well it seems that perhaps Schrade anticipated further orders by this customer which never materialized as a large quantity of the stamped and assembled knives remained after that order. In 1987 many of them were sold to SMKW. They were purchased as-is with no art on the ivory Delrin handles and with what appears to be customer supplied "clip art", commercial graphics from a book which are high contrast and most suitable for pad printing. As I don't have an example in hand but this SFO set was silkscreened printed either by SMKW or ISC, not hot stamped in-house by Schrade. At any rate, the SMKW catalog for Spring/summer 1987 advertised "Sportsman's Skinner" exclusive knives in seven styles, six with art and one plain, none illustrated with added blade etches. With art was priced at $10.99 and without at $9.99. These show up on the secondary market from time to time and still a quantity of the blank SC205 appeared after the factory liquidation sale.

The art was:
Deer Hunter
Turkey Hunter
Fisherman
Duck Hunter
Coon Hunter
Bird Hunter





Hopefully these will aid in future identification and perhaps allow collectors to get a sense of actual value before laying down a lot of long green for a secondary market example.
 
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Great info! I'm new to the Sharpfinger, but got a few deals lately and picked up three, a camo with black blade, an orange handle, and a 2014 limited edition. Not quite the old ones as elaborated on here, but a start on a blade I fell for on sight!
 
Knothead said:
Great info! I'm new to the Sharpfinger, but got a few deals lately and picked up three, a camo with black blade, an orange handle, and a 2014 limited edition. Not quite the old ones as elaborated on here, but a start on a blade I fell for on sight!
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All three from your description are knives made recently in China for the new owner of the trademarks, Taylor Brands LLC. Schrade closed in 2004 and no genuine Schrade knives have been made since. If you find you like the shape, the real ones can still be found at reasonable prices.
 
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