Schrade Cut Co. 7709SS Shac "Where's Waldo?" Sterling-style

Joined
Oct 7, 2017
Messages
359
I posted this knife in the "Your latest Schrade" thread when it was still in the mail. I figured a knife that looked so badly tarnished had to be sterling. Black gunk had to mean 80 year-old goodness. Seller didn't recognize it as such so I was taking a chance but at $20.00 it seemed well worth it.

Now that it's arrived and has been cleaned the mystery is solved. "I love it when a plan comes together!" to quote the old A-Team. I gave it a Flitz, soap and water and WD-40 treatment and the results are making me smile.

"Where's Waldo?" Can you see a "sterling" stamp in these, the seller's, pics? I sure couldn't and believe me, I looked.
Gzgfg01.jpg

bvi6gpd.jpg

lyqp6B2.jpg

QiSrg3T.jpg


Some pattern info: The 7709GOLD Shac is described and illustrated (this is the gold-filled version and pic shows "M" version with manicure file) in the 1936 Schrade Supplement to Catalog E.
K7A7ntK.jpg


The M7709SS Sha ("SS" means sterling silver) is on the 1932 price-list and you could likely get the 7709SS Sha with spear and pen blades at that point as well even though it's not on the list.
EeqKfdS.jpg


The "Trade - Mark" engraving, which magically appeared after polishing, makes me guess this is a factory SFO or maybe done post-factory by Coke themselves as only Schrade and Coke would bother with that legality. The engraving is deep and crisp. I like the different patterns on the front and back of knife. Classy!

My 2-7/8" knife is indeed full crocus (mirror) polished, cleaned inside and has brass liners. You can see the brass liners in the "easy-open" cut-out areas if you look closely. It's a thin single-spring knife. I think I have deciphered the model number right. Please correct me if you see a mistake. The scanner doesn't capture this knife well. It's way to shiny to scan and everything gets that dark tint but I hope you get the idea anyway.

s50ZClH.jpg

Gg52kBu.jpg

1tuXP06.jpg

PxNOR3O.jpg

1kb2Tkf.jpg

o73IV6I.jpg

zQ4sWzR.jpg

Qyu1zqZ.jpg
 
Last edited:
wow, what a great job cleaning the knife. brought it back to life and what a nice find. good on you! i like the engraving also it is amazing after all this time that it is so crisp and clear after the thorough cleaning it received.
 
Wow! Great job and a great knife. I had gotten a 10k solid gold mini pen knife for $5 like that. Pickin’ through boxes at a yard sale and found it all tarnished and caked in ketchup or something similar.

I cleaned it up and noticed the stamp on the bale. I’ll have to see if I have a pic or just take a new one and posting.

Great score for $20. I’m a big Coke Fan. My FiL worked for Coke for 30+ years, I have all kinds of Coke memorabilia including. Regulator clock, lithographs and 3 pocket knives.
 
wow, what a great job cleaning the knife. brought it back to life and what a nice find. good on you! i like the engraving also it is amazing after all this time that it is so crisp and clear after the thorough cleaning it received.

Thanks delmas. About two years ago I bought a new bed and it came with a free set of "micro-fiber" sheets. Terrible sheets! I can only sleep on cotton. Turns out you can get a zillion little polishing squres out of a full set of sheets and pillow cases. It will be some years before I'm out of polishing cloths now.

I filled sink with soapy water and gave knife a toothbrush scrub (to remove surface and internal dirt) then rinsed it. Next, I flooded it with WD-40 and dried it with a chunk of nasty sheets. Then I used a couple applications of Flitz on nasty sheets to remove all the tarnish. When all tarnish was gone I cleaned with soap and water again, re-flooded it with WD-40, wiped excess with sheet chunk, took pictures and then added a drop of mineral oil to the joints.

Point being, I only touched the knife with a toothbrush, my thumb for gentle scrubbing with Flitz and the micro-fibre cloths to remove Flitz and final polish. As soon as the 3" x 3" square of sheets I'm using gets dirty it's trashed and I start using a clean one. Pretty non-destructive. If you can find cheap micro-fibre sheets I can recomend them as great polishing rags.

Wow! Great job and a great knife. I had gotten a 10k solid gold mini pen knife for $5 like that. Pickin’ through boxes at a yard sale and found it all tarnished and caked in ketchup or something similar.

I cleaned it up and noticed the stamp on the bale. I’ll have to see if I have a pic or just take a new one and posting.

Great score for $20. I’m a big Coke Fan. My FiL worked for Coke for 30+ years, I have all kinds of Coke memorabilia including. Regulator clock, lithographs and 3 pocket knives.

Who doesn't like an ice-cold Coke sometimes? It was good 85 years ago when the knife was made and it's still tasty today. I know there are lots of Coca-Cola related collectors out there so this knife is definitely cross-collectible.
 
i think we have some of the same disgusting sheet too. so i have plenty of polishing clothes apparently.
 
Here’s my Coke knives.

pfP9b3Th.jpg


My Schrade/Walden Wurlitzer in nickel silver.

AhfqYgah.jpg


And lastly the 10k knife I got for a couple of $ at a yard sale.

L9PirFMh.jpg


Put them all together and you have your Coke knife.
 
I read some years back (and I am inclined to believe it) that all these classy little knives with silver, gold (and maybe aluminum?) covers were a collaboration between the cutleries and specialty jewelry companies.
 
Here’s my Coke knives.
Put them all together and you have your Coke knife.
Nice!
I read some years back (and I am inclined to believe it) that all these classy little knives with silver, gold (and maybe aluminum?) covers were a collaboration between the cutleries and specialty jewelry companies.

In the Gents Knives thread there is a sterling Tiffany ( Gent's Knife Thread ) that most likely fits that description. I too can vaguely recall hearing that sometimes the knife skeletons were finished with high-end covers elsewhere. I'm thinking (solid) gold perpetual-calendar, (solid) gold with mechanical pencil etc. Basically all the solid gold? I can't recall seeing anything but gold-filled listed in catalogs.

At the same time if it's a sterling or gold-filled (plated) knife straight-up listed in the catalog as regular production then I would say it's not a collaboration knife.
 
Back
Top