schrade u.s.a. stainless

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pholder

Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
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greetings to all,
i have recently aquired a schrade 340t made in the u.s.a.. i'm puzzled with the fact that the blades don't patina yet are magnetic. if stainless was used would any of you fine members happen to know what type was used.
thank you in advance
troy
 
Schrade USA used 440A on their stainless bladed knives.
There will be a plus sign (+) on the tang if stainless.
 
Patina doesn't necessarily mean oxidation, just the accumulation of wear and age. It can be scratches, paint buildup, tape residue, electrical burns, dried blood, solar flare radiation glow, etc.

So don't worry if it's stainless: bring on the other-patina!
 
We have bona fide Schrade experts here at Bladeforums, who can articulate the history far better than me. But I recall that in the final years of the Schrade company, they used stainless steel on Old Timer knives but did not mark it with the usual "+".
 
pholder said:
greetings to all,
i have recently aquired a schrade 340t made in the u.s.a.. i'm puzzled with the fact that the blades don't patina yet are magnetic. if stainless was used would any of you fine members happen to know what type was used.
thank you in advance
troy
Click to expand...

Hardenable cutlery-grade stainless steel is almost always magnetic; just being 'stainless' doesn't preclude it. Some stainless flatware for kitchen/food use (butter knives, forks, spoons, mixing bowls, etc) might not show it as much, but that stuff doesn't have near the same degree of carbon in it to allow hardening by heat treat, and therefore not suitable for holding a sharp edge. Stainless steels with high nickel content often aren't magnetic, but most cutlery-grade stainless doesn't have nearly that much nickel anyway.

Schrade U.S.A. used 440A stainless for a long time; most of those would've been marked as 'SCHRADE +'. In later years (post-2000), not long before they shut down production, they'd also used 420HC. Both of those will be magnetic. It's possible that at least some of their stainless blades weren't always marked with the '+' after the SCHRADE stamp, especially in later years. See the very informative thread linked below:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/378164-Schrade-Blade-Steels


David
 
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thank you to All that responded to help clear things up. other carbon steel knives that i have will and have taken a patina after cutting apples, some of my gec's i have actually forced a patina by sticking it in a potato overnight. that didn't work on this one.
any way thanks to all, the schrade 34ot,77ot and8ot most of my gec's and a few bucks( knives) will be my grandsons knife collection, he is only 4 months old and doesn't even know what a knife is yet. not a bad start.
thanks again,troy
 
Macchina said:
Patina doesn't necessarily mean oxidation, just the accumulation of wear and age. It can be scratches, paint buildup, tape residue, electrical burns, dried blood, solar flare radiation glow, etc.

So don't worry if it's stainless: bring on the other-patina!
Click to expand...

I had this happen and would post pictures but unfortunately the knife suffered from SKC (Spontaneous Knife Combustion) and disappeared.
 
NMpops said:
Are you sure its a USA made 34OT? How did you try and patina?
Click to expand...
Maybe you could post a photo, that will help identify it as a U.S.A. knife.
All U.S.A. 8OT and 34OT knives have 1095 High Carbon Steel blades. Ken.
 
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koldgold said:
Please show me a Schrade 34OT made in the USA, with a stainless blade.
Click to expand...

The 34OT on the left has stainless blades eventhough the packaging clearly stated carbon and there is no "+" mark on the stamp. These shenanigans have been described above and in greater detail in the links. Apparently, they were hoping that nobody would notice the switch. The 12OT next to it has the typical 1095 carbon steel blade. All of these knives were made in the USA (by the real Schrade company)

Schrades 1095 is great steel. It takes a very fine edge. I don't have much experience with their stainless. I bought this 34OT without realizing that it was stainless.





Here are some photos showing Schrades 8OT and GECs 81. This example from Schrade does have 1095 steel and it takes a very fine edge like the GEC 81 that also has 1095 steel.



 
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koldgold said:
Please show me a Schrade 34OT made in the USA, with a stainless blade.
Click to expand...

I have seen pics of a few 34OT in stainless, around these parts, made in the US, with or without the + sign, which would define them as being stainless. I only have one in carbon steel though. Pics like Jake posted above.
I know there were some in stainless without the + sign.
I wasn't referring to those in stainless that only say schrade on the blade, are stainless, and made in China under Taylor brands name.
 
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