Sears Craftsmen LB-7

S

SAM58

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May 30, 2005
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I have a Sears Craftsmen LB-7 style knife, it resembles the Schrade LB7, but it is different. Was it made by Schrade or another knife company like Camillus. This knife is different from any of the Schrade LB-7 knives I have. I noticed the Craftsmen pictures in the collectors-of-schrades-r.us web site and just wanted to know. Thanks, Scott
 
Sam, Schrade did make some LB-7s for Sears. However, most of the lockbacks were made by Camillus. The pictures of Craftsman knives have not yet been properly sorted and labeled. I don't know what your knife looks like. Or it's number even, so I can't tell you for sure. Can you give me a picture or scan, tell me the model number, or give me the working photo title from the Schrades-r-us site?

Michael
 
Thanks Michael, I am sure it's a Camillus, although I was told it was a Schrade when I bought it. I tried to correct the seller after I bought it, but they continued to state that it was a Schrade. I can't get to my knife now but the picture in the Craftsmen section of the collectors-of-schrades-r.us web site is identical to my knife. Thanks again Michael, Scott

sitehttp://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Craftsman/pages/Craftsman%20LB7.htm
 
Yes, mislabled, both of those are Camillus knives. Camillus made a lot of SFOs for Sears, both slipjoints and lockbacks. here is a photo comparison showing the visual differences.



Since Schrade closed in 2004, sellers have been hot on the bandwagon to call every Sears knife a Schrade. I admit I fell for it myself a while back, thus quite a few of the knives in the photo archive gallery labeled as Schrades which aren't. With Camillus closing now, I notice more sellers calling their Sears knives Camillus, whether they are or not. Perhaps we should take down the gallery until they are sorted? I hope to get Mr. Tom Williams, former Camillus Historian, involved in the sorting and identifying. For now, except for the Sears numbers, don't count on the SFO origin labels.:o

Michael
 
Michael, I was rushing out this morning and tried to copy the link to this post on the 4th page of the Craftsmen gallery for the 2 LB7 stile folders. I fell for that Schrade Craftsmen knife as well, not too disappointed with the knife but still wish it was a Schrade. Thank you for illustrating the difference between the two knives and clearing up something that has bothered me for some time. I wish I had did more research as to whether question this has been explained in the past. Again, thank you, Scott
 
Yes
I posted same subject on my lockback Sears knife and was told that it was a Craftsman knife on this forum. I then post the details and comments in an email to another very experienced collector friend (not the seller) who replied and stated that he still believed the knife to be a Schrade. Got me thoroughly confused???

Im not too concerned what it is now that Camillus have closed also.
 


This knife is one of the Sears American Eagle series and has the A.C.A. edge, hand honed finish. As you can see, it came in a Sears Craftsman marked brown box printed in gold. The paperwork says that the handle is "Vicarta Laminated Hardwood", but the knife is smooth black Delrin. This makes the paperwork and box, to me anyway, suspect, since there is no Sears stock number on the knife, only the tang stamp CRAFTSMAN U.S.A. I'd really have to see several more examples to confirm that the Sears stock number on the box matches this knife. The knife is NIB with mint black CRAFTSMAN stamped sheath.

There is another LB-7 Sears SFO on it's way, a black Delrin advertising knife with white printing on it. I'll try to get lrv to post it when it gets to him.
 
Thanks for posting pictures, really hard to argue with those. I look forward to seeing other knife.
 
Sent my friend photos of above, here is his reply. (originally asked him re my craftsman origins 5" CS0000 knife as below)

HI TIM,

BOTH SCHRADE AND CAMILLUS MADE KNIVES FOR SEARS.
SEARS WOULD BID OUT THE CONTRACT TO WHOEVER WOULD GIVE THEM THE BEST PRICE BUT SEARS
DID HAVE THEIR OWN SPECIFICATIONS WHICH IN MOST CASES WERE MORE STRICT AS FAR AS QUALITY
AND DESIGN THAN SCHRADE OR CAMILLUS EITHER ONE .

HAVE SEVERAL CRAFTSMAN LB7 STYLE KNIVES AND THEY ARE FAR BETTER IN CONSTRUCTION
THAN A STANDARD SCHRADE LB7.

IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, THE MAJORITY OWNER OF CAMILLUS WAS A SISTER TO THE MAJORITY
OWNER OF SCHRADE. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG ON THIS ONE AS I AM NOT REAL SURE.
Click to expand...

sears.jpg
 
Codger_64 said:
...There is another LB-7 Sears SFO on it's way, a black Delrin advertising knife with white printing on it. I'll try to get lrv to post it when it gets to him.
Click to expand...

lrv received the knife and sent me pictures. Here are the pictures:



It is an "AL" knife, advertising specialty, with advertising heat stamped with white on the scale for Steadyrider Gas Shocks and Muzzler mufflers. It is odd for a Sears knife in that it does not carry a usual Sears number. The tangstamp is "Ranger LB-125" over "Stainless U.S.A.". "Ranger" was a trade name Sears once used for it's guns and hunting supplies. The blade etch is "Longhorn" over "Patent 3,317,996". This circa 1967 patent is for valving, possibly used on the shocks. The knife also bears nickle silver bolsters, not entirely uncommon on later SFO's and commems. We first see the LB-7NS produced circa 1987. Then there is the blading. The flat grind is not LB-7, even though the bolsters are. And the domed pins. So...an SFO assembled by Schrade or Camillus using Schrade and Imperial mixed parts? Cammy parts?



It is an interesting knife anyway. Oh, and lrv reports that the plastic used on the handles seems softer than Delrin.

Michael
 
Aw, come on, Michael! You just flunked Schrade 101. The knife you show is....

Colonial. 'LB' has nothing to do with Schrade, it simply means 'lockback'. 125 is the size code. 'Ranger' was the name of the lineup , consisting of 6 knives in 2001.



colonial064.jpg
 
Nice of you to drop in with some info Phillip. I had actually forgotten about this post from early last month. And I've not yet held the knife I was unsure of back then. Thank you for identifying it. The "softer" plastic, flat grind and different pins make sense knowing that it is a Colonial.

Um... does this mean I can come kibbutz in your forum now? :D

Michael
 
I don't wanna start a turf war, but I am visiting here on request to clear up the issue of this knife. Misinformation is worse than no info at all. And the person who contacted me was being given the chance to purchase, at a high price, a 'rare Schrade LB prototype made of Schrade and Imperial parts".

Hmmm... maybe that is partly true; It could be a rare Buck Ranger 112 with a mis-stamped tang.

Also, I am sorry if my post came off as a little smart-assed, sometimes good natured humor doesn't work via the web.

Philip
 
As I said, thankyou for posting the information ID'ing this knife. It seems that every knife which does not fit the known published photographs of the type is now claimed to be a "rare prototype" or some such. I left the post about this knife with a series of question marks, and thought that suggested plainly that I just did not know what the knife was. As with you, sometimes subtilties just don't translate well. That is why I added the smile emoticon.

Sellers of Sears knives have been confusing the buying public for years, claiming to know who the SFO manufacturer was, as illustrated by the "Schrade claimed" Camillus knives up earlier in this post. Now, identifying them all as Camillus knives, in spite of who their "daddy" was, is in vogue.

Do you know what plastic Colonial was using on their LB125 (and probably other knives) if it isn't Delrin? Is it another composition of Nylon, or closer to a polyethylene?

Michael
 
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