Shapleigh Diamond Edge ... oldie.

T

Two Dog Man

Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
92
GAH! Feel free to let me know when you get tired of my posting pictures of knives and asking what people can tell me about them. Yes, I'm rather new at this.

So, this is a Shapleigh Diamond Edge #276. OK, I found some historical stuff about Shapleigh Hardware and Diamond Edge and Keen Kutter and, ya know, just about anything BUT details about what decade this might have been manufactured. Looks like the blades have been sharpened a good deal over the decades, reducing them, so I'm guessing it was a real work horse for someone. Still, it is elegant to my eyes and the patina on the scales is lovely. And it's still sharp as heck.

So, once again, I call upon the knowledge of others to let me know if you recognize it and can tell me what vintage it might be. Anyone who knows of catalogs they can post a link to ... please do if you can spare the time.

As ever, thanks to all who may be able to help.

i-xrtc7Pb-L.jpg
 
Very likely made by Schrade Cut Co, before or after WWII. Cool!
 
By the way, keep posting, Two Dog! You have the courtesy to provide good pictures, and hopefully you are learning something. How good is all that!!
 
You could most likely get a more information in the Bernard Levine's Knife Identification Forum.
 
Two Dog Man said:
GAH! Feel free to let me know when you get tired of my posting pictures of knives and asking what people can tell me about them. Yes, I'm rather new at this.

So, this is a Shapleigh Diamond Edge #276. OK, I found some historical stuff about Shapleigh Hardware and Diamond Edge and Keen Kutter and, ya know, just about anything BUT details about what decade this might have been manufactured. Looks like the blades have been sharpened a good deal over the decades, reducing them, so I'm guessing it was a real work horse for someone. Still, it is elegant to my eyes and the patina on the scales is lovely. And it's still sharp as heck.

So, once again, I call upon the knowledge of others to let me know if you recognize it and can tell me what vintage it might be. Anyone who knows of catalogs they can post a link to ... please do if you can spare the time.

As ever, thanks to all who may be able to help.

i-xrtc7Pb-L.jpg
Click to expand...

What a wonderful old knife. It was somebodys companion for many a mile. And for many a year. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Carl.
 
Sigh. (Rolls eyes.) Another picture of another old knife? Where am I, in the Traditional Forum or something?

:D

Two dog Man - great old cutter you have there. I've found a few here at thrift stores & garage sales, but yours is by far one of the cleanest and nicest I've seen. Your deserves a special display just by itself.

Keep those pics coming. :thumbup:

~Chris
 
2943.png
S2943.png

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx1926 Schrade Cutlery Company E Catalog xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx1928 Schrade Cut E Supplement Catalog

Looking at the position of the nail nick on the secondary blade Two Dog, I believe the knife in your picture is the S2943 3/4 from the 1928 E Supplement. Unless Schrade Cut had a long pen blade they used on this contract knife. It appears as if the original owner kept those blades honed for decades.

It's interesting they called it a Stockman's Knife. Misprint?

In more recent times, Schrade Walden renumbered these patterns to the 294 (serpentine jack) and the 293 (trapper). They kept the fancy bolsters in the design until some time in the 1950's when they resorted to plain bolsters.

http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/index.htm
A link to Schrade catalogs. I do not know of any Diamond Edge catalogs by Shapleigh.

Nice hat by the way...
 
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TD-Man, that is a great old trapper. Just oozing with character and soul. Congrats on a great one!
 
WOW ... what a great thing to wake up to this morning! All of these wonderful comments. It's been so very helpful ... and a special thanks to thawk.
 
Well thank you ... as long as you're the second to mention it, it's a Bollman Natural. Great fall hat. Warm. Wear it in the woods when hunting bushy tail squirrels, mostly. It wears great with my old cotton duck hunting jacket and a couple of knives, one on the belt, one in the pocket.
 
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thawk said:
Looking at the position of the nail nick on the secondary blade Two Dog, I believe the knife in your picture is the S2943 3/4 from the 1928 E Supplement. Unless Schrade Cut had a long pen blade they used on this contract knife. It appears as if the original owner kept those blades honed for decades.
Click to expand...

So If I understand this right, what you're saying is that Schrade Cut was commissioned by Shapleigh to make these knives with a custom tang stamp, and then swapped out their shield for a diamond-shaped inlay engraved with D E ... ? Now that makes pretty cool sense. I have to say, I'm feeling a bit giddy that you think this knife is from 1928. To still be so lovely and able to be pressed into daily service at that age, well, that's just remarkable to me. If only it could tell us the stories of what it had been through.
 
I like the hat, too. I may have to steal your intellectual property and use some of my hats for knife photo props.

Oh, and the bone on that DE, lovely!
 
Misprint? No. That one has a spey blade as in livestock gelding, in place of the pen blade. Not all stockmen knives were three-bladed. Not all two-bladed knives were called a trapper.
 
Two Dog Man said:
So If I understand this right, what you're saying is that Schrade Cut was commissioned by Shapleigh to make these knives with a custom tang stamp, and then swapped out their shield for a diamond-shaped inlay engraved with D E ... ? Now that makes pretty cool sense. I have to say, I'm feeling a bit giddy that you think this knife is from 1928. To still be so lovely and able to be pressed into daily service at that age, well, that's just remarkable to me. If only it could tell us the stories of what it had been through.
Click to expand...

I think that is the case, and Schrade made a lot of knives with Diamond Edge shields, stamps, and etched for Shapleigh. The 1928 reference in the Schrade Cut Co catalog though, is an indication the pattern was available then, but dating when your particular DE was manufactured is tougher to pinpoint. It was a pretty popular pattern. With the fancy bolsters, one of my favorites.

Codger_64 said:
Misprint? No. That one has a spey blade as in livestock gelding, in place of the pen blade. Not all stockmen knives were three-bladed. Not all two-bladed knives were called a trapper.
Click to expand...

Thanks Michael, in this case it says "Stockman's" knife, not a stockman knife. So... to be be used for that type of task (to be used by a dude working stock), of course, with the long spey, and probably what Schrade had in mind for usage, more than game skinning. I'd just never seen a serpentine jack pattern like that with two blades called a stockman knife. That being said though, I suppose the term "trapper" might have come along later.
 
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Between Thawk and Codger we've got some fine information.
Here are some of those related serpentine jacks, without the character and patina.
SchradeGrinds.jpg

SchradeGrindsPile.jpg
 
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