Shrade-Walden knife

[fconley1]

I have an old Shrade-Walden, yellow, three blades. It is stamped with NY USA and on the other side 884Y. Is this a collectible?

 

[koldgold]

I have an old Shrade-Walden, yellow, three blades. It is stamped with NY USA and on the other side 884Y. Is this a collectible?

Hi from Australia,
I can not find an 884Y. Could it be a 4" long 881Y... Ken

 

[thawk]

It's a 834... condition is everything.

 

[fconley1]

Condition is not great. There is some rust. This is why I could not tell the 8 from the 3. Thanks for the replies.

 

[fconley1]

How do I get the rust and discoloration off? I would attach photos, but don't know how.

 

[MattBPKT]

How do I get the rust and discoloration off? I would attach photos, but don't know how.

bear in mind I'm not an expert but here's some info that worked for me in the past:

The first thing you want to do is thoroughly clean the blade of your knife because dirt can interfere with the removal of rust. Don’t use water because that’s what mostly made your knife rust. Instead, use some sort of cleaning solution and wipe it down with a cloth. Next, apply another coat of rust remover for knives. Soak a rag in oil and cover the knife with it for a few hours to let the solution get into the rust. You can use nearly any type of oil, including WD-40, kerosene, Vaseline, Autosol and even white vinegar. Remove the blade from the rag and scrub off any rust. Most rust removers come with an abrasive cloth, but you can also use steel wool to get it off. Wipe off any excess dirt and oil with a cloth and your blade should look good as new. If not, repeat the above steps with a different cleaning solution or try one of the alternative methods below.


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Hooked on pocket knives...

 

[thawk]

Depending on the age of the Schrade Walden, make sure the rust is not a result of celluloid handles that have broke down. It can cause corrosion and a rusty looking residue on the blades, springs, and liners. Hard to remove corrosion at that. Some of the yellow handles were made of cell, but others were Delrin. If the handles are shrunken away from the bolsters, and have turned away from a bright yellow, that is a telltale sign.

 

[fconley1]

Thanks to all

 

[Bob W]

Since they were one of the largest (perhaps the largest) American knife manufacturers, there isn't much collectibility in them unless they're in new/unused condition, preferably still in the original box and with the original papers and accessories.

What you have instead is a great user knife.

What I do with rusty old knives I wish to turn into users:
Wipe it generously with oil (I use 3-in-1 oil, which seems to have some solvent properties) and let it sit overnight. Be sure to get oil into all of the joints.
Then wash it out with plenty of mild soap (dish detergent) and warm water. Open and close the knife repeatedly under a strong flow of running water.
Dry it thoroughly and quickly with Q-tips, blowing air, paper towels, whatever.
Drop a bit of mineral oil into the joints and put the knife in your pocket.

 

[Codger_64]

A tip for a pool guy on drying a pocket knife thoroughly inside and out after immersion in water... put it in a container of rice overnight. Works on wet cell phones too. Once water gets between the scales and liners, liners and springs, no amount of wiping will get it out.

 

[Dave Thinkstoomuch]

A tip for a pool guy on drying a pocket knife thoroughly inside and out after immersion in water... put it in a container of rice overnight. Works on wet cell phones too. Once water gets between the scales and liners, liners and springs, no amount of wiping will get it out.

Good tip! Rice is indeed a handy desiccant that folks tend to have. Another cheap and good desiccant is silicon cat litter. That's the same stuff as what's in the little packages of desiccant you get. It works a bit better than rice and is still cheap. Both rice and silicon etc are affected by ambient humidity. In a humid environment they will already have soaked up all the water they can hold and won't dry anything out. If you bake these materials in the oven (on cookie tray etc) at about 300 degrees F for about a half hour or 45 minutes it will "recharge" these materials and they will work very well again.

I sometimes fully immerse dirty knives and open and close the blades in a sink-full of soapy water to get all the gunk out of the pivots and springs etc. Afterwards, I always dry knives then immediately flood them with WD40 over a garbage container. I let them sit about a 1/2 hour so the water/WD40 can drip out and then flood them a second time. This drives out any moisture very quickly and leaves whole knife coated in rust-inhibiting WD40. Water Displacement 40 is a good product. It will displace water wherever you put it.