I was curious if there was a date when they stopped making any Uncle Henrys in carbon.
Thanks.
It varied by pattern. The last Uncle Henry to make the switch to stainless was the "Golden Spike" 153UH which remained 1095 until mid-1995 or so. To quote Codger:
"Some tang stamps, applied to the right side of the tang perpendicular to the blade, are "SCHRADE" over "U.S.A. 153UH" on the right ricasso. Note that it did not use the "SCHRADE+" stainless identifier until the later (post 1995 ½)... Most of the “SCHRADE” marked knives have carbon blades, as it is now known with some certainty they were made from 1967-1995, and the stainless “SCHRADE+” blades during the last nine years of production (1995-2004). Most of the carbon knives I have seen so far have the signature on the guard, but no serial number."
This is reflected in the catalogs as well.
The 285UH "Pro-Trappers" knife was first listed in catalogs in 1969 and had "High Carbon Cutlery Steel" blades, read 1095, vs. "High Carbon Stainless" blades in the other patterns.
This description is used in every catalog up to and including 1972. So think carbon for sure from 1969 to 1972.
Now it gets a bit muddy. In the 1973 catalog the 285UH is still individually described as having "tool steel" blades but nothing is said about the others being stainless. In the general description it says all the Uncle Henry's are made from "special analysis high-carbon tool steel". The "Old Timer" knives are described as having "high carbon cutlery steel" blades in this catalog.
It stays a bit fuzzy from then on until the 1977 catalog where the 127UH is specifically described as having "rust resistant Schrade steel" while the 285UH still has "tool steel" blades. This makes me think the 285UH was still carbon at this point.
I think 1977 was the last year of carbon blades for the 285UH trapper. In 1978 catalog all Uncle Henry folding knives are first described as having "Rust Resistant Schrade+ Steel" blades.
All this is from digging through the catalogs and not because I'm a 285UH expert. Please correct me, guys, if I made any errors!