Schrade scales and the transition from bone to delrin

[OldGoat]

Hi all, I am seeking some guidelines as to how to determine if a Schrade knife might actually have a bone handle when it is not one of the heritage or limited models. I ask because many folks selling on the 'bay don't have any idea and the images are insufficient to make the determination. Additionally, it is clear some of them simply use the boilderplate descriptions right off of the AAPK Schrade models page without realizing that the descriptions refer to the original scale configuration and do not reflect later the later transition to delrin.

So, with that in mind, is there a rough way to determine which material is used based on tang stamps and obvious age/wear? When did the use of delrin rather than bone take place, sometime in the late '50s? Would only early Schrade Walden tang stamps have bone or were there later stamped knives such as Schrade NY that originally had bone as well?

I am to the point that of the few models I collect I already have representative examples of SW, Schrade NY, Schrade and Schrade+ for most of their variants and would like now to obtain older bone scaled models of those that originally had it.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[thawk]

The switch to bone in production knives came abou in the late 1950's (58 if I had to guess). It did not happen at once but more as the patterns ran out. The bone knives will be marked Schrade Walden NY USA, or Schrade Walden NY. To my knowledge, there are no production knives (in the catalog) with bone handles. In the catalogs, the verbage changed from Bone Stag, to Stagged, before they started calling it Delrin or Staglon. This is just my observation from looking at the catalogs a lot. There was rough black plastic all along, and some red stagged plastic too, during the Schrade Walden years (1946 to 1973)

http://www.collectors-of-schrades-r.us/ ... /index.htm

These catalogs have been my Holy Grail. Thanks again Larry!

And do not not look for any rhyme or reason either. Some Schrade Walden knives you would swear were Delrin end up having bone handles. A keen eye is and experience is your best bone detector.

[orvet]

Thawk's observations are very much similar to what I have observed going through the catalogs.

And do not not look for any rhyme or reason either. Some Schrade Walden knives you would swear were Delrin end up having bone handles. A keen eye is and experience is your best bone detector.

Well said!
No rhyme nor reason......typical Schrade!

[tongueriver]

Although, as Hal and Dale have said, there were plastic handled knives before 1960, they were not Delrin. Codger's research suggests that Delrin went into use in the year 1960. And I believe that the switch was sudden and rather complete. Don't quote me on that! Some of the plastic that preceded Delrin is very tough to identify from bone. I have some which I still can't decide on. With experience, Delrin is easy, but you might have to have it in hand. After 1960, there were VERY few special editions with real bone. Once into the 80's, some started appearing again, and in the last years of the company there were quite a few. Codger's research once again suggests that this new bone supply came almost exclusively from Germany. And the Germans very well may have gotten the raw material from Argentina, where Boker owns a factory and harvests cattle bone. I hope I have not given bad information.