Information on Uncial Henry 885 - Please.

[koldgold]

I have quite a number of Schrade Uncial Henry knives - That all look much the same.
Some came in different boxes, some where made in different factories (s.c.c.886UH)
Some have two blades stamped “UH” and some “Stainless”
However, one knife stands out in my collection - an 885UH NY USA
1. It has a very long nail pull - however I do have another knife with the long pull.
2. It is numbered in-side on one of the liners - this is also not uncommon.
3. This knife has very fine file work on the back springs, much like the Sterling Silver 34SS
Any information or comments on this UH885.…Dale will help.....Ken

Knife in Question in UH3 - Front, Righthand side.

[gino]

That isnt file work you have there, its stamped on. It also isnt on the springs, its on the liners. You can see it went offline a few spots and onto the springs a bit. Looks to be a poorly done maybe homemade job.

[koldgold]

That isnt file work you have there, its stamped on. It also isnt on the springs, its on the liners. You can see it went offline a few spots and onto the springs a bit. Looks to be a poorly done maybe homemade job.

Thanks GINO for the reply, this is the only one I have ever seen. As you can seen I have quite a collection off 885 knives.
Looks like it was not done in the factory...Ken

[orvet]

That is a nice collection you have there Ken.

Now, as to the knife in question, the one on the front right of pic # UH - 3:

A- I can't see the numbering inside the liner, can you read it? If so, what does it say?

B- Is the pull on that any longer than the other 885s you have there? I really can't tell from the pics.

C- The file work on the back is actually not filework, it is called "jimping." and yes, it is definitely done in the factory. They had a special machine that they would run the knife through that makes those marks on the liners and in some cases they would also jimp the backsprings. This was usually done to set the knife apart from the regular production knives, to show them as something special. Occasionally you can find it on a knife that is seemingly just a regular stock knife, but not too often. IIRC, I have seen the jimping on some older knives, going back to Schrade Cut Co, prior to WW II.

Here is an example of jimping on the liners. The knife is an Old Timer 25th Anniversary knife, a 34OT. This knife had sterling silver bolsters and a special sterling silver shield.

This knife is a Grand Dad’s Old Timer Barlow. As you can see the jimping is not only on the liners, but on the backsprings as well.

As you can see from the side view of these knives they were something special and out of the ordinary. The jimping helped to make the knife a little bit more special. It was one more step in the manufacturing process. Each manufacturing step costs money and adds to the price of the knife. Jimping is something they could do that adds a lot of eye appeal (and with it perceived value) without out the addition of a costly component to the knife. Basically it is just the addition of a little time, one more step, but it adds a lot of bling and eye appeal.

That is a very nice example of the 885UH. I would love to see the numbers in the liner if you can get a pic of it.




The knife that really interests me in this lot is the one on the lower left in pic # UH – 5.
It appears to me that that has a visible pivot pin. Can you see it in the middle of the bolster? It also has the S.C.C.+ tang stamp.
Schrade made their multi blades knives on the Swinden machine. They were made with Swinden Key construction. I have explained this system in other postings if you are interested in the process. The Swinden system has rivets that holds the blades, single ended springs and center liner all together in one sub-assembly. The head of the rivet sets in a keyway in the partly hollowed bolster and is invisible from the outside of the knife. That is why you rarely see a pivot pin on a multi blades Schrade knife made after the early to mid 1960s. But it appears from the photo that the pivot pin is clearly visible on your knife. Therefore it was not made with the Swinden machine.

Now, we know that Camillus made a lot of knives for Schrade, they were owned by the same man, Albert Baer. If Schrade had their production line too busy, they would have Camillus make them. Schrade was the only company that had the Swinden machine. (It was invented by Dave Swinden, a longtime Shcrade employee). Camillus did not have a Swinden machine; therefore any Schrade knife made by Camillus will be made with pin through bolster construction, not with the Swinden Key. This is the first reason why I think your knife was made by Camillus and not by Schrade.

The second reason is the S.C.C.+ tang stamp. Tom Williams, the company historian for Camillus, told me that he thought Camillus was the only one who used the S.C.C.+ tang stamp. Tom has some of the records from the Camillus factory. Among them are S-cards, cards used by the production folks that had a detailed description of the materials used in the knife including the tang stamp. I have copies of a few of these S-cards; among them are cards for knives with the S.C.C.+ tang stamps. I do not have a specific card for the 885 UH with the S.C.C.+ stamp, but I do have a card for the 898 UH with the S.C.C.+ tang stamp.

To this point in my collecting and research I have not seen any Schrade knife made with the S.C.C.+ stamp that did not have visible pivot pins. I have a few knives with the S.C.C.+ stamp, and have seen many more, but all were non-Swinden knives. This supports the theory that the S.C.C.+ stamp was unique to Schrade knives made by Camillus.


You have a nice collection of 885UH knives! You have one made by Camillus and one with jimping on the liners. That is impressive to have 3 variations of a pattern in a sampling of only 5 knives! These little details are what makes collecting Schrade so much fun for me.

Dale

[koldgold]

Hi Dale, I thought you would come to the party.
The tang is stamped Schrade - N.Y. U.S.A - 885UH
The two other blades are stamped “ STAINLESS”
And the number inside on the liner is “69033”
With jimping on the back liners.

The knife behind that one, is much the same knife.
It came with the “Guarantee against Loss” paperwork.
The tang is stamped Schrade - N.Y. U.S.A - 885UH
The two other blades are stamped “UH”
And the number inside on the liner is “A8813”
It dose not have the jimping on the back liners.

The other knife has a “Schrade+ U.S.A. 885UH tang stamp.

And yes! you don't miss a thing, the other knife is a UH886 made by Camillus.
I also have a Buck 301 made by Schrade....Ken

[orvet]

Ken,
What is the story on the Buck 301 in the second picture?
It appears that it has visible pivot pins. If so, it wasn't made by Schrade.
Do you know who made it?

Dale

[koldgold]

Ken,
What is the story on the Buck 301 in the second picture?
It appears that it has visible pivot pins. If so, it wasn't made by Schrade.
Do you know who made it?

Dale

The Buck 301 with the pivot pins is a pre.1973 BUCK.
I put it in to show the Buck and the Schrade made for Buck...Ken

[thawk]

That isnt file work you have there, its stamped on. It also isnt on the springs, its on the liners. You can see it went offline a few spots and onto the springs a bit. Looks to be a poorly done maybe homemade job.

Thanks GINO for the reply, this is the only one I have ever seen. As you can seen I have quite a collection off 885 knives.
Looks like it was not done in the factory...Ken

It was done at the factory for certain Koldgold. Good stuff you have there.

I have two 885UH with steel liners that are milled like yours, both showing the Schrade NY USA stamp. Both have the extra long pull too. Serial Numbers #71259 and #72624. Your number is likely close to these.



The milled liners were a standard feature on all of the Schrade Walden Uncle Henry folders I believe, so I think this was a carry over to these Schrade NY USA versions. I also have a Walden 885UH #17485, a Schrade Walden 285UH #00576, and several Schrade Walden 897UH with serial numbers and milled liners. The 897UH examples the center liner is milled too. Only the 885UH liners are stainless steel instead of brass. Some of the milling can be fairly faint. Here are a few more examples of milling and jimping.


Milled Liners 2OT


Milled liners and jimping on the springs. A couple of Schrade Walden 34OT


Springs on a special factory order 858OT

[koldgold]

Thank You THAWK, I will look out for a Walden Uncle Henry now. I do have some other nice Walden knives, however...Ken

[Bryan76]

Hi I am new to forum but was wondering about my 885 UH. It has no other markings on tangs other than SCHRADE NY USA 885UH. Could this be a newer model or have my other markings simply rubbed off?

[tongueriver]

Bryan, I believe your knife is newer, as you suspect.

[orvet]

Bryan, welcome to AAPK.
Do you have the box that your knife came in? If so, that may be a clue to its age.
Thawk’s knife came in a brown wood grain box. Those were used in 1983 and before. The jimping on his knife indicates to me it was probably one of the earlier ones produced.

[Bryan76]

Sorry no box it is second hand. No jimping on handle either. Thanks for the quik replies.

[tjmurphy]

Must be the storm we're having this morning, but every time koldgold writes UNCLE HENRY my computer changes it and converts it to UNCIAL Henry.

[Miller Bro's]

I was wondering the same thing TJ

[koldgold]

Must be the storm we're having this morning, but every time koldgold writes UNCLE HENRY my computer changes it and converts it to UNCIAL Henry.

I am Dyslexic, the fact I started with “U” is a good start for me some days, Sorry.

[tjmurphy]

No need to apologize, I'm pretty sure it's my computer