Schrade Walden USA Red Bone

[thawk]

In between the peachseed bone stag era, and the jigged Delrin handles, Schrade Walden produced jigged bone that has the same jiging style as the Delrin "Open Stock" series. I believe this was in the mid 1950's. I've found a few of these, with the latest being a Schrade Walden 233, 3 5/16" jack.





Here it is lined up with my other two, an 880 KON-KAV, and an 825 SS



It falls into the lovely bone category. Sometimes hard to tell from Delrin if pictures aren't real clear. All three have a crocus polished front side master, and glazed finish on the other blade surfaces. Makes it tough to get a good picture sometimes.

[tjmurphy]

YIKES!!! Those give me cold chills. (is it a chill or a tingle?) Dems some real purty ones

[orvet]

I agree Hal, the 1950s Schrade bone is very beautiful. Too bad they didn't make more of it.
A few years ago I got two or three sets of those bone handles that had not been installed on knives. I put a set on an 8OT with just a single blade last year. When I hafted the knife, I took the bone jigging down farther than Schrade Walden usually did on their knives, simply because I was so amazed at the color of the bone! It's gorgeous stuff!

Thia is how the knife finished out.

[koldgold]

Hi Thawk, how do you tell the diference beween bone and Delrin ?
I have some 881 and 880 knives, can you tell me when they may have been made and if any have bone handles.
One of the knives has 1969 on the blade, the others I do not know.
I also have some 895 and 895HU knives.. Ken

[Iron Hoarder]

I honestly believe that if Schrade had stuck with natural handle materials as a regular option they would still be in business. I always felt that the plastic handles let the rest of the knife down. That bone is amazing.

[orvet]

Hi Thawk, how do you tell the diference beween bone and Delrin ?

Ken,
If you have a high power magnifier of some sort, look at the handle where it is smooth.
If it is Delrin the surface is smooth. If the handle is bone you will see pores in the bone, usually running the length of the handle because of the way the handle is cut, parallel to the long axis of the bone. These pores are different from the Haversian canals, which are channels surrounding blood vessels and nerves, The Haversian canals are quite a bit larger and sometimes show up in a handle if someone misses them in QC. I have bought blanks that have Haversian canals in them, but I work around them so they don’t show up in the handle. The smaller pores are unavoidable as they are throughout the bone itself.

Here is a highly magnified section of a handle I finished. The piece is in actuality about ¾” in length. You can see the pores quite clearly despite pixelation from being the pic being greatly enlarged. This sample was sanded down to 8000 grit and then polished.

Pores in bone 3 forths in section.jpg (24.54 KiB) Viewed 5517 times

There is a sample pic of Delrin also about ¾” in length. This sample is from a 77OT that I took out of the plastic it came in the box. You can see the surface is completely smooth with no breaks in the surface except the saw cut marks.

Delrin sample three forths inches length.jpg (24.25 KiB) Viewed 5517 times

Examining the handle in question is the key to telling if it is bone or Delrin.
I hope this helps.

[koldgold]

Thank You Dale for the reply,
Your always about when we need a question answered. Ken.

You may not have seen this post to a question you posted...

quote="orvet"]

Randy is a Texan buddy of mine, but he has an Aussie friend who works on a ship and collects Schrades.
I thought you might be him, but his name is Warren as I recall.

Hi Dale, old mate.
Warren works out of Westen Australia on a ship that goes to Japan.
He is a very good friend of mine, and we often work together buying on eBay and exchanging knives.
I do not have friends in the US and Warren dose - Warren helps me buy items when the seller will not post to Australia.
Warren live in Queensland, and flys over to pick up the ship in Western Australia.
"Larry 303" and I also talk on the phone as he moves around Victoria looking for GOLD...
Larry has sold me some nice knives over the years.... Ken


Dale if you ever come to Australia let me know.
I promise you a Guide and a car for a week that you will never forget.

[orvet]

I saw that Ken. Just forgot to reply.
My buddy Randy is the guy who ships Warren's knives to him from the US.

I am starting to think it is a small world when you collect Schrade!

[W5RWU]

Very interesting !!
W5rwu AKA Randy

[ea42]

Hal, those are some beautiful knives!!

Schrade made there own bone handles until the government started requiring a permitting process, licensing, etc for aquiring bone, plus regulations for disposing of used dye and other solvents also became too costly. They decided to go with Rogers bone Co out of Connecticut for their handles sometime in the fifites I think. Rogers didn't have enough capacity for all the extra volume, so Schrade sent them their dying vats, which were gas heated. It was one of these vats that caused the fateful fire that destroyed the factory. I think it was the day after the fire that the unknowing Schrade management called and asked when their handle order would be ready, to which Rogers replied "When we rebuild the factory!"

Of course that turned out to be the end of the Rogers era for some time, and Schrade had to make the hasty decision to go with other materials, finally settling on delrin, for their handles. Initially the intention was to make all the Schrade Walden knives bone handled. This was to be the distinction between them and the Ulsters and Imperials. Unfortunately fate dealt a lousy hand.

[orvet]

Great info Eric, thanks for sharing!

Working with those Schrade guys you should be able to write a book before much longer!

[ozzie marie]

Hal,

Those Walden Red Bones are Amazing

Thanks for sharing

Keith

[MikeB1953]

Beautiful!......All I can say is Beautiful.

[jerryd6818]

Hal, that 233 is a jewel.

[313 Mike]

Well now...since you guys brought this great old thread back to life, I might as well drop this 236 into the mix. Not sure if it is technically "red" bone, but it sure does have some reddish hues to it...

[jerryd6818]

Mike -- Hard to tell from the picture but it looks like bone. Is it?

[313 Mike]

Mike -- Hard to tell from the picture but it looks like bone. Is it?

Yes Jerry...she's a boney beauty.

Perhaps these alternate shots will lend a different perspective...

[KnifeSlinger#81]

This thread should have a bump, I think. I very much like the red tinted ''wavy'' jig bone schrade walden used in the later bone years and have seen a number of examples. It's not terribly difficult to find these knives.


I have been fortunate enough to find some very nice examples, in addition to some used ones. For now here's an 881 and 787.

[doglegg]

Very knice Paul.

[TPK]

Those look great Paul!

[TPK]

I agree Hal, the 1950s Schrade bone is very beautiful. Too bad they didn't make more of it.
A few years ago I got two or three sets of those bone handles that had not been installed on knives. I put a set on an 8OT with just a single blade last year. When I hafted the knife, I took the bone jigging down farther than Schrade Walden usually did on their knives, simply because I was so amazed at the color of the bone! It's gorgeous stuff!

Thia is how the knife finished out.

I see that this is an older post but man those handles are breathtaking! Some of the prettiest I've ever seen!
Nice work Dale!

[KnifeSlinger#81]

Thanks guys.


Here's another one. The bone is a little darker but the red tint is still in there. Crocus finish on the main like the old schrades. The previous two I posted also have the same finish.

[royal0014]

Those are gorgeous Paul !!

[koldgold]

RED BONE, Schrade made these Red Bone Sets in the mid 1980's.
In my humble opinion, these knives are some of the best knives I have in my collection... Ken

[koldgold]

This 1961 Schrade Saw-cut-bone Old Timer 8OT, took many years to find.

Schrade was thinking of using Blue Bone before they closed down, I love the 2004 Rope-cut bone.